When an employee files a lawsuit that turns out to be frivolous, the employer can usually recover its own attorney’s fees expended in defending itself in the case. But now, in a blow for employers, a California appeals court has ruled that Exxon Corp. could not recover attorney’s fees it was required to expend to defend a manager who was sued for harassment by Exxon employee Laura Young, even though Young’s case against the manager was found to be frivolous.1 (Young’s case against Exxon was dismissed, and Exxon did not argue on its own behalf that the suit was frivolous.) The appeals court reasoned that because Exxon paid the manager’s defense costs, the trial court had discretion to deny an award of attorney’s fees because the award would have benefited only Exxon and not the manager.
1 Young v. Exxon Mobil Corp., Inc., Calif. Court of Appeals (Dist. 2) No. B189263, 2008
Training Your New Supervisors: 11 Practical Lessons
Many brand-new supervisors have never been trained on how to manage, and they’ve probably had at least a few poor role models over the years. Learn how to point them in the right direction with our free White Paper, Training Your New Supervisors: 11 Practical Lessons.