1 week ago
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Three months after a former San Diego Association of Governments finance official was awarded millions of dollars for being wrongly fired, the same judge has ordered the regional planning agency to pay the whistleblower’s attorneys more than $1.7 million.
The ruling issued last week pushes the cost of the improper termination of SANDAG’s former finance director Lauren Warrem past $4 million.
Lawyers representing Warrem — who was fired in 2023 after raising questions about flaws in the SANDAG toll-collection system on state Route 125 in the South Bay — initially sought just over $3 million in legal fees and other costs.
But the judge in the binding arbitration case whittled the fees to $1.7 million, including a 25% “multiplier” to compensate for the lawyers’ risk and delay in receiving payment.
“There is no dispute that claimant is the prevailing party within the meaning of Labor Code section 1102.5 and is entitled to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs,” retired judge Jeffrey Barton wrote in his 25-page ruling.
“The arbitrator considered the public policy of encouraging attorneys to take on such cases and assume the costs and expenses of prosecution and the result obtained for Ms. Warren,” he added. “Balancing these considerations, the arbitrator finds that a multiplier of 1.25 appropriately compensates plaintiffs counsel for contingent risk and delay.”
SANDAG, the regional planning agency overseen by a board of elected ci...
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