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Judge Cuts Coffee and Meal Expenses in Fee Request

September 23, 2014 | Posted in : Expenses / Costs, Fee Award, Fee Request

A recent National Law Journal, “After Deleting Coffee and Meal Charges, Judge OKs Fees,” reports that a California federal judge has signed off on the deal between Target Corp. and thousands of employees after plaintiffs’ attorney scrubbed $404 in Starbucks purchases, meals and other charges in their fee request for litigation costs in a $350,000 class action settlement.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, of the Northern District of California, had balked at approving the agreement upon examining the line-by-line breakdown of $6,339.41 in costs submitted by plaintiffs’ attorneys.  Her objection: Fourteen charges at cafes and restaurants, including a $104.14 bill at a San Francisco sushi place.  Judge Gonzalez ordered Setereh Law Group of Beverly Hills, Calif. to produce a “revised bill of costs,” which it did and gone were the meal and food costs.

This apparently did the trick.  On Sept. 16, the judge signed off on the settlement of Bernardino v. Target, which was brought by former employees who alleged the company violated California labor law by delayed final paychecks to workers who were terminated.

The settlement includes about $200,000 for 4,300 class members, which breaks down to a mean award of $46, according to the agreement documents.  Settlement expenses will claim about $35,000.  Attorney fees are set at $87,500.  Lead plaintiffs will get $7,500.  And final litigation costs, minus coffee and food, are $5,935.32.