Attorney Fees

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Lydia E. Vega v. Chicago Park District

Case No.: 20-3492

Officials: KANNE, SCUDDER, and KIRSCH, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Attorney Fees

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one of several federal statutes that allows a prevailing party to shift its attorneys’ fees to its adversary. After years of litigation, a federal jury sided with Lydia Vega on her national origin discrimination claim against the Chicago Park District. We affirmed that result on appeal. The parties then began discussing Vega’s attorneys’ fees request. But, just as in the merits litigation, the parties could not resolve their differences.

Vega ultimately submitted two fee petitions to the district court—covering two distinct time periods—that the court granted. The district court also granted Vega’s request for a tax-component award to offset her income tax liability on the backpay award from her successful Title VII claim. The Park District now appeals, taking aim at both the reasonableness of the attorneys’ fee awards and the amount of the tax-component award. We affirm.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.