Court Upholds Award of Attorneys' Fees Greatly In Excess Of Plaintiff's Actual Damages

Heusser v. New Jersey Highway Auth., 2008 WL 731498 (App. Div., Mar. 20, 2008) – In a handicap discrimination case where the plaintiff only obtained an award of $97,198 (for emotional distress, back pay, overtime and interest), the Appellate Division held that plaintiff was nonetheless entitled to an award of $456,082 in attorneys’ fees as the prevailing party.  The Court found the Director of the Division of Civil Rights acted within his discretion in awarding attorneys’ fees 3.2 times the damage award.

Note: This article was published in the May 2008 issue of the New Jersey eAuthority.