A former state Parks and Recreation worker who was awarded nearly $2.3 million in 2024 by a jury that decided his discrimination suit has been granted more than $700,000 in attorneys’ fees.
During a hearing Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Doreen Boxer awarded plaintiff Angel Alba $705,475 in attorneys’ fees. He had sought $1.85 million. After a trial of Alba’s case, a jury in April 2024 awarded him $2.29 million.
Alba was hired by the CDPR in 1995 as a park maintenance aide. He was promoted to supervisor in 2009 and also became the electrical safety instructor for the department as well as the its electrical safety coordinator.
Alba contended that Lynette Brody and other supervisors with the department discriminated against him, failed to promote him and harassed him based on his Mexican/Latino race and national origin. Alba also contended that the state retaliated against him when he complained about the alleged disparate treatment.
Alba further alleged that supervisors failed to initiate an interactive process and failed to accommodate him for a back injury. He also maintained that management breached the terms of a settlement agreement the two sides had reached to address the plaintiff’s issues.
As a result, Alba rescinded the agreement and sought damages, his court paper stated.
In his suit filed in April 2018, Alba said he first noticed Brody’s alleged bias against him in 2010, when Brody refused to address the plaintiff’s complaints of a major roof leak at his state-provided residence, over which Brody was responsible.
Brody also made racially charged comments to him and other Latino employees, including “Mexican machismo” and “arrogant Mexican,” according to Alba’s court papers.
The state Attorney General’s Office denied Alba’s allegations against the department and Brody and contended that all management decisions regarding him were necessary and based on department needs and his work performance.
“There is no direct or circumstantial evidence that Alba’s supervisors had any animus against him for his race, ethnicity, disability or for participating in protected activity and there were legitimate reasons for (management’s) decisions,” the Attorney General’s Office lawyers stated.