Department of Industrial Relations v. Se Hwan Lee
Opinion
Opinion
Armstrong, J.
J. —In this case, the Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) brought a lawsuit against respondents, which it later dismissed. Respondents filed a memorandum of costs, seeking filing and motion fees, the cost of court-ordered transcripts, and other costs. The trial court found that respondents were the prevailing parties in the litigation and entered a costs judgment against the DLSE. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1032.)
The DLSE contends that under Labor Code section 101, costs may not be awarded against it. That statute provides that “No court costs of any nature shall be payable by the division, in any civil action to which the division is a party. . . .” We find that under Code of Civil Procedure section 1028, which provides that “Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, when the State is a party, costs shall be awarded against it on the same basis as against any other party . . . ,” the DLSE may be ordered to pay costs to the prevailing party in litigation. Labor Code section 101 does not exempt the DLSE from such a costs order. We thus affirm the judgment.