Edwards

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES

Defendant has moved for $65,694 in attorney’s fees it claims to have incurred defending this action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12205 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or California Civil Code § 55 of the California Disabled Persons Act (CDPA). For the reasons stated below, the motion is DENIED.

Section 12205 of the ADA provides that “the court..in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party... a reasonable attorney’s fee, including litigation expenses, and costs.... ” Assuming without deciding that the defendant may be considered a prevailing party under the ADA, a prevailing ADA defendant may be awarded attorney’s fees only where plaintiffs action is “frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.” Summers v. Teichert & Son, Inc., 127 F.3d 1150, 1154 (9th Cir.1997) (adopting for Title I ADA cases the standard enunciated Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 434 U.S. 412, 418 , 98 S.Ct. 694 , 54 L.Ed.2d 648 (1978)).

Although I ultimately concluded that plaintiffs claims were time-barred, they were certainly not “frivolous, unreasonable or without foundation.” In particular,…