Maldonado
CDF Firefighters v. Maldonado
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Levy, J.
Respondent, CDF Firefighters (CDFF), the labor union for firefighters employed by the State of California, filed a complaint for breach of contract against two of its former members, appellant Richard A. Maldonado and Michael Pittman. The complaint alleged that appellant and Pittman had breached their contractual relationship with CDFF by failing to pay the fines that CDFF had levied against them. After six years of litigation, the $22,789.96 *161 fine levied against appellant was found to be invalid and thus appellant was granted a partial judgment on the pleadings. Thereafter, CDFF dismissed its remaining claim against appellant for $743.30 1 with prejudice.
Appellant moved for an award of attorney fees under Civil Code 2 section 1717 as the prevailing party on CDFF’s claim for $22,000. The trial court denied appellant’s motion on the ground that CDFF’s dismissal of its remaining claim for the $743 fine precluded any award of attorney fees under section 1717, subdivision (b)(2). That section provides that “[wjhere an action has been voluntarily dismissed . . . there shall be no prevailing party for purposes of this section.”