Parks

MEMORANDUM **

Eastwood Insurance Services, Inc. (“Eastwood”) appeals the district court’s award of attorneys’ fees under California Code of Civil Procedure § 1021.5 and the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 216 (b). In the underlying action, 157 former employees of Eastwood (collectively “Parks”) obtained a settlement recovering several years of uncompensated overtime.

Eastwood raises three principal contentions on appeal: (1) that Parks did not meet the statutory requirements for attorneys’ fees under California Code of Civil Procedure § 1021.5, (2) that Parks was not entitled to fees under the FLSA, and (3) that the district court committed a number of errors in calculating the multiplier it applied to the lodestar figure submitted by Parks.

Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 1021.5, a court may award attorneys’ fees to a successful party in any action which has resulted in the enforcement of an important right affecting the public interest, subject to several statutory requirements. Eastwood contends for the first time on appeal that Parks failed to meet the second requirement under the statute — that the necessity and financial burden of private…