Appeals court affirms $3.2M legal fee award to former Burbank Unified employee in sex-abuse case
A California appeals court has ruled that Burbank Unified must pay $3.2 million in legal fees and about $200,000 to a former employee, according to a recent decision following a years-long legal battle that began nearly a decade ago.
In 2007, former Burbank Unified employee Danielle Baez filed a lawsuit against the school district claiming that the district’s then-facilities director Craig Jellison made repeated unwanted sexual advances, sent sexually suggestive emails and had sexually assaulted her in 2006, according to court records.
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The case went to trial three times. The district won the first trial in 2009, but the decision was reversed on appeal. The second trial, held in 2013, ended in a mistrial.
During the third trial, also in 2013, a jury determined that Baez should receive $199,398 for physical pain, mental suffering and economic loss.
Burbank Unified’s attorneys appealed that award, as well as an additional $3.2 million awarded in legal fees.
Throughout the case, Burbank Unified was represented by attorney Nancy Doumanian.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Ann Murphy said she was puzzled over why the district would retain her firm, noting that her decision to grant the $3.2 million in attorney fees was because Doumanian’s law firm consistently filed documents late and without proper citations, ultimately increasing the cost of litigation.
“For whatever reason, the Burbank Unified School District has decided … to retain Ms. Doumanian’s law firm, and the litigation has been replete with rule violations necessitating extra time and work on the plaintiff’s side, and certainly on the court’s,” Murphy stated in 2014.
The Jan. 25 decision by the 2nd District Court of Appeal affirmed both awards.
During a school board meeting last week, Larry Applebaum said the school board could do little once the legal case began.
“I can tell you for a fact that the board, really once it got started, there was little that we could do,” he said of the litigation.
He also championed Doumanian, saying she has done “extraordinary” work representing the district.
“I’m not going to comment on whether I agree or disagree with her tactics. I don’t feel it’s my position to do that. She has worked on behalf of this district in cases that I’m familiar with and she has saved this district a lot of money,” Applebaum said.
“I’m not talking about saving money by being mean-spirited or by being difficult, but by coming to resolutions that were wins for both sides, which is not to say that we all walked away feeling great. We all probably walked away [not] feeling great, but a good compromise is usually a good compromise, and that’s what you want your attorneys to do, and a lot of those involved no litigation, which kept the costs very low for both sides,” he added.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
