Yesterday, the Second District Court of Appeal handed down an
unfavorable decision for local agencies related to attorney's fees in reverse California Public Records Act (CPRA) litigation in
City of Los Angeles v. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The Court of Appeal opinion affirmed an attorney’s fee award for records requester San Diego-Union Tribune against the City of Los Angeles under the CPRA and also affirmed fees awarded to the Union-Tribune through the Private Attorney General Statute (PAGA). However, the court declined to hold that reverse-CPRA actions are not permissible, which the Union-Tribune asked the court to do.
CSDA participated in this case as amicus curiae, seeking to protect special districts against increased attorney's fees and court costs. This past July, CSDA joined an
amicus brief filed in the case with League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties, arguing that local agencies should be permitted to protect third-party privacy through reverse-CPRA actions, and that attorney's fee awards against local agencies in reverse-CPRA cases should not be permitted. The opinion in this case followed similar reasoning used in the
Pasadena Police Officers Association et al. v. City of Pasadena case from 2018, in which CSDA also joined an
amicus brief.
CSDA will continue to monitor this case should it continue through the appeals process and will keep our members informed of any updates.