Arave v. Merrill Lynch (2018) 19 Cal.App.5th 525 reinforces that in labor law employees have nothing to lose from suing. Plaintiff sued his employer under FEHA and lost. The defendant employer previously served a CCP 998 offer to settle of $100,000 which was rejected. The employee lost his case and the trial court awarded $83,000 in costs to the employer. This was reversed holding only the “frivolous claim” statute Labor Code 218.5(a) could shift costs/fees to a losing employee.
Note: there is now a split in authority on this 998 issue so wait for the Supreme Court to resolve this.