Plaintiffs attorney Michael Petela Jr. was successful in reaching a $233,450 settlement in a class-action employment case in January. But he knew that seeking almost as much money in attorney fees was going to be an uphill battle.

The defense in Poli v. NEHDS Logistics had argued that the $188,942 in attorney fees Petela sought was excessive and disproportionate to the settlement.

Petela, a trial attorney with Hayber, McKenna & Dinsmore in Hartford, said it wouldn't have been unusual for an arbitrator or a judge to agree with the defense.

"The thing that professionals, even judges, often misunderstand about employment law cases is thinking that fees have to be proportionate to the damages for the individuals," Petela said. "It's that way in cases like personal injury, where attorney fees are no more than one-third of the damages awarded. Employment cases are a different kind of law and take a little bit more time to litigate."

Petela continued: "Even many judges think proportionality is relevant in all cases, but it's not according to our jurisprudence. This ruling certainly adds to the body of law that attorney fees don't have to be proportionate to the damages."

Petela said he submitted "reasonable attorney fees for the work we performed." Assisting Petela was colleague Richard Hayber.

In their pleadings in proceedings before arbitrator Albert Zakarian, Petela wrote, "Class counsel should not be penalized for pursuing the case as a class action. Even if it had been a single plaintiff case, proportionality arguments have been held erroneous. … Defendant's excessive rates arguments should also be rejected because they fail to account for the specialized area of practice of wage and hour class actions in Connecticut. These cases are more complex, contain additional hurdles, and require additional experience which most labor and employment attorneys simply do not possess within this local market."

In its opposition to the plaintiff's petition for attorney fees, the defense wrote, "The amount sought in the fee petition is not reasonable in light of the specific circumstances of this case, especially when the attorneys' fees sough are considered in relation to the amount of the settlement. … The fees sought by class counsel are excessive, and they should be substantially reduced."

Arbitrator Zakarian in his four-page July 9 ruling disagreed with the defense's argument, and awarded $188,942 in attorney fees to the plaintiff's firm.

Zakarian wrote: "There is no requirement under the applicable statutes that an award of attorneys' fees be proportional to the amount of the underlying award of damages. However, higher billing rates are frequently warranted for class action work than for simple single-plaintiff cases because of the nature of the expertise called for and because of the kind and complexity of the issues involved, and the skills required to gain and maintain class certification."

Representing NEHDS Logistics were Gabriel Dym of Eckert Seamans in Boston and Geraldine Cheverko of Eckert Seamans in White Plains, New York. Dym declined to comment and Cheverko didn't respond to a request for comment Monday.

The case stems from when the plaintiffs sued NEHDS Logistics over allegations it improperly classified drivers as independent contractors instead of employees, a move that allowed the business to charge employees for merchandise damaged in transit. NEHDS delivers retail merchandise on behalf of companies such as Bob's Discount Furniture, Costco Wholesale Corp. and Ashley Furniture HomeStore.

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