Employer-Employee: Disability Discrimination-Award of Attorneys’ Fees

Plaintiff appealed the trial court’s judgment confirming an arbitration award in his favor in his disability discrimination action against his former employer. Plaintiff argued that the trial court should have vacated the portion of the award that significantly reduced his requested amount of attorneys’ fees on grounds that some of the fees were not “reasonably incurred.” Plaintiff also challenged the trial court’s failure to award post judgment interest.

Where the arbitrator made detailed findings concerning the reasonableness of the fees charged by plaintiff’s counsel, the court deferred to those factual findings, but the trial court erred in failing to award post judgment interest which was required for tort claims such as those under the Missouri Human Rights Act.

Judgment is affirmed in part, reversed and remanded in part.

Wiedner v. Ferrellgas, Inc. (MLW No. 79654/Case No. WD85747 – 11 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Ardini, Jr., J.) Appealed from circuit court, Jackson County, Phillips, J. (Mark A. Buchanan, Liberty, for appellant) (Andrew Lewis, Kansas City, for respondent)