Elinton Gramajo, the plaintiff and appellant, has filed a lawsuit against Joe’s Pizza on Sunset, Inc., Joe’s Pizza on Sunset, LLC, and Giuseppe Vitale (collectively referred to as Joe's Pizza), the defendants and respondents. The case was heard in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District, Division Eight under case ID B322697, B3823024 on March 25th, 2024. The lawsuit is about Labor Code violations relating to Gramajo's work as a pizza delivery driver for Joe's Pizza.
Gramajo was represented by Alfredo Nava from Law Office of Alfredo Nava Jr., while the defendants were represented by Douglas A. Linde from The Linde Law Firm. Gramajo claimed that he was not paid minimum and overtime wages during his employment period from February 2014 to June 2015. After a jury trial, he recovered $7,659.98 but his request for attorney fees amounting to $296,920 and costs totaling $26,932.84 were denied by the trial court.
The plaintiff is seeking judgment for reasonable litigation costs under Labor Code section 1194 subdivision (a). He argues that the trial court abused its discretion by applying Code of Civil Procedure section 1033 subdivision (a) to deny those costs in their entirety.