Brittney Mejico v. Boat U.S., Inc., 2:20-cv-09863

This is one of many state-court website-accessibility suits alleging defendants violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act by having inaccessible websites.
Typical procedural pattern: plaintiff sues in state court (Unruh claim); defendant removes to federal court claiming federal-question jurisdiction because Unruh incorporates the ADA; plaintiff moves to remand; court remands.
In this matter, after remand the plaintiff moved for attorney fees and costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), seeking nearly $50,000 based on 66 hours at $850/$750 hourly rates.
The court found removal lacked an objectively reasonable basis given the string of prior remands in similar cases and thus fees are appropriate.
The court concluded the $50,000 request was unreasonable for this routine matter and instead awarded $4,375 in fees and costs, citing prior fee awards in related cases as benchmarks.
The court declined to deny fees based on minor procedural failures (meet-and-confer and timeliness) and directed plaintiff to file a proposed order for fees and remand.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether attorney fees are warranted under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) after remand	Removal lacked an objectively reasonable basis given prior similar remands; fees are merited	Removal was reasonable because Unruh incorporates the ADA, supporting federal-question removal	Court: Fees warranted—removal lacked an objectively reasonable basis (Martin standard)
Proper amount of fees and costs to award	Requests ~$50,000 (66 hours at high hourly rates)	Requested amount is excessive; prior similar awards were much smaller	Court: $50,000 unreasonable; awards $4,375 based on prior benchmark awards
Whether procedural defects (failure to meet-and-confer or timeliness) should bar fees	Procedural defects were minor and should not bar an award	Court should exercise discretion to deny fees for procedural noncompliance	Court: Defects were minor; declines to deny fees on that basis

Martin v. Franklin Capital Corp., 546 U.S. 132 (2005) (awards under §1447(c) are appropriate only when the removing party lacked an objectively reasonable basis for removal)