Johnson v. O'Malley Bros. Corp.

In this wage-claim case, defendant appeals the trial court’s award of attorney fees under ORS 652.200(2) and ORS 652.615. Plaintiff was a commercial truck driver who sued defendant, his former employer, for failing to pay wages that it owed plaintiff, and for withholding a small sum from his paycheck, albeit with his consent. The trial court transferred plaintiffs case to court-annexed arbitration, and the arbitrator found for plaintiff in small part on his unpaid wage claim, as well as on his unlawful withholding claim. Based on that limited success, the arbitrator awarded plaintiff attorney…