California ordered to pay $4.5M in attorneys fees after losing gender secrecy case

A federal court ordered the state of California Monday to pay $4.52 million in attorneys’ fees as a result of a landmark Supreme Court case that challenged California school policies which let students transition their genders without informing parents.

The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California granted the fee to be paid to attorneys at Thomas More Society, a conservative public-interest law firm, which represented plaintiffs in Mirabelli v. Bonta.

“A $4.5 million fee award sends an unmistakable message to state governments and school districts across the country: if you trample the constitutional rights of parents, you will pay for it—literally,” Peter Breen, the firm’s head of litigation, said in a statement.

In the court case, the Supreme Court blocked a California policy that allowed public schools to withhold information from parents regarding their child’s gender identity or social transition. Teachers Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West had sued the Escondido school district, arguing the policy violated parental rights.

Throughout the proceedings, the state of California engaged in “litigation intransigence,” the district judge said, such as repeated motions to dismiss the case, filing appeals before rulings, and withdrawing arguments multiple times.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs had to spend more than an unusual amount of the time, the judge added, “likely required to overcome the defendants’ litigation strategy of resisting at all junctures.”

As a result, the fee award was also multiplied significantly, a rare enhancement.

“California threw everything it had at this case,” Breen said. “It lost at summary judgment, lost at the Supreme Court and now Californians will foot the bill for their government officials’ refusal to respect the fundamental rights of families.”

The state is still fighting the case, Judge Roger T. Benitez noted, including a recent motion to change the injunction blocking the controversial policy.

The California Post reached out to state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office for comment.

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