Opinion ID: 1359056
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: petitioners' claim to attorney fees

Text: (14) Petitioners seek an award of attorney fees under Government Code section 800 upon remand. Section 800 provides for the recovery of attorney fees incurred in a civil action challenging the determination of an administrative agency where the challenging party has prevailed and it is shown that the action of the administrative agency was arbitrary or capricious. Here, although petitioners have prevailed, we conclude that no award of fees under section 800 is warranted. Such an award must be based upon a finding that the public entity engaged in conduct not supported by a fair or substantial reason or unsubstantiated determinations. ( Seghesio v. County of Napa (1982) 135 Cal. App.3d 371, 377 [185 Cal. Rptr. 224].) Here, while we disagree with the Board's interpretation of section 1255.3, the record reflects that the Board's interpretation of the statute was not unreasonable nor were its actions arbitrary or capricious. Under such circumstances, no award under Government Code section 800 is warranted. (See, e.g., Whitman v. Board of Supervisors (1979) 88 Cal. App.3d 397, 417-418 [151 Cal. Rptr. 866].) In light of our determination that the relief sought by the individual petitioners should, in part, be granted and the fact that the United Steelworkers sought no other relief, it is unnecessary to consider the claim that the trial court erred in dismissing the union as copetitioner in the actions below. The judgments are reversed and the causes remanded to the superior court with directions that the superior court remand the matters to the Board for further proceedings consistent with the views expressed herein.