Opinion ID: 2047256
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: attorney fees under nebraska wage payment and collection act

Text: After the district court entered judgment in his favor as to his unpaid wages, Rauscher filed an application for attorney fees in the amount of $3,450. The district court sustained the application. The City contends on appeal that the district court erred in awarding Rauscher attorney fees under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act, § 48-1228 et seq., in this proceeding brought under § 15-841. With regard to an award of attorney fees, § 48-1231 provides in relevant part as follows: An employee having a claim for wages which are not paid within thirty days of the regular payday designated or agreed upon may institute suit for such unpaid wages in the proper court. If an employee establishes a claim and secures judgment on the claim, such employee shall be entitled to recover (1) the full amount of the judgment and all costs of such suit and (2) if such employee has employed an attorney in the case, an amount for attorney's fees assessed by the court, which fees shall not be less than twenty-five percent of the unpaid wages. If the cause is taken to an appellate court and the plaintiff recovers a judgment, the appellate court shall tax as costs in the action, to be paid to the plaintiff, an additional amount for attorney's fees in such appellate court, which fees shall not be less than twenty-five percent of the unpaid wages. The City claims the district court erred in awarding Rauscher attorney fees under § 48-1231, because Rauscher either did not plead a separate cause of action for attorney fees in the instant case or failed to file a separate lawsuit under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act. According to the City's argument, § 48-1231 provides a separate and independent cause of action for the recovery of wages.... Rather than proceed with a claim for unpaid wages under ... § 48-1231, [Rauscher] chose to submit a claim to the City ... and appealed from the denial of that claim. Brief for appellant at 33. The City also asserts that because Rauscher did not bring a separate action under the [Nebraska] Wage Payment and Collection Act, id. at 32, he is not entitled to an award of attorney fees. The City misperceives the provisions of the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act. We conclude that the district court did not err in awarding Rauscher attorney fees in the district court under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act in this case. At the outset, we note that in his prayer for relief in the petition, Rauscher sought attorney fees against the City under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act. We further note that we have approved an award of attorney fees under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act in a wage claim against a city of the metropolitan class brought under Neb.Rev.Stat. § 14-813 (Reissue 1997). Hawkins v. City of Omaha, 261 Neb. 943, 627 N.W.2d 118 (2001). The parties do not dispute that the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act applies to wage claims against the City. Compare Thompson v. City of Omaha, 235 Neb. 346, 455 N.W.2d 538 (1990) (noting that in 1988, Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act was amended to include political subdivisions as employers covered by act). Although our comments were made prior to the inclusion of political subdivisions as employers under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act, we find our observations made in Thompson v. City of Omaha, supra , instructive here. Indeed, in Thompson, we rejected an argument similar to that raised by the City in the instant appeal. In Thompson, the appellants claimed that the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act was a special provision in regard to wage claims and was an alternate proceeding to the statutory provisions regarding filing claims with the city. 235 Neb. at 349, 455 N.W.2d at 540. We disagreed, and observed that in that action against a city of the metropolitan class, an [a]pplication of the [Nebraska] Wage Payment and Collection Act would not alter the need to satisfy the requisites of the claims statutes. 235 Neb. at 350, 455 N.W.2d at 540. More importantly, in Thompson, we stated that the [Nebraska] Wage Payment and Collection Act provides for the award of attorney fees and costs to a successful wage claimant and does not concern conditions governing claims against a city. 235 Neb. at 350, 455 N.W.2d at 540. We are asked to apply § 48-1231 to the instant case. In the absence of anything to the contrary, statutory language is to be given its plain and ordinary meaning; an appellate court will not resort to interpretation to ascertain the meaning of statutory words which are plain, direct, and unambiguous. Arthur v. Microsoft Corp., 267 Neb. 586, 676 N.W.2d 29 (2004). Furthermore, it is not within the province of a court to read a meaning into a statute that is not warranted by the legislative language. Hall v. City of Omaha, 266 Neb. 127, 663 N.W.2d 97 (2003). Contrary to the City's argument, in a wage claim brought under § 15-841 against a city of the primary class such as the case before us, there is nothing in the plain language of § 48-1231 that requires an employee to plead a specific cause of action for attorney fees or to file a separate proceeding for attorney fees in order to receive an award of attorney fees under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act. It is consistent with the language of § 48-1231 that an employee pursue his or her claim against a city of the primary class in the district court under § 15-841 and, if successful in that proceeding, apply for an award of attorney fees under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act as a successful wage claimant therein. In the instant case, Rauscher satisfied the requirements of the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act. He establishe[d] a claim and secure[d] judgment on the claim as required under § 48-1231 of the act. As such, he was a successful wage claimant. See Thompson v. City of Omaha, 235 Neb. at 350, 455 N.W.2d at 540. Under the provisions of the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act, Rauscher was entitled to an award of attorney fees, and we conclude that the district court did not err in ruling in favor of Rauscher and against the City in the amount of $3,450 for Rauscher's attorney fees incurred in the district court in this matter.