Opinion ID: 1567336
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Whether McNeel should be compensated for legal fees incurred by virtue of her wrongful termination.

Text: ¶ 36. McNeel sought to be reimbursed for attorney fees and expenses in connection with [her] appeals totaling $26,394.88 (including interest). In denying McNeel's request, the EAB found that [t]he EAB's jurisdiction is set out by statute; the statute does not provide authority to award court cost[s], out of pocket costs, or attorney fees. ... The circuit court affirmed, determining that [t]he [EAB] does not have the authority to award attorneys' fees. ¶ 37. In Culbertson, this Court stated that [t]he EAB is a creature of statute, and nowhere in the statutory scheme is the EAB empowered to award attorneys' fees. Culbertson, 832 So.2d at 530. Specifically, the EAB has only limited authority under Miss.Code Ann. § 25-9-131 (1999), and ... the awarding of attorneys' fees is not one of its enumerated powers. Id. at 532. Based thereon, this Court cannot find that the EAB's denial of McNeel's request for reimbursement of legal fees was unsupported by substantial evidence, arbitrary or capricious, or in violation of McNeel's statutory or constitutional rights. See Miss.Code Ann. § 25-9-132(2) (Rev.2006). Therefore, this Court concludes that this issue is without merit.