- Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
- Area(s) of Law: Tort Law
- Date Filed: 07-14-2021
- Case #: A165863
- Judge(s)/Court Below: DeVore, P.J. for the Court; DeHoog, J.; & Mooney, J.
- Full Text Opinion
Burley appealed a supplemental judgment that awarded attorney fees for less than the full amount of her attorneys' actual fee. Burley prevailed on a whistleblower-retaliation claim against Clackamas County and was awarded noneconomic damages but her attorney’s fees were awarded less than the requested total of $878,327.50. ORS 30.272 provides that under the Oregon Torts Claim Act (OTCA), the award against local governments is capped and not to exceed $666,700 for each occurrence. The court held that although the whistleblower retaliation tort occurred over multiple periods, the “occurrence” provided in the statute refers to each occurrence of a single tort and Burley had only one workplace retaliation tort so the award cap applied. Affirmed.