Bowers + Kubota Denied Rehearing in Labor Department Fee Appeal

A Hawaii architectural company that successfully defended its employee stock ownership plan from a Labor Department lawsuit failed to convince the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its recent opinion declining to assess attorneys’ fees against the government.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday denied the its petition for rehearing, which said the court’s October 2023 decision misapplied the standard for awarding fees under a federal law aimed at curbing abusive government lawsuits. The court replaced that 2-1 decision with an amended opinion that offered additional analysis but no significant changes.

• The underlying lawsuit said Bowers ...