CITY TO PAY ACLU FOR CHALLENGE TO DRUG POLICY

Attorneys had asked for $961,900, will receive $150,576. Case went all the
way to U.S. Supreme Court.

CITY HALL - The city of Glendale will pay $150,674 in attorney's fees to
lawyers of the American Civil Liberties Union who challenged the city's
drug-testing policy. The Second Appellate District of the California Court
of Appeal awarded $67,393 in attorney's fees, and the city has agreed to an
additional $77,000 settlement in Superior Court, City Attorney Scott Howard
said Wednesday. The remaining amount is attorney costs such as subpoena
fees and depositions. Attorneys have the right to petition for fees as a
way to encourage them to take lawsuits against governmental bodies, Howard
said.

In October, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a case that generated national
attention, announced it would not hear a challenge to Glendale's policy of
drug testing all applicants offered city jobs. By denying a request to hear
the petition of Lorraine Loder - a Glendale attorney and member of the
American Civil Liberties Union, which represented her in the case - the
high court let stand a January 1997 decision by the California Supreme
Court. That decision allowed Glendale to test new applicants but
restricted testing of current employees who were candidates for promotions.

Howard said the ACLU attorneys petitioned the appellate court for the fees.
The attorneys had sought $961,900 for the case, he said. Initially, the
city opposed paying fees because it argued that the "big crux" of the case
against the city dealt with testing of new employees, Howard said. The city
plans on developing a policy for those tests for emergency personnel such
as firefighters and police officers.

The fees will be paid out of the city's self-insurance fund. An estimate of
the city's attorney costs in the case was unavailable.

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