Londi Lindell has been awarded $94,476.68 by United States District Court Judge James Robart for attorney’s fees in her claim that the city withheld or delayed documents in violation of the public records during the course of her lawsuit for wrongful dismissal against the City of Mercer Island. The award was announced this morning in Seattle.

In early July, the city had been ordered to pay a fine of more than $90,000 for violations of the Public Records Act. The attorney fees award to Lindell for those records violations had been pending.

According to city of Mercer Island attorney Katie Knight, “the city objected to Lindell’s claims for the attorney fees due to lack of documentation, unreasonable rates and the excessive number of hours charged by her attorneys.”

“The city is disappointed by the award,” she said.

The judge made an oral presentation regarding the attorney fees award, leaving no written record. The amount came out to be approximately half of what Lindell and her team had requested. The money for the attorney’s fees will be paid for out of city funds, not the Washington Cities Insurance Association which paid the $1 million in damages for the wrongful dismissal suit awarded to Lindell by the court in mid-July.

The document issued at that time declares that the settlement represents an agreement, not an admission — of any violation of law or failure to perform any duty — by either the defendant or the plaintiff.