Notice: The following locations will be closed for in-person services on 1/23/2026 due to inclement weather:

- Racine County Job Center, 1717 Taylor Ave., Racine, WI 53403; Contact Information: 888-258-9966

- Moraine Park Technical College, 2200 Green Tree Rd, West Bend, WI 53090; Contact Information: 608-261-0050

Please contact the above numbers for further information on phone or virtual appointments.

836.16 Right to award of attorney’s fees and costs from the State

The State of Wisconsin is liable for attorney’s fees to prevailing Complainants in equal rights cases. Smith v. State of Wis. Dep't of Workforce Devel. (LIRC, 01/04/19).

Attorney’s fees have long been recoverable under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act as a “make whole” remedy for discrimination, even though they are not specifically provided for in the Act. State agencies are expressly included in the definition of “employer.” Therefore, their sovereign immunity against liability under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act has been waived because the state has consented to both suit and liability. Accordingly, attorney’s fees may be recovered from state agencies. DOC & Suttle v. LIRC (Dane Co. Cir. Ct., 05/14/10).

The Department is not authorized to order a state agency to pay a Complainant’s attorney’s fees. No express statutory authority exists to tax costs and attorney’s fees against the State. Blunt v. DOC (LIRC, 02/04/05).

Express statutory authority is required in order to tax costs and attorney fees against the State. The Western Wisconsin Technical College is not an agency of the State. Simply because an entity is created by state law does not mean it is “in state government” within the meaning of sec. 111.32(6)(a), Stats. Since a technical college is not a State agency, the college was liable for costs and attorney’s fees. Naill v. Western Wis. Tech. College (LIRC, 02/12/99).

No attorney’s fees may be awarded against the State, or an agency of the State, even in cases where the State is acting as a licensing agency and where it has been found that the State violated the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act by denying a Complainant a license. Deshon v. Dep’t of Regulation & Licensing (LIRC 01/12/96).

Attorney’s fees and costs cannot be taxed against the State or a state agency in an administrative proceeding absent express statutory authority. DOT v. Wis. Pers. Comm’n, 176 Wis. 2d 731, 500 N.W.2d 664 (1993).

The Personnel Commission, as well as the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations, has the authority to award reasonable attorney’s fees to a prevailing Complainant under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act. Gray v. Univ. of Wis. Sys. (Wis. Pers. Comm’n, 05/09/85).