Colorado to pay web designer's legal fees after losing LGBTQ anti-bias law case
Colorado web designer Lorie Smith will receive $1.5m in legal fees after winning a Supreme Court case that found some businesses could refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings.
The state of Colorado has agreed to pay more than $1.5 million in legal fees to a web designer who won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that found the right to free speech allows some businesses to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings.
Colorado and web designer Lorie Smith’s lawyers at conservative law firm Alliance Defending Freedom disclosed the accord in a court filing last week.
A state board approved the amount, which was less than the nearly $2 million that Smith had originally sought after her free speech win at the high court. The justices in June 2023 ruled 6-3 in favor of Smith, who cited her Christian beliefs in challenging a state anti-discrimination law.
The Colorado attorney general’s office declined to comment on the fee settlement.
Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Bryan Neihart in a statement on Monday said it was common for the prevailing party in a civil rights case to ask for and receive legal fees after winning in court.
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