Category: Court Decisions

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PERB Loses Anti-SLAPP Motion Against Riverside County

Last week I wrote about a Superior Court decision in Riverside County holding that factfinding under the MMBA applies only to full contract negotiations.  (Click here for post)  In that post, I noted that one fascinating aspect of that case was that PERB had filed an anti-SLAPP motion against the County for challenging PERB’s factfinding order.

A SLAPP action is a “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.”  The purpose of a SLAPP action is to chill the valid exercise of constitutionally protected speech and to burden the opposing side with the cost of a legal defense.  For example, a developer might file a lawsuit against a local citizen’s group opposed to the developer’s housing project.  In California, the Legislature has enacted an anti-SLAPP statute designed specifically to combat SLAPP actions.  (Code of Civ. Proc., §425.16.)

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Supreme Court: LA Must Arbitrate Furlough Decision

City of Los Angeles v. Superior Court (Engineers and Architects Association) (Supreme Court Case No. S192828) (Issued on 6/20/11) In a 4-3 opinion, the California Supreme Court ruled today that the City of Los Angeles must arbitrate its decision to furlough employees in 2009. Facts: Facing a $500 million deficit, the City of Los Angeles (City) passed an ordinance furloughing civilian employees for up to 26 days per fiscal year. Many of the furloughed employees filed grievances under their union contracts arguing that the furloughs were impermissible. After the grievances were denied, the Engineers and Architects union requested arbitration. When the…

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Court: Access to IA File Before Interview Not Within Scope

Orange County Deputy Sheriffs v. County of Orange (Court of Appeal Case No. G047167) (Issued on 6/12/13) The Orange County Sheriff’s Department (Department) had a past practice of allowing an officer under investigation to view the Department’s internal affairs (IA) file before his or her interview by an investigator. Asserting that this practice hindered investigations and was inconsistent with best practices, the Department unilaterally stopped the practice. The union representing deputy sheriffs then brought this unfair practice charge in superior court. In its decision, the court held that the Department’s order delaying access to the IA files until after the…

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PERB Grants IR in City of Fremont Case

Public Employment Relations Board (SEIU Local 1021) v. City of Fremont (Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG13677821) (PERB Case No. SF-CE-1028-M) PERB recently granted a request for injunctive relief (IR) filed by SEIU Local 1021 against the City of Fremont (City).  The case began when a bargaining unit employee submitted a petition, with the required proof of support, seeking to decertify SEIU.  The City accepted the petition and began preparing to hold a decertification election.  Shortly thereafter, the City concluded that the official recognized employee organization was the Fremont City Employees Association (FACE), and not SEIU; and that FACE was…

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Supreme Court: Unions Have Right to Employee Addresses

County of Los Angeles v. Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission (Cal. Supreme Court Case No. S191944) (Issued on 5/30/13) The California Supreme Court has finally issued its decision in this case. The issue is one of first impression: whether California’s constitutional right of privacy limits a union’s ability to obtain the home addresses of bargaining unit members from the employer. Facts SEIU represents several bargaining units in the County of Los Angeles. As of 2007, SEIU had contact information for approximately 46,000 union members but did not have that information for about half of the 14,500 non-union members in…

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