On August 4, 2014, the Ventura County Superior Court ordered the County to remove an initiative from the ballot that would have phased out the County’s defined benefits pension plan and replaced it with a 401(k). A second question on the measure, if approved, would have set a cap on retirement benefits. The court invalidated... continue reading

CalPERS annuitants who work while in retirement prevailed this week in a lawsuit concerning their hourly rate of pay. The annuitants, retired deputies who work as courtroom deputies and courthouse security, filed an unlawful pay suit late last year against Santa Clara County and its Sheriff’s Office pursuant to the law governing CalPERS pensions. A... continue reading

The United States Supreme Court continued its assault on fair share fees (also known as agency fees) last week in an opinion issued in Harris v. Quinn. The good news is that the majority did not find fair share fees unconstitutional, as many had feared it would. Carroll Burdick had filed an amici brief with... continue reading

In Selma Firefighters Association, IAFF, Local 3716 v. City of Selma (2014) PERB Decision No. 2380-M, the Board held that economic exigencies and an impending budget deadline did not justify the City of Selma declaring a bargaining impasse and imposing its alleged last, best, and final offer (“LBFO”). The Board explained “it has long been... continue reading

The United States Supreme Court avoided striking down fair share fees as unconstitutional when it issued its ruling today in a federal class action, Harris v. Quinn. In this case, Carroll Burdick filed with the Supreme Court an amici brief on behalf of a national coalition of public safety employees’ unions, urging the court to... continue reading

Earlier this week, PERB upheld a retaliation claim made by four employees, all nurses, whose employer, the Rocklin School District, laid them off subsequent to telling them that they were “increasingly being seen as adversarial” as the result of their involvement with their Union. Like other labor-relations statutes (including the MMBA), the Educational Employment Relations... continue reading

In the maze of leave laws, such as the Americans with Disability Act (“ADA”), the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), and their California counterparts, it is often difficult to sort out what information an employee must provide to their employer when requesting sick leave. This confusion is magnified when employers pressure employees to advise them... continue reading

In the depths of the economic recession, one concept that seemed pretty much buried was that of the Deferred Retirement Option Plan—a plan that typically allows police officers or firefighters to begin drawing their pension payments while continuing to work and draw a salary. But in January, the Los Angeles City Council began exploring the... continue reading

Today, the California Supreme Court issued a troubling, but expected, decision in Long Beach Police Officers Association v. City of Long Beach (Los Angeles Times, Real Party in Interest), Case No. S200872. The ruling requires public entities, upon request, to disclose the names of police officers involved in officer-involved shootings absent a showing that disclosing... continue reading

According to a recent study conducted by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, firefighters suffer higher rates of cancer than the general population. Cancers of the respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems account for much of the increased rates, with a small to moderate increase in such malignancies. And rates of mesothelioma, an extremely rare cancer... continue reading