California Municipal Law Blog
category:
Recent Court Decisions

Court of Appeals Holds MMBA Fact-finding Applies to all Impasses, not Just Those Concerning MOUs

by on March 31, 2016

posted in Employment Law, Recent Court Decisions, Unions,

The Fourth District Court of Appeals issued two decisions yesterday that held that fact-finding under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (“MMBA”) applies to all impasses between exclusive representatives and MMBA public agencies such as cities, counties, and special districts.  The results in these cases means that when impasse is reached in negotiations involving a city, county or special district with an exclusive representative employee organization, and that dispute involves subject matters within the scope of representation, the public agencies could be forced to engage in non-binding ... Continue Reading

tags: AB 646, Fact-finding, MOUs, PERB,

Supreme Court Divides Equally Over Union Fees Case

by on March 29, 2016

posted in Employment Law, Recent Court Decisions, U.S. Supreme Court, Unions,

Previously we wrote about Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (a link to our previous article is here), a case involving whether public-sector union fair share arrangements are invalid because they violate individual first amendment rights. Today, the Supreme court divided equally in deciding the case and issued a one-sentence decision affirming the Appellate Court decision and leaving earlier precedent, including the Abood case intact (as criticized as it has become.)  The case was decided by an eight-member Court, which could have held the case over for re-argument after confirmation ... Continue Reading

tags: Abood Case, California Teachers Association, Fair Share Arrangements, Friedrichs, Ninth Circuit, Union Shop,

In Public Records Case, State Supreme Court Holds Inadvertent Disclosure of Privileged Records Request Doesn’t Waive Privilege

by on March 28, 2016

posted in Public Records Act, Recent Court Decisions,

As this Blog previously noted, the State Supreme Court had before it two cases in which inadvertent disclosures of attorney-client privileged records were made in response to requests under the California Public Records Act (“CPRA”).  In both cases, the question was whether the mistaken releases waived the privileges.   (Our previous updates about these cases are linked here and here.) On March 17, the Court resolved a split in the appellate courts by ruling that mistaken disclosures do not waive the attorney-client privilege (or the related attorney “work-product” protection).  In ... Continue Reading

tags: Attorney-Client Privilege, Mistaken Release, Public Records, Work Product Protection,

Dual Use of Trail for Recreational and Non-Recreational Purposes Does Not Preclude Government Code Trail Immunity

by on January 29, 2016

posted in Immunities, Recent Court Decisions,

In a favorable ruling for public agencies, the Sixth Appellate District recently held that the Regents of the University of California were not liable for the death of a University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) student who was killed along the Great Meadow Parkway in a fatal bicycle accident as he was returning home from an evening class.  (Burgueno v. The Regents of the University of California.)  The student’s family alleged dangerous condition of public property and wrongful death, asserting that the bikeway was unsafe in light of its downhill curve, sight limitations, lack of runoff ... Continue Reading

tags: Dual Use, Immunities, Public use trails, Recreational Use,

Court Holds Amendments to Heritage Tree Ordinance Are not Exempt from CEQA

by on November 16, 2015

posted in CEQA, Recent Court Decisions,

The California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) exempts governmental actions to protect natural resources and the environment from the requirement to prepare an environmental impact report.  In a recent case, a court clarified what standard agencies must meet to justify the use of these exemptions, known by practitioners as the “Class 7” and “Class 8” exemptions. In Save Our Big Trees v. City of Santa Cruz, the San Jose-based Sixth District Court of Appeal held that a city’s use of both exemptions could not be used to justify amendment of its heritage tree ordinance, which was ... Continue Reading

tags: CEQA, Class 7 Exemption, Class 8 Exemption, Heritage Tree Ordinance,