It’s Time to Redistrict

After the completion of the U.S. census every 10-years, public agencies with officers elected from geographical districts must “redistrict.”  This requires review of the recent Census population data and, if necessary, adjustment of voting area boundaries to keep them as nearly equal in population as possible, allowing for certain variances due to geography, topography, communities of interest, etc., all as...

The Scoop on Mandating Vaccines in the Workplace

Recently, it was reported that a local California law firm was requiring its employees to obtain a Covid-19 vaccine. This was reportedly the first law firm to do so.  The policy in question “encourages” all employees to get the vaccine as soon as they become eligible. The policy continues to require employees to practice public health safety guidelines when in...

California Pay Data Reporting – SB 973

California employers of 100 or more employees must report pay and hours-worked data by establishment, job category, sex, race and ethnicity to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) by March 31, 2021, and annually thereafter.  The “snapshot period” for reporting is a single pay period between October 1 and December 31 of the Reporting Year.  An employer has...

FPPC Authority to Promulgate Regulations Which Further the Purpose of the Public Records Act Reinforced by the Los Angeles County Superior Court

The California State Association of Counties and the California School Boards Association (“Associations”) brought suit against the Fair Political Practices Commission (“FPPC”) in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, challenging regulations that the FPPC promulgated, which made certain expenditures by a public agency that advocates for an election result or ballot measure subject to reporting requirements.  (California State Association of...

Recovery of Attorney’s Fees Pursuant to CCP § 1021.5 Requires Showing that the Disclosed Records Conferred a Significant Public Benefit

In Burgess v. Coronado Unified School District, Cal.App.5th, 2020 Cal.App.LEXIS 2020 (4th Dist. Div. 1 Dec. 24, 2020) (D076263), a news outlet, Voice of San Diego (Voice),   a PRA request was made to the Coronado Unified School District (District) regarding an employee, Randall Burgess (Burgess), who had been the subject of unsubstantiated molestation allegations.  Burgess then sued the District...

Title: Residential Evictions in 2021: January Update

As 2021 begins, it is still difficult to predict with any accuracy where Covid-19 will take landlord and tenant relations. The federal and state response to the Covid-19 pandemic has proven a complicated area of law for landlords, tenants and the Courts. Most notably, the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 (“AB 3088”) and the federal eviction moratorium order issued by...