Renne Public Law Group (RPLG) secured a major win for local governments after the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the County of Los Angeles in a closely watched dispute over authority to classify positions and set salaries for county retirement system employees.
Partner and Head of Appellate Practice Ryan McGinley-Stempel appeared before the California Supreme Court on May 6 in Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association v. County of Los Angeles. On August 3, the Court issued a 4-3 decision, reversing the Court of Appeal’s decision and holding that county boards of supervisors, not independent retirement boards, retain final authority over civil service classification and salary decisions.
“We appreciate the Court’s thorough decision, which preserves counties’ longstanding authority to set salaries and establish civil service classifications for county employees working for retirement systems while also emphasizing the value of collaboration between counties and their retirement systems,” said Ryan.
The dispute arose after the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) sought to compel the County of Los Angeles to implement new employment classifications and salary increases. The County’s chief executive officer determined that the changes were out of step with comparable positions across the county and at other retirement systems. Although the trial court initially sided with the County, the Court of Appeal reversed, ruling that Proposition 162 gives LACERA the power to set its own employee salaries and classifications, a reading the California Supreme Court has now rejected.
RPLG’s briefing, authored by Ryan, Partner and Head of Litigation Practice Steve Cikes and Partner Linda Ross, argued that Proposition 162 was intended to protect pension systems’ authority over retirement assets and benefits, not to dismantle the existing civil service framework. The team emphasized that retirement boards’ authority must operate within existing laws governing county employment and compensation.
The Supreme Court agreed with RPLG’s arguments, reaffirming the narrower construction of a retirement board’s constitutional authority set out in Westly v. California Public Employees Retirement System Board of Administration and rejecting the argument that the County Employees Retirement Law compels counties to automatically implement a retirement board’s classification and salary decisions. Instead, it found that the constitutional and statutory framework creates a system of cooperative responsibility, with county governments retaining final authority and retirement boards recommending classifications and compensation necessary to operate their systems.
The decision affirms a key point that RPLG has maintained through the litigation: The County’s role in reviewing classification requests is essential to ensuring the core civil service principle of equal pay for equal work.
“We are committed to protecting the public’s interest by ensuring that government power is exercised in a transparent and balanced manner,” continued Ryan. “The Court’s decision reaffirms that the law requires a collaborative approach that respects the County’s home rule authority regarding salary-setting.”
Writing for the majority, Justice Corrigan concluded that the relevant constitutional and statutory provisions create a system of cooperative responsibility between retirement boards and governing bodies over employee classification and compensation, and found no indication that the Legislature or voters intended to leave those decisions to retirement boards alone. Chief Justice Guerrero and Justices Kruger and Simons joined the majority opinion; Justice Groban filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Liu and Evans. The ruling preserves the framework under which elected boards of supervisors retain the final say over civil service classification and compensation decisions for county employees statewide.
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