A Community College District successfully defended its decision to layoff a classified management position at one of its colleges. The classified manager requested a hearing on the District’s decision before the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). LCW appeared before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at OAH and argued that the District had good cause to lay off the position as the Education Code lists a bona fide reduction in services as sufficient cause to eliminate a position.
At the hearing, LCW explained through the presentation of witness testimony that due to one of the college’s physical expansion and corresponding increase in custodial staff, the college needed to reorganize its Facilities Department. As part of the reorganization, the college intended to replace the Assistant Custodial Manager position with a higher level Custodial Manager position. There was not enough work to justify maintaining both the Assistant Custodial Manager position and the Custodial Manager position. Because the Custodial Manager position contained additional responsibilities not within the scope of the Assistant Custodial Manager’s job duties, the District could not legally place the employee in the new Custodial Manager position without first going through a recruitment process, as required by Title 5. LCW and the District explained that the layoff was solely based on the on the business needs of the District.
The ALJ found that the District’s decision to eliminate the Assistant Custodial Manager position was based solely on the welfare of the District, the college, and its students due to a bona fide reduction in services. The ALJ issued a proposed decision in favor of the District, which the Board of Trustees subsequently adopted.