APPELLATE
Mack and Gossett v. City of Hawthorne (2013) - Plaintiffs were housing department employees who were investigated by the City for taking bribes in return for moving them up on the waiting list low-income housing. The District Attorney filed charges and then dropped the charges before there was a criminal trial. Plaintiffs sued for retaliation, race, gender, and disability discrimination, harassment, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. After Plaintiffs presented their evidence to a jury, the judge dismissed the case and entered judgment in favor of the City. An appellate court affirmed the trial court's rulings.
LITIGATION
Jowski v. City of Hesperia (2012) - The Court found that the City was entitled to summary judgment against Jowski and his claims for disability discrimination and retaliation under the FEHA. Jowski was an insulin dependent diabetic. The City released Jowski after four months of probation with the City because he could not perform the essential functions of the Code Enforcement Officer position, which included communicating and interacting with members of the public. The Court found that Jowski could not demonstrate that he was performing competently in his job position or that his disability was a factor in the City's decision to release him from probation. The Court found that the City had legitimate, non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory reasons for releasing Jowski from employment.
Christopher Crispo v. City of Santa Fe Springs, et al (2012) - Retired Fire Department Division Chief filed suit against City of Santa Fe Springs claiming he was a member of the Fire Fighters bargaining unit and therefore entitled to pay increases which negotiated between IAFF and the City. Our attorneys successfully showed that the 2007-2010 and 2011-2012 memoranda of understanding did not include his classification among those to which the MOUs applied and that a 1987 memo from the then City Manager on which the retiree based his claim actually supported the City's position and not his.
Mack and Gossett v. City of Hawthorne (2011) - Plaintiffs were housing department employees who were investigated by the City for taking bribes in return for moving them up on the waiting list low-income housing. The District Attorney filed charges and then dropped the charges before there was a criminal trial. Plaintiffs sued for retaliation, race, gender, and disability discrimination, harassment, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. After Plaintiffs presented their evidence to a jury, the judge dismissed the case and entered judgment in favor of the City.
Professional Peace Officers of Los Angeles v. County of Los Angeles (2010) - Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Code, supervisors must earn at least one dollar more per hour than their subordinates under certain criteria. At the direction of the County's Chief Executive Office, the Sheriff's' Department issued specific eligibility guidelines that clarified existing practice and criteria contained in the County Code and County Interpretive Manual. PPOA filed suit for back pay, injunctive and declaratory relief alleging that the guidelines included additional criteria than was required to earn the bonus pay and were an unreasonable interpretation of the County Code. The court found that the guidelines were a reasonable interpretation of and were consistent with the County Code. Judge Brazile denied relief on all causes of action and entered costs in favor of the County.
NEGOTIATIONS
City of Oxnard - General employees unit (SEIU Local 721); POA, Fire Fighters; mid-management unit.
Santa Barbara County - In-Home Services (IHSS).
City of Redondo Beach - POA, Police Management, Professional & Supervisory, Fire Fighters.
City of Temecula - General employees unit (Teamsters 911).
City of Montebello - Transportation/Bus operations (SMART/UTU); City employees association; Mid-management association.
City of Hermosa Beach - Two general units (Teamsters 911 & City Employees Associates).
City of Coachella - Mid management unit; General employees unit.
City of Riverside - Firefighters; non-safety units (SEIU 721).
City of Orange - Jeff was chief negotiator for the City in five sets of negotiations in 2011 and is currently responsible for eight sets in 2012. Agreements were reached with all five groups in 2011, which included pension reform in terms of a second tier PERS formula for subsequently hired miscellaneous employees and an agreement by Firefighters to pay their full PERS 9% member contribution and miscellaneous employees to pay virtually all of their PERS member contribution. Along with these results, there were no pay increases for the 2011-12 fiscal year.
City of Hawthorne - Jeff has been chief negotiator for the City for most of the last 20 years and handled negotiations with all units at the City. Over the course of negotiating numerous agreements, a full panoply of issues have been resolved over two decades with no impasses.
City of Santa Fe Springs - Jeff served as negotiator for the City in 2012 and assisted in resolving new agreements with three units and obtained agreement on PERS cost sharing with all three units.
