On April 19, 2017, Mastagni Holstedt partner Kathleen N. Mastagni Storm testified before the Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security on AB 530, a proposal to allow peace officers to file unfair practice charges at PERB. The bill is sponsored by Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove), a retired sheriff's captain.In her remarks, Storm explained, "AB 530 is important because it affects my clients' ability to enforce their collective bargaining rights and resolves serious uncertainty about the law." She said, "superior court is too costly and results in justice being denied because unions can't afford to sue [but] there is a high rate of resolution [at PERB] because the agency is adept at analyzing labor disputes."
She also addressed "the uncertainty in section 3511 [of the MMBA]." She explained the law is vague because it exempts from PERB's jurisdiction "persons who are peace officers" but does not define that term. "As things stand now, if a peace officer labor leader experiences retaliation, there would be parts of the case that the union has to bring at PERB and other parts the labor leader would have to bring separately in superior court. This legislation solves these problems."Kathleen N. Mastagni Storm manages the Labor Department at Mastagni Holstedt, APC. Her practice focuses on unfair practice litigation, officer-involved shootings, and trial litigation in state and federal courts.