CalPERS Changes Eligibility Rules for Industrial Disability Retirement

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) posted Circular Letter 200-018-17 on March 30, 2017. Among other things, this Letter addresses changes to the eligibility determinations for certain local safety members applying for industrial disability retirement. 


In the past, CalPERS relied on the employer’s recommendation to verify eligibility of any member for industrial disability retirement. However, CalPERS will now independently evaluate whether certain members are eligible. The employer must obtain CalPERS’ determination of a member’s eligibility to apply for disability retirement before the employer starts the process of a disability determination for any of the following circumstances:

• Disciplinary process underway prior to the member’s separation from employment.

• The member was terminated for cause.

• The member resigned in lieu of termination.

• The member signed an agreement to waive his or her reinstatement right as part of a legal settlement (i.e., Employment Reinstatement Waiver).

• The member has been convicted of or is being investigated for a work-related felony.

The Letter also imposes a requirement for local agencies to re-evaluate eligibility determinations for disability retirees under the voluntary service retirement age. The purpose is to verify whether the recipient remains physically or mentally disabled from the position which they disability retired for the condition(s) that they were approved for.

The Letter requires employers to provide all relevant personnel documents and medical records to CalPERS. This information will be used to conduct the second evaluation of a member’s medical incapacity and employment status.  However, providing such information to CalPERS creates a conflict for safety employers. For example, Penal Code section 832.7 prohibits employers from disclosing peace officer personnel records without the peace officer’s written consent or a Pitchess motion. Employers are also prohibited from disclosing medical information without written authorization from the employee.

Martindale-Hubbell Recognizes Mastagni Holstedt Attorney John Bakhit with Highest Honor

Martindale-Hubbell has recognized John Bakhit with its highest honor, an AV Preeminent rating, indicating a peer review for the highest level of professional excellence.  John is the Managing Attorney of Mastagni Holstedt's Ontario office.

Mr. Bakhit's practice centers on labor and employment law, where he handles complex claims arising out of the Public Safety Officers' Procedural Bill of Rights, the Firefighters’ Procedural Bill of Rights, the California Labor Code, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, complex contract negotiations with City, County, and State agencies, and other statutes protecting the rights of employees.

Prior to  law school, Mr. Bakhit served as an Oakland Police Officer working in Patrol and the Crime Prevention Unit, where he regularly wrote and served search warrants, worked undercover, and testified as an expert witness in court.

Supreme Court Overturns 9th Circuit Anti-Officer Use of Force Rule

In County of Los Angeles v. Mendez et al., the United States Supreme Court overruled the Ninth Circuit to put an end to a rule that let people bring lawsuits against officers even when the officers' use of force was reasonable.  Under the so-called "Provocation Rule," officers whose use of force is deemed reasonable, could still be held liable if they did something else, in violation of the 4th Amendment, to make the suspect respond in a way that required force.  The Supreme Court unanimously rejected this theory.

In the Mendez case, two deputies were looking for a wanted parolee when they entered a shack in the backyard of a home without knocking or announcing.  They did not have a warrant to enter the shack. It turned out Mendez lived in the shack.  Mendez got up with a gun in his hand when the officers entered and the officers reasonably believed their lives were in danger and fired in self-defense.  Mendez, who survived, sued, arguing that even if it was reasonable for the officers to shoot him, they should still be liable since they did not have a warrant to search his shack.  The Ninth Circuit agreed, applying its "Provocation Rule."

The Supreme Court, however, held, "The rule’s fundamental flaw is that it uses another constitutional violation to manufacture an excessive force claim where one would not otherwise exist.”  The Court explained "the provocation rule... instructs courts to look back in time to see if a different Fourth Amendment violation was somehow tied to the eventual use of force, an approach that mistakenly conflates distinct Fourth Amendment claims." As a result, the Court concluded, "the provocation rule is incompatible with this Court's excessive force jurisprudence."

CalPERS Restoration of Service Credit and Compensation Earnable Upon Reversal of Termination for CalPERS School and Local Agency Members

Assembly Bill (AB) 2028 applies to all active California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) school and local agency members. This recent legislation was introduced by Assembly Member Jim Cooper. AB 2028 allows active CalPERS school and local agency members who were wrongfully terminated to recover service credit and compensation earnable if their termination is reversed. This bill fixes a significant inconsistency in previous law, which treated school and local agency members differently than other state employees.

AB 2028 applies to members who were subject to a wrongful termination effective on or after January 1, 2017. Members who are reinstated by administrative or judicial order following the termination may now receive retirement benefits as though they were never terminated. Restoration of these benefits ensures that such members will be made “whole” following their disciplinary appeal.

Prior to AB 2028, school and local agency members could receive these benefits retroactively if they retired following the wrongful termination, but were later reinstated. This retirement condition was inconsistent with how other state employees were treated in the same situation. AB 2028 eliminates the inconsistency by making school and local agency members eligible to seek these same benefits, regardless of retirement.

AB 2028 provides that reinstatement of benefits will be effective as of the date from which salary is awarded. Employers are required to notify CalPERS within five days once an employee being reinstated after he or she had been wrongfully terminated.

Flores Overtime Ruling Stands: U.S. Supreme Court Denies San Gabriel's Petition for Review

On May 15, 2017, the United States Supreme Court denied the City of San Gabriel's petition for review of the Ninth Circuit decision holding the City of San Gabriel failed to include payments of unused portions of police officers’ benefits allowances when calculating their overtime rate of pay, resulting in an underpayment of overtime compensation. The Supreme Court only grants review in about 1% of petitions for review.  As a result the denial, the holding of the Appellate court now becomes settled law in the Ninth Circuit.

Appellate court also held that payments made on behalf of employees  to third party health care providers for benefits through the City's Flexible Benefits Plan could not be excluded from the overtime rate of pay.  The City's Flexible Benefits Plan was held not to be a “bona fide plan” under 29 U.S.C. § 207(e)(4) because over 40% of the City's total contributions were paid directly to employees rather than received as benefits. Additionally, the court ruled that the City’s violation of the Act was willful because it took no affirmative steps to ensure that its initial designation of its benefits payments complied with the Act and failed to establish that it acted in good faith.

Now that all appeals have been exhausted, California agencies that modified their overtime policies to comply with the Flores decision will have stability and certainty relative to their inclusion of waiver payments in overtime compensation.