Vested Rights: Is This The Year The California Supreme Court Revisits The "California Rule"?
Ashley Dunning presented "Vested Rights: Is This The Year The California Supreme Court Revisits The ‘California Rule’?" during the California Public Employers Labor Relations Association (CalPELRA) Annual Training Conference December 5-7, 2018 in Monterey, CA.
Ashley’s presentation was part of a panel with two other lead counsel in the pending vested rights cases before the California Supreme Court. The panelists reviewed three of those cases: Cal Fire Local 2881, which involves a legislative elimination of the right to purchase "air time" service credit, and cases brought by the Marin Association of Public Employees and the Alameda County Deputies Association, both of which involve constitutional challenges to state anti-spiking legislation applicable to the current members of California's public retirement systems.
The Governor’s Office has taken over briefing on behalf of the state in defending the constitutionality of the legislation, and numerous amici organizations have weighed in, some of whom are asking the Court to take a fresh look at the California Rule. The California Rule, generally stated, protects public employee pension accrual rights from being changed over the course of the employee's career for a public employer.
Ashley and her co-panelists explained the positions the Governor, public employee unions, public employers, and in some cases, public retirement boards, are taking on the legal issues that are implicated by the cases. The panel also discussed the oral argument that occurred before the California Supreme Court in CalFIRE on December 5, 2018.
