DeJung v. Superior Court | Storm's Employment Law

Usually when you see xxx v. Superior Court, it’s a writ. Not here.

The Plaintiff actually sued the Court for age discrimination. The Plaintiff was a commissioner. He sued after some HR shenanigans. The suit went forward in Sonoma County where he worked (good idea?) and—surprise—the judge dismissed the case. Court of Appeal reverses saying nice try, but the FEHA includes you in the definition of employer. It gets better. The Court of Appeal, having made their pronouncement, denies DeJung’s request to have the case remanded to a different judge because there was no showing that “the interests of justice would be best served by such an order.” (Slip Op. *22.)

Since this is a public sector case, it’s not normally something I’d post. I only recently expanded my coverage to include some NLRB issues, so I’ve been trying to keep the focus on private sector state law. That remains true—but this was too interesting to pass up. I wonder what will happen now. Judge A orders the Court to reinstate DeJung as a Commissioner? Awk-ward. Also interesting to see that the Court used outside counsel, and not county counsel. Don’t know if that’s normal or what.

3 thoughts on “DeJung v. Superior Court”

The Court’s would look to the AG’s office for legal representation, not the County Counsel’s office because the employer is the State not the County.

Of course, of course. Good point.

Commissioners are employees of the trial court. Litigation against trial court employees is managed by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)/Office of General Counsel (OGC). Calif. Rule of Ct., Rules 10.201. 10.202. The AOC/OGC contracts with various attorneys to defend judicial officers and employees sued in the course and scope of employment, including the California Attorney General, some Offices of County Counsel, attorneys employed by some trial courts for this purpose, and attorneys in private practice.

Anonymous on December 23, 2008 at 3:36 pm said:

The Court’s would look to the AG’s office for legal representation, not the County Counsel’s office because the employer is the State not the County.
Jon-Erik G. Storm on December 29, 2008 at 9:05 pm said:

Of course, of course. Good point.
Cheryl Brierton on January 5, 2009 at 11:52 am said:

Commissioners are employees of the trial court. Litigation against trial court employees is managed by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)/Office of General Counsel (OGC). Calif. Rule of Ct., Rules 10.201. 10.202. The AOC/OGC contracts with various attorneys to defend judicial officers and employees sued in the course and scope of employment, including the California Attorney General, some Offices of County Counsel, attorneys employed by some trial courts for this purpose, and attorneys in private practice.