Keeping you up-to-date on our work to increase your salary, improve and protect your benefits, and aggressively represent your professional interests in every forum where they are at stake.
CASE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATE
Yet Another Win Against Waste. CASE secured another victory against the State’s disturbing habit of outsourcing legal work that could and should be done by CASE members.
This time: CASE challenged CalSTRS’ contract for over $1 million with Nossaman LLP to perform litigation services. In its unsuccessful effort to justify the outsourcing, CalSTRS offered a variety of frivolous arguments. SPB quickly rejected CalSTRS rather audacious initial claim that it was not subject to the California Constitution or any of the rules regarding civil service employees and outsourcing. CalSTRS’ then failed to comply with regulations that clearly require any agency to provide evidence to support its claims. SPB found that “[o]n that basis alone, CalSTRS has failed to meet its burden.”
As if that weren’t enough, SPB then went on to reject CalSTRS’ various “in the alternative” arguments that claimed the contract was justified under various subdivisions of Government Code section 19130.
CalSTRS also claimed that it was having extreme difficulty hiring attorneys, and despite varied recruitment efforts for open positions, it had received zero applications. For that argument, we are appreciative: we’ll certainly be sharing this evidence with CalHR at the bargaining table as yet another example of the urgent need to address Unit 2 salary and benefits. If you’ve seen your department outsource Unit 2 work, let us know at outsidelegalcounsel@calattorneys.org
And On Outsourcing, Former Legislative Leader Sides with CASE.. Former Assembly Speaker and State Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg’s scathing Capitol Weekly opinion piece, “California’s Civil Rights Department should not spend your tax dollars on private law firms,” praises CASE for fighting “unjustifiable outsourcing” by the state Civil Rights Department (CRD).
Hertzberg notes that CRD “has made a habit of retaining outside counsel from expensive law firms to do the job of state-employed attorneys, leaving taxpayers on the hook for funding both compensation for state attorneys and retainers for expensive boutique law firms. Meanwhile, the State of California is facing an estimated $30 billion deficit as it enters its next fiscal year, resulting in cuts to education, healthcare, climate programs, and more.”
As reported in CASE Files and in the media, CASE is suing CRD for contracting out legal services in two cases, work that CASE maintains should be performed by our members. Hertzberg agrees with our position and notes that, “… now, because of this lawsuit, public funds are not only being used to grow the bottom lines of private law firms, but they are also being used to defend CRD in the court of law, further increasing the wastefulness of CRD’s rampant outsourcing.”
You can follow the latest developments in CASE Files as we continue to defend members’ job security and to fight wasteful outsourcing.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Other News of Interest to Unit 2 Legal Professionals:
- People of California v. City of Huntington Beach Case Review – JD Supra
- California Workers’ Comp Fraud Task Force Uncovers $1.6M in Unreported Payroll – Insurance Journal
- California Supreme Court rejects lawsuit challenging Newsom’s plan to treat mental illness – Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription)
CASE IN THE WILD
Earlier in April, 15 Bargaining Unit 2 employees, running with the California Department of Justice team, participated in the Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay, an 120-mile relay starting outside Baker, California, and finishing at the Rio Hotel & Suites in Las Vegas. The team performed outstandingly, finishing in 17 hours, 35 minutes, and 53 seconds, good for 7th out of 17 teams in the Invitational Mixed 800 category. The team also included CASE Members Kristopher Young, Michael Dorsi, Tanja Titre, William Frank, Michele Wong, Charles Lee, Yvonne Chi, Jim Stanley, Lou Karlin, Angel Braach, Denise Yates, and Elyse Davidson. Congratulations to everyone on this amazing accomplishment. If you are interested in participating in the event for 2024, either as a runner or a volunteer, please contact CASE Vice President Ryan Smith at ryan.smith@calattorneys.org.
Do you volunteer in your community? Mentor local youth? Enjoy activities with other CASE Members? Have a suggested feature? Send it our way.
REMINDERS
DEADLINE MONDAY: CASE Public Service Scholars Award. With college acceptance season nearly upon us, the Board is pleased to announce the first annual CASE Public Service Scholars Award, available exclusively to CASE Members and their dependents bound for college, law school, or graduate school. Applications will be accepted from March 1 through May 1. Click here for more information and to apply.