California Municipal Law Blog
category:
Recent Court Decisions
by Derek P. Cole on October 2, 2016
posted in
Inverse Condemnation, Recent Court Decisions,
In what can only be described as a classic example of a “First World problem,” a Beverly Hills couple sued their city for ruining their beautiful views. From their hilltop estate, the coupled had for years enjoyed unobstructed views of Beverly Hills, the Hollywood Hills, and other iconic Southern California landmarks. But when Sequoia redwood trees the city had planted many years earlier began taking on their customary sizes, the tree canopy started blocking the couple’s view. Because of the diminished view—which was getting worse as the trees grew—the couple sued the city for inverse ... Continue Reading
tags:
Beverly Hills, Boxer, Inverse Condemnation, View Obstruction,
by Derek P. Cole on August 15, 2016
posted in
Meetings, Recent Court Decisions,
When a person raises an issue not on a meeting agenda, how much can council or board members discuss the issue without running afoul of the Brown Act? A recent court case provides some helpful guidance.
In Cruz v. Culver City, a California appellate court held that a six-minute discussion about how to place an item on a future agenda did not violate the Brown Act. Fortunately for local agencies, the court rejected a challenge to the discussion that had relied on a hyper-technical reading of the Act’s language.
... Continue Reading
tags:
Agendas, Brown Act, Discussion on Unagendized Items,
by David G. Ritchie on March 31, 2016
posted in
Employment Law, Recent Court Decisions, Unions,
The Fourth District Court of Appeals issued two decisions yesterday that held that fact-finding under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (“MMBA”) applies to all impasses between exclusive representatives and MMBA public agencies such as cities, counties, and special districts. The results in these cases means that when impasse is reached in negotiations involving a city, county or special district with an exclusive representative employee organization, and that dispute involves subject matters within the scope of representation, the public agencies could be forced to engage in non-binding ... Continue Reading
tags:
AB 646, Fact-finding, MOUs, PERB,
by David G. Ritchie on March 29, 2016
posted in
Employment Law, Recent Court Decisions, U.S. Supreme Court, Unions,
Previously we wrote about Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (a link to our previous article is here), a case involving whether public-sector union fair share arrangements are invalid because they violate individual first amendment rights.
Today, the Supreme court divided equally in deciding the case and issued a one-sentence decision affirming the Appellate Court decision and leaving earlier precedent, including the Abood case intact (as criticized as it has become.) The case was decided by an eight-member Court, which could have held the case over for re-argument after confirmation ... Continue Reading
tags:
Abood Case, California Teachers Association, Fair Share Arrangements, Friedrichs, Ninth Circuit, Union Shop,
by Derek P. Cole on March 28, 2016
posted in
Public Records Act, Recent Court Decisions,
As this Blog previously noted, the State Supreme Court had before it two cases in which inadvertent disclosures of attorney-client privileged records were made in response to requests under the California Public Records Act (“CPRA”). In both cases, the question was whether the mistaken releases waived the privileges. (Our previous updates about these cases are linked here and here.)
On March 17, the Court resolved a split in the appellate courts by ruling that mistaken disclosures do not waive the attorney-client privilege (or the related attorney “work-product” protection). In ... Continue Reading
tags:
Attorney-Client Privilege, Mistaken Release, Public Records, Work Product Protection,
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