California Science Center v. State Personnel Board

Rudy Arellanes appeals the trial court’s grant of a petition for writ of mandate by the California Science Center (Center) seeking to reverse the decision of the State Personnel Board (SPB) overturning Arellanes’s termination. The trial court also denied Arellanes’s petition for writ of mandate seeking reinstatement. We conclude that the administrative law judge (ALT) and the SPB erred in excluding evidence of Arellanes’s termination by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), and we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Arellanes submitted three examination and/or employment applications to the Center’s department of public safety (department). On December 28, 2006, Arellanes applied for the position of department chief. On March 20, 2007, he applied for the position of museum security officer, a position for which he was hired on April 24, 2007. On July 14, 2007, Arellanes applied for the position of supervising museum security officer, and he was promoted to that position on September 10, 2007.

The first two applications asked in question 5: “Have you ever been dismissed or terminated from any position for performance or other disciplinary reasons? . . . [][] If ‘Yes’ to Question…