Wattar

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Complaint: Judgment on the Pleadings Plaintiff Wattar worked at defendant Palmdale School District (PSD), starting in 2000. She is a naturalized American citizen of Lebanese extraction. Wattar received worker’s compensation benefits in 2003 and again in May 2005. She was cleared to return to work on November 10, 2006. PSD denied Wattar a job and took the position that she had resigned. She filed suit against PSD on March 23, 2011, alleging discrimination based on her national origin. PSD answered the complaint, alleging (among other things) that Wattar’s suit is time-barred and that she failed to comply with Government Claims Act (GCA) provisions. PSD brought a motion for judgment on the pleadings asserting that Wattar failed to exhaust her administrative remedies by filing a timely claim under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). PSD reasoned that without a right-to-sue letter, the court lacked jurisdiction to proceed. Wattar responded that she is proceeding under the state Constitution, not under FEHA.2 PSD countered that if Wattar is not proceeding under FEHA, she was required to make a timely claim under the GCA. On August 4, 2011, the…