Doyle

These consolidated appeals raise the questions of whether section 15031 of the California Unemployment Insurance Code is preempted by provisions of the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA or the act) and whether defendants who are successfully sued for violating a statute may immunize themselves from liability for attorneys’ fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 by filing a disclaimer of interest in the litigation while at the same time continuing the statutory violation which triggered the litigation. We find section 15031 is preempted by the act and we dismiss the appeal concerning attorneys’ fees as moot.

Plaintiffs Lori Doyle and Judy Bakanec, Contra Costa County residents eligible for job training services, filed this action seeking injunctive and declaratory relief and peremptory writs of mandate. They sought to compel enforcement of section 15031. That section requires Private Industry Councils (PIC’s) organized under JTPA to include in their membership a representative of a child resource and referral agency and a public assistance recipient who has recently completed or is receiving job training under JTPA. Neither of these categories of…