State Ass'n of Real Property Agents v. State Personnel Board

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Alameda County Superior Court denying a petition for a writ of mandamus, or, in the alternative, prohibition. Appellants are four state employee organizations and a number of individual Department of Transportation employees. The lawsuit arose under the following circumstances.

In August of 1975 the department, faced with certain revenue cutbacks, submitted to the State Personnel Board, as required by law, a scheme or method for implementing the planned layoffs. After these proposals had been calendared for a September 4 hearing, appellants filed with the board an “Appeal and Request for Investigation and Hearing” alleging that the department had formulated its proposals without complying with the “meet and confer” laws required by Government Code sections 3529 and 3530, and that the proposals were consequently not before the board. At the same time appellants requested the board to make its own determination concerning the department’s compliance with “meet and confer” laws, and to stay proceedings until compliance had been effected.

At the September 4 meeting the board took appellants’ request under submission and, later, on…