Hanson

A central question in this appeal is whether a school employee, terminated because his position expires, is required to file a claim under the Government Tort Claims Act (Gov. Code, § 800 et seq.) when he seeks damages for the school’s tortious refusal to rehire him to a later-created, similar position. We contrast the exemptions to the required filing of claims set forth in section 905, subdivisions (c) and (f) for employee claims for “wages” and “benefits,” with claims for tort damages measured by the amount equivalent to “wages lost for failure to reemploy.” For the reasons expressed, we find the latter are not included within the former.

Factual Background

John W. Hanson was employed by Garden Grove Unified School District (District) as “business manager/operations” from November 1971 until June 1973, at which time he was laid off because the position was being eliminated due to budget reductions. In June 1974, when District advertised to fill the position of “business manager,” Hanson promptly wrote District stating he believed the position now open was “similar” to the one he previously held and asked District to advise him about the possibility of his being…