Vernon Fire Fighters v. City of Vernon

The City of Vernon (City) appeals from a judgment granting a peremptory writ of mandate in favor of Vernon Fire Fighters, Local 2312, affiliate of the International Association of Fire Fighters (Union) and Donald Podías (Podías), a fire captain with the City of Vernon Fire Department (Fire Department). The peremptory writ ordered that the City rescind disciplinary action taken against Podlas and reinstate him to his employment with restoration of all rights and benefits, and expunge the disciplinary action from his employment record. More broadly, the writ also required that the City set aside and rescind action taken by it on August 9 and 17, 1976, at least to the extent that the action prohibits firemen from using city facilities to wash personal automobiles while not on duty. In addition, the City was ordered to reinstate the right of all firemen on 24 hour shifts to wash their private automobiles on City premises during off-duty time. The remainder of the orders dealt with requiring the City to engage in collective bargaining in the future regarding similar actions to be taken by the City and a requirement that the City provide various procedural steps prior to any…