Riverside Sheriffs' Ass'n v. County of Riverside

This action arises from the County of Riverside’s terminating Leisha Fauth’s employment as a senior district attorney investigator and thereafter refusing to engage in appeal proceedings provided under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering Fauth’s employment. The County of Riverside and its board of supervisors, district attorney, and executive officer (collectively, the county) appeal from a judgment entered after the trial court granted the first cause of action of Fauth’s petition for a writ of mandamus, seeking an MOU appeal hearing.

Plaintiffs Fauth and the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association cross-appeal the trial court’s denial of the second cause of action of their writ petition, seeking relief under the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (POBRA) (Gov. Code, § 3300 et seq. ).

The county contends the trial court erred in granting the writ petition as to the second cause of action and ordering an MOU appeal hearing. The county argues that article XII of the MOU, relating to disciplinary appeals, is inapplicable because disciplinary action was not taken against Fauth. Rather, the county applied for involuntary disability retirement for…