Reclamation District No. 684 v. Department of Industrial Relations

Reclamation District No. 684 (District) appeals from a judgment that denied its petition for a writ of mandamus. District seeks to vacate the determination of the Director (Director) of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) that the maintenance work done on a levee to protect an island in the Delta from flooding was a public works project subject to the prevailing wage laws. (Lab. Code, § 1720 et seq.)

The Director is authorized to determine, pursuant to a request by an interested party, whether a “specific project or type of work to be performed” is covered under the prevailing wage laws as a public work. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, §§ 16001-16002.5, hereafter Title 8.)

District contracted with a manufacturing firm to place fill on a levee in the Delta but did not require it to pay prevailing wages to its employees. The work has been performed. An interested party, the Foundation for Fair Contracting (FFC), obtained a coverage determination from the Director that the work was subject to the prevailing wage laws. District challenges the determination. It contends the maintenance work was not a “public work” because it is exempt as involving the “operation of [an]…