Hayes
Hayes v. CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES
Opinion
Opinion
Robie, J.
Ryan Hayes, by and through his guardian ad litem, filed a petition for peremptory writ of administrative mandamus (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) challenging the decision of an administrative law judge (ALJ) provided by the Department of General Services, Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). The decision affirmed the termination of funding for the educational portion of Hayes’s “In-Home Discrete Trial Program.” In his writ petition, Hayes named as a respondent the State Department of Developmental Services (the Department), the agency which contracted with OAH to provide the ALJ. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 4712, subd. (b).) The trial court dismissed the petition because Hayes failed to join OAH as a party before the 90-day statute of limitations had expired, reasoning that “effective relief’ could not be granted in the absence of OAH.
On appeal, Hayes contends OAH is not a necessary or indispensable party and, therefore, the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing his petition. We agree and shall reverse the judgment.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Ryan Hayes, who was 10 years old at the time of the underlying litigation, suffers from autism. He has been…