Janken

In Caldwell v. Montoya (1995) 10 Cal.4th 972 [ 42 Cal.Rptr.2d 842 , 897 P.2d 1320 ], the Supreme Court considered whether individual members of a public school board placed themselves at risk of personal liability on claims of the FEHA discrimination when they voted to terminate the school district’s superintendent. The Caldwell court found that statutory immunities protect public sector employees from personal liability on claims such as FEHA discrimination. Since Caldwell was decided on the immunity issue, the Caldwell court found it unnecessary to decide the “broad and difficult” preliminary question of whether the FEHA exposes individual supervisory employees to the risk of personal liability for discrimination whenever they make a personnel decision. We now confront that question.

The question is one of legislative intent. (See, e.g., California Teachers Assn. v. San Diego Community College Dist. (1981) 28 Cal.3d 692, 698 [170 Cal.Rptr. 817, 621 P.2d 856 ] [fundamental rule of statutory construction is to ascertain the intent of the Legislature].) Plaintiffs contend that the Legislature intended to place every individual supervisory employee in California at risk of…