Smith v. City of Napa

Defendant City of Napa (City) dismissed plaintiff Jeffrey Smith from its fire department after he failed remedial tests of his competency at required skills. On the effective date of his dismissal, he filed an application for a disability retirement. (Gov. Code, § 21150 et seq.) While his disability application was pending, the City Council affirmed the appeal of his dismissal. Defendant Board of Administration of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) eventually denied the disability claim, citing Haywood v. American River Fire Protection Dist. (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 1292 [ 79 Cal.Rptr.2d 749 ] (Haywood), because plaintiff no longer had an employment relationship with the City.

The plaintiff filed this petition for a writ of mandate to direct the defendants to consider the merits of his application for a disability retirement. As the plaintiff failed to make a timely request for a statement of decision, the superior court summarily denied the petition.

In the published part of this opinion, we reject his criticisms of the Haywood holding as dictum extraneous to its ratio decidendi and as inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent. We also explain an…