Pomona Police Officers' Ass'n v. City of Pomona

J.—Appellant Pomona Police Officers’ Association appeals from the judgment denying the Association’s petition for writ of mandate entered in favor of respondent City of Pomona. The Association seeks to compel the City to take all action necessary to increase the compensation for retirement purposes of its members by the amount of employer-paid employee contributions to the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS). The collective bargaining agreement between the Association and the City gives the members of the Association the option to convert the employer-paid employee contributions to salary for retirement purposes. We conclude that this retirement conversion option violates the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL) and is thus unenforceable. We conclude further that the City cannot be compelled to amend its contract with PERS to retroactively validate the retirement conversion option at a substantial cost to the City. Nor can the City be compelled to provide alternative economic benefits. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural Background

The Association is the employee organization recognized by the City as the exclusive representative of all nonmanagement City police…