Doe

Plaintiff is a permanent certificated teacher employed by defendant Lincoln Unified School District (the District). After the District placed plaintiff on sick leave shortly after the start of the 2008-2009 school year due to concerns over her mental fitness, plaintiff initiated this action against the District, the District’s governing board (the Board), and the District’s superintendent, seeking a writ of mandate to compel defendants to initiate proceedings under Education Code section 44942 (section 44942). Section 44942 provides a detailed procedure for determining if a teacher “is suffering from mental illness of such a degree as to render him or her incompetent to perform his or her duties.” (§ 44942, subd. (a).) Plaintiff filed the action under a fictitious name in order to protect her privacy.

While this matter was pending, the District initiated section 44942 proceedings and placed plaintiff on paid administrative leave, as required by that legislation.

The trial court concluded the District was required to initiate section 44942 proceedings before placing plaintiff on involuntary sick leave. The court issued a peremptory writ of mandate compelling defendants…