Ortega

Demoted from his position as the head football coach at Contra Costa Community College (College) in March 2004 and ultimately terminated from the College at the conclusion of the 2005 school year, Jose Ortega filed two separate suits against the Contra Costa Community College District (District) under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) (Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.) challenging, respectively, the demotion and the termination. The trial court dismissed each complaint, concluding Ortega failed to exhaust the administrative remedies provided in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) entered into between United Faculty, the union representing Ortega, and the District. We conclude the trial court erred. Because the District’s internal grievance procedures were created by a CBA and culminated in an arbitration, neither administrative nor judicial exhaustion applies to bar Ortega’s claims.

BACKGROUND

Ortega was hired in the fall of 1996 by the District as an assistant football coach at the College. He served as the interim head football coach from August 1999 to January 2001, and was hired as the head football coach and as a physical education teacher in…