Soto

Defendant County of Riverside (County) challenges the trial court’s judgment after an order granting plaintiff Jose Soto’s (Soto) motion for summary judgment on a writ of mandate. The judgment (1) declares unconstitutional the provision in a memorandum of understanding requiring a disciplined employee to pay for half of the hearing costs for an administrative appeal if the employee pursues the appeal through privately retained counsel rather than through the union; (2) orders the County to provide all employees who appeal disciplinary actions under the memorandum of understanding a due process hearing free of monetary expense to the employees; and (3) orders the County to reimburse plaintiff for the hearing costs he was improperly required to pay. We conclude that the cost-sharing provision is unconstitutional under established case law. However, because the judgment drafted by the County and signed by the trial court does not accurately reflect the issues litigated, we reverse the judgment and direct the parties to present to the trial court for approval and entry a corrected order and corrected judgment.

Statement of Facts

On October 5, 1999, Soto was terminated from…