SOFRANEK

Sofranek v. County of Merced

Good Law

146 Cal. App. 4th 1238·2007 Cal. App. LEXIS 55·2007 Daily Journal DAR 813·53 Cal. Rptr. 3d 426·2007 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 712

Court of Appeal of CaliforniaJanuary 17, 2007F049379California5,643 words

Opinion

Gomes, J.

The trial court dismissed Michael H. Sofranek’s action against Merced County (the County), the Merced County Sheriff’s Office (Sheriff’s Office) and Mark N. Pazin (collectively respondents) after sustaining respondents’ demurrer to Soffanek’s first amended complaint without leave to amend. Sofranek contends the court erroneously applied the six-month limitations period for bringing a governmental tort claim (Gov. Code, § 945.6), and erred in concluding he could not establish the elements of estoppel. As we shall explain, while we disagree with Soffanek’s first contention, we agree the trial court erred in finding the doctrine of estoppel did not apply. Accordingly, we will reverse the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Sofranek was employed as a correctional sergeant in the Sheriff’s Office, a position he held for 27 years until his retirement in December 2004. For nearly 20 of those years he served as supervisor in the corrections division, and held the rank of sergeant for the last 19 years of his employment.

In January 2004, a vacancy opened in the Sheriff’s Office for the position of commander in the corrections division. Although the County had enacted…

Sign in to read the full opinion

Create a free account to read the complete opinion text, citation history, and good-law status for this case.