Fleming

INTRODUCTION

James A. Fleming sued Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) for breach of contract arising out of his former employment as CUSD superintendent. He alleged CUSD breached an agreement to provide him a defense to criminal charges and an agreement to pay him 18 months of salary as severance pay in exchange for his resignation as superintendent. The trial court granted CUSD’s motion for summary judgment and motion for attorney fees and costs. Fleming appealed from the judgment and from the order awarding CUSD attorney fees. We affirm. Based on the undisputed facts, we conclude CUSD was not contractually obligated to provide Fleming a defense to the criminal charges or to pay him 18 months of salary as severance pay. In both situations, the CUSD board of trustees (the CUSD Board) did not take the official action required by law to contractually bind CUSD. In addition, Fleming did not timely present a government claim and, therefore, his claim for severance pay is barred. The trial court did not err by awarding CUSD attorney fees because substantial evidence supported the court’s finding that Fleming’s claims arose out of a contract with an attorney fees…