County of Los Angeles v. Employee Relations Commission CA2/7

INTRODUCTION

Real party in interest Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA) appeals from a judgment in favor of plaintiffs County of Los Angeles and the County’s Office of the District Attorney, Chief Executive Office, and Department of Human Resources. The court issued a peremptory writ of administrative mandate commanding defendant Employee Relations Commission of the County of Los Angeles (ERCOM) to set aside its order prohibiting the District Attorney’s Office (DAO) from making changes to the Deputy District Attorney (DDA) performance evaluation system, to enter a new order that the DAO and the County did not make the changes improperly, and to dismiss the ADDA’s unfair practice charge. ADDA first challenges the judgment on the ground the trial court did not have jurisdiction to rule on the petition for writ of administrative mandate because the petition was untimely under Government Code section 3509.5, subdivision (b). ADDA also challenges the judgment on the merits, arguing that the DAO implemented the new performance evaluation system after ADDA was certified as the collective bargaining unit for DDAs. Therefore, ADDA contends, it was an unfair practice for the…