Opinion No. (2005)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE MARK WYLAND, MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a hospital district operating under the Local Health Care District Law include a provision in a four-year employment contract with its hospital administrator that allows the administrator to resign for "good cause" and receive a cash settlement of 18-months severance pay if the district declines at least two years prior to the expiration of the contract to terminate the contract and execute a new four-year contract on the same terms and conditions as the current contract? CONCLUSION A hospital district operating under the Local Health Care District Law may not include a provision in a four-year employment contract with its hospital administrator that allows the administrator to resign for "good cause" and receive a cash settlement of 18-months severance pay if the district declines at least two years prior to the expiration of the contract to terminate the contract and execute a new four-year contract on the same terms and conditions as the current contract. ANALYSIS The Legislature has enacted a…