Joseph

I. FACTS

Joseph was fired from his position as a staff dentist at the California Rehabilitation

Center (CRC), a CDCR prison, in March 2014. His dismissal was preceded by a series of

lesser adverse actions, including (1) a March 2012 denial of a merit salary adjustment

(MSA); (2) a 30-day suspension in November 2012; (3) an April 2013 MSA denial; (4)

an October 2013 MSA denial; and (5) a salary reduction (a 5 percent reduction for nine 4 months) imposed in January 2014. During the relevant time period, Beltz was CRC’s

1 The named defendants include the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), James Beltz, James Elliot, and six other individuals. Only CDCR, Beltz, and Elliot, however, are respondents in this appeal. 2 Undesignated statutory references are to the Government Code. 3 The trial court separately granted summary judgment in favor of the other six defendants, and it granted CDCR summary adjudication in its favor on a second claim under Labor Code section 1102.5, but those rulings are not at issue here. 4 An April 2013 settlement with CDCR reduced the November 2012 suspension to 20 days. As part of the settlement, Joseph agreed to release any…