Woodward

Defendant (County of Los Angeles) appeals from a declaratory judgment in plaintiff’s (Woodward) favor declaring that plaintiff is entitled to receive a lump sum payment at retirement which is equivalent to the number of days of vacation earned during his last year plus the number of days earned but not taken in the previous year up to a maximum of 31 days.

Statement of Facts

On May 1, 1979, James T. Woodward (Woodward) retired after working for several years as a municipal court commissioner for the County of Los Angeles in the Santa Anita Judicial District and in the Burbank Judicial District. During the previous year, while planning for his impending retirement, Woodward obtained from the chief clerk and administrative officer *869 of his court a copy of an informal opinion letter issued by the county counsel on September 14, 1978, addressing the issue of leaving vacation.

The opinion letter stated that a municipal court commissioner may elect to receive either a leaving vacation or a lump sum payment to a maximum of 31 days, based upon 10 days allowable carryover (if available) from the previous year and twenty-one (21) days as accrued on a monthly basis in the…