Pegues

Eddy S. Tanaka, Director, County of Los Angeles Department of Public Social Services (the Department), and the County of Los Angeles (collectively, the County) appeal a judgment which granted Sheila Pegues’s (Pegues) petition for writ of mandate and overturned her discharge from employment..

The essential issue presented is whether the trial court erred in determining discharge was an excessive penalty and in reinstating Pegues to her position.

*99 We conclude the trial court abused its discretion by substituting its own judgment for that of the Civil Service Commission of the County of Los Angeles (the Commission), which had determined that discharge was an appropriate penalty for Pegues’s dishonest application for food stamp benefits. We therefore reverse the judgment with directions to deny Pegues*s petition.

Factual and Procedural Background

1. Factual background.

In March 1979, Pegues commenced her employment as an eligibility worker with the Department. At the time of her discharge, she held the position of eligibility worker II. Employees in that position are charged with “independently determining the initial and continuing eligibility for applicants and…