Rodarte

Plaintiff Michael Rodarte sought a writ of mandate directing his employer defendant Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) to pay his salary retroactively while an application for disability retirement was pending with the Orange County Employee’s Retirement System (OCERS). He also sought damages for deprivation of his alleged right to continued compensation without due process of law ( 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ) and breach of duty under state law. Plaintiff appeals from an order sustaining defendant’s demurrer. We affirm.

Facts

Plaintiff was a firefighter employed by defendant since its inception in 1994. Within a few months of his employment he suffered a back injury while representing defendant in a sporting event. For several months plaintiff took medical leave and depleted his accrued sick time. Over a year later, he obtained a work release from his personal physician but was denied one from an OCFA physician. The OCFA physician instructed plaintiff to continue his physical therapy. One month thereafter plaintiff’s personal physician again released him to resume work. But he was again denied release by the OCFA physician, and was ordered to enroll in a “work hardening”…