Sonoma County Employees' Retirement Ass'n v. Superior Court

The trial court ordered the Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association (SCERA) to disclose to real party in interest, The *990 Press Democrat, the names of all persons receiving SCERA pension benefits, the gross amount of each recipient’s benefit, and the recipient’s age at retirement. SCERA petitions for a writ of mandate to overturn the trial court’s order, contending the information sought is exempt from disclosure under the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937, Government Code section 31450 et seq. (CERL). 1 We hold SCERA need not disclose the ages of its benefit recipients at retirement, but it must disclose the names of recipients and the gross amount of each recipient’s pension benefits.

I. BACKGROUND

SCERA administers one of 20 defined-benefit county employee retirement plans governed by CERL. Active employees and their employer make contributions that SCERA holds in trust, invests, and uses to pay benefits to retirees and beneficiaries pursuant to formulae established by the Legislature for safety and nonsafety county employees. The amount of a retired member’s retirement benefit is calculated using a multifactor formula based upon the individual’s…