Reed

I dissent. The majority has adopted the position advocated by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), concluding there was an insufficient legal basis to modify teacher seniority rights because the trial court did not adjudicate the merits of the constitutional claims brought by plaintiffs Sharail Reed and others (Students). The majority finds that a merits determination was necessary because the trial court’s fairness hearing resulted in an impact to UTLA’s rights without sufficient due process. In my view, this conclusion is not supported by the record or the law. Central to the constitutional right to due process is the “guarantee that ‘absent a countervailing state interest of overriding significance, persons forced to settle their claims of right and duty through the judicial process must be given a meaningful opportunity to be heard.’ [Citations.]” (Salas v. Cortez (1979) 24 Cal.3d 22, 27 [ 154 Cal.Rptr. 529 , 593 P.2d 226 ].) Here, UTLA actively participated in the matter as an intervening defendant, took and obtained discovery from other parties, examined and cross-examined witnesses during a four-day fairness hearing, submitted briefs and oral argument on its position and…

*327 Opinion

United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) appeals a judgment entered upon a consent decree after the trial court conducted a fairness hearing and gave the consent decree final approval. 1 The consent decree was reached between the Los Angeles Unified School District (District), the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (Partnership) and students (Students) from three of the District’s schools (Three Schools) 2 to resolve claims that teacher layoffs had disproportionately and adversely impacted the Students’ constitutional and statutory rights to equal educational opportunities, and that additional layoffs would exacerbate the harm. According to UTLA, the consent decree potentially abrogates the seniority rights of its members and it is entitled to a decision on the merits of the Students’ claims as a matter of federal due process. In the alternative, it contends that the trial court lacked the authority under Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 to enter the judgment. We agree on both counts. The judgment is reversed and the matter is remanded for further proceedings.

FACTS

The Education Code and the collective bargaining agreement between the District and its teachers…