Vallejo Police Officers Ass'n v. City of Vallejo

*605 The Vallejo Police Officers Association (VPOA) petitioned the superior court for a writ of mandate alleging that the City of Vallejo (City) engaged in bad-faith bargaining in violation of state law and then unilaterally imposed contract terms that impaired VPOA members' vested rights to retiree medical benefits that covered insurance premiums up to the full cost of a Kaiser health plan. The superior court denied the petition, *606 concluding that VPOA had not shown its members had a vested right to the full Kaiser premium and that the City had not bargained in bad faith; the court therefore declined to order the City to start new contract negotiations or to reinstate retirement medical benefits at the level previously provided to VPOA members. We will affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Faced with ever-increasing employee and retiree costs that led to operating deficits and the depletion of its general fund reserves, the City filed a petition for bankruptcy relief in May 2008. At that time, under its existing labor agreement with the VPOA, the City paid the full premium cost for retirees and employees of any medical plan offered through the California Public…