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Three Laotian correctional officers, Va Ly, Travis Herr and Pao Yang, were allegedly subjected to racial and national origin discrimination, harassment and retaliation by their employer, the County of Fresno (County), and its employees. The three filed suit against the County pursuant to the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Government Code section 12900 et seq., while simultaneously pursuing their workers' compensation remedies. In separate workers' compensation proceedings, the administrative law judges denied plaintiffs' claims after finding the County's actions were non-discriminatory, good faith personnel decisions. The County moved for summary judgment based on the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel, arguing the workers' compensation decisions barred plaintiffs' FEHA claims. The trial court granted summary judgment.

On appeal, plaintiffs contend (1) collateral estoppel does not apply because the findings in the workers' compensation proceedings that the County's actions were lawful, non-discriminatory, good faith personnel actions were not necessary to the decisions, and (2) neither res judicata nor *878 collateral estoppel apply because the workers'…