L.A. County Employees Retirement Assn. v. County of L.A.

INTRODUCTION

This appeal presents two questions: First, does the fiduciary board of a county public employee retirement system established under the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (Gov. Code, § 31450 et seq. (CERL)) 1 have authority under the California Constitution and relevant statutes to create employment classifications and set salaries for employees of the retirement system? Second, does section 31522.1 impose a ministerial duty on a county board of supervisors to include in the county’s employment classifications and salary ordinance the classifications and salaries adopted by the board of a county public employee retirement system for employees of that system? It will take some time and space to explain our answers to these

Undesignated statutory references are to the Government Code.

2 questions. In the meantime, here’s the short version: Yes and yes. In 1992 the voters gave governing boards of public employee retirement systems “plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the system.” (Cal. Const., art. XVI, § 17, added by initiative, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 3, 1992), the California Pension Protection Act of…