Administrative Law

Gov. Code 53069.4 allows local governments to enforce their ordinances through an administrative process for imposing and collecting fines.  Unlike most administrative proceedings that may be reviewed only by a writ of administrative mandamus under CCP 1094.5, a citizen can appeal to the superior court from a decision by that administrative process within 20 days after the decision. (Gov. Code… Read More

A court may abstain from adjudicating a suit that seeks equitable remedies if granting the requested relief would require a trial court to assume the functions of an administrative agency, or to interfere with the functions of an administrative agency.  Here, plaintiff sought injunctive relief against a local water service district to prevent a particular employee from operating its water… Read More

In hospital peer review committee proceedings, a person hired by a hospital to serve as a hearing officer may be disqualified for financial bias under Business and Professions Code section 809.2(b), on grounds that the officer has an incentive to favor the hospital in order to increase the chances of receiving future appointments.  Under the statute, a hearing officer is… Read More

An employee who had complained about his supervisor, was terminated and then claimed retaliation for his whistleblowing was not required to exhuast his administrative remedies before the employer's human relations commission because the commission's decision would have been subject to review and change by the supervisor in consultation with the mayor.  To have the personally involved supervisor (who had been… Read More

The Agricultural Labor Relations Board's access regulation (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 20900) gives agricultural labor unions a limited right to access to agricultural workers while on their employer's property for an hour before and after work and during the lunch hour for four months out of the year.  This decision holds that the regulation is a per se… Read More

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's structure is unconstitutional in providing that the President can remove the head of that agency only for cause.  However, that fact does not invalidate the acts taken by the FHFA's head or entitle shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to damages unless they can prove that the restriction on the President's power (as opposed… Read More

Plaintiff is a medical doctor specializing in pain management.  CVS, a pharmacy, informed him it would no longer fill his patients' prescriptions, citing conerns he was over-prescribing controlled substances.  Plaintiff sued for an injunction directing CVS to fill his prescriptions.  Held, injunction properly denied.  The State Board of Pharmacy has primary jurisdiction over the issues in this litigation.  It enforces… Read More

Applying Kisor v. Wilkie (2019) 139 S.Ct. 2400 and its analysis of Auer deference, this decision concludes that a decision of the HHS Departmental Review Board which interpreted an ambiguous HHS Medicare regulation was entitled to Auer deference.  The Board's interpretation was "authoritative" because the Board issues HHS' final decision in contested cases, subject to federal court review.  The interpretation… Read More

To secure a Coastal Commission permit to build a beach house, the prior owner agreed to grant the Coastal Conservancy a 5-feet wid public easement along one side of the house to afford public access to the beach.  After a public acceptance of the easement was recorded, the prior owner then ignored it and built an unpermitted deck above the… Read More

A court reviews a agency regulation adopted pursuant to quasi-legislative authority delegated by Congress under an arbitrary and capricious standard, requiring the regulation to be reasonable and reasonably explained.  5 USC 706(2)(A).  However, judicial review is deferential.   A court simply ensures that the agency has acted within a zone of reasonableness and, in particular, has reasonably considered the relevant issues… Read More

The Administrative Procedure Act allows only three remedies for discovery abuse in the course of an administrative proceeding.  First, the requesting party may file a motion before the ALJ conducting the proceeding to compel the discovery.  (Gov. Code, 11507.7(a).)  Second, that party may request monetary sanctions from the supervisor ALJ, managing the regional ALJ office.  (Gov. Code, 11455.30(a).)  Third, the… Read More

USC did not exceed its jurisdiction in suspending Alpha Nu for six years as a result of its misconduct in hazing pledges during the 2016 rush week even though it acted on a complaint filed 14 months later.  USC's internal disciplinary process is not governed by any statute of limitations.  Here, the complaint was just two months later than USC's… Read More

The plaintiff in this employment discrimination case under FEHA adequately exhausted her administrative remedies by filing a charge with DFEH which named her managers, supervisors and coworkers as well as the fictitious business name of her employer.  The fact that the DFEH charge did not correctly identify the true corporate name of the defendant employer was no reason to bar… Read More

Even if interpretation of an administrative regulation does not depend on special expertise and technical knowledge, the agency's interpretation of its own regulation may be entitled to judicial deference because the agency is likely to be familiar with the policy it promotes and sensitive to the practical implications of the competing interpretations.  Here, the university was entitled to deference in… Read More

In a construction dispute that originally was over $22,096, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding plaintiff only $90,000 in attorney fees out of the $292,140 requested.  The case was relatively simple, ultimately turning on the contractor's lack of a license and proper insurance.  It involved only money, so it was reasonable to compare fees against recovery… Read More

Despite the unconstitutional nature of the CFPB's original structure, the agency's civil investigative demand was enforceable since the current removable director of the agency had ratified the issuance of the CID.  The constitutional infirmity related solely to the CFPB's director, not to the agency itself or its staff which had issued the CID.  Seila law could not resist the CID… Read More

A plaintiff who brings a suit against a government entity must first file a government claim with the defendant entity.  If the plaintiff misses the 6-month deadline for presentation of a claim, she may, within a year of accrual of her claim, file a petition for leave to file a late claim.  If the entity denies the petition, the plaintiff… Read More

Plaintiff was injured while working on a rescue boat owned by defendant.  Plaintiff did not file a timely government claim within 6 months of his injury, but did file a timely application for permission to present a late claim, within one year of the injury.  Defendant's response to the application stated that it had denied plaintiff's claim, not his application,… Read More

Even in a case in which the court applies the de novo standard of review to a petition for administrative mandamus, the court reviews for abuse of discretion the administrative agency's refusal to consider new evidence presented after the ALJ's decision.  Here, the court reverses, finding an abuse of discretion in the Appeals Board's refusal to consider a belated declaration… Read More

Under CCP 1094.6, a petition for administrative mandate must be filed within 90 days after the administrative decision becomes final.  But that statutory period does not begin to run until the administrative agency mails its decision to the petitioner with a notice that warns of the 90-day limit on petitioning for mandate and states the date on which the administrative… Read More