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Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association v. County of Los Angeles6/20/2002
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 209. (Cal. Const., art. I, § 31, subd. (a) (section 31).) That law added to California's Constitution a prohibition on the state discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any person or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, education and contracting. Appellants Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association (the Association), Ronald Bell, Terry Bonyea, Gary Hayden, James Kagy, Kenneth Mays, Steven Raber, and John Stites (collectively PPOA) contend the County of Los Angeles and Sheriff Lee Baca (collectively the County), in violation of section 31, grant preferences on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin when sergeants are promoted to the rank of lieutenant. After submission of evidence, the trial court denied PPOA's petition for writ of mandate and held that the County's process of promoting sergeants to the rank of lieutenant does not violate section 31. Because substantial evidence supports the trial court's holding, we affirm the judgment.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The County's Lieutenant Promotion Process
PPOA is the exclusive bargaining representative for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department sergeants and lieutenants with respect to wages, hours, and conditions of employment. Ronald Bell, Terry Bonyea, Gary Hayden, James Kagy, Kenneth Mays, Steven Raber, and John Stites are White male sergeants who were on the 1997-1999 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department promotional list but were not promoted to lieutenant. The County employed the individual appellants, and from December 1998, Leroy Baca has been the Sheriff of Los Angeles County. Sherman Block was his predecessor.
To be considered for promotion to the rank of lieutenant, sergeants must take a promotional examination. Based on their examination scores, candidates are placed into groups-also known as "bands"-as follows: Group 1: 95% - 100%; Group 2: 89% - 94%; Group 3: 83% - 88%; Group 4: 77% - 82%; and Group 5: 70% - 76%. (Los Angeles County Code, § 11.01, subd. (C).) The sheriff's department then selects candidates for promotion to the rank of lieutenant from these Groups. After 1996, the department made appointments to lieutenant from Group 2, because all Group 1 nominees had already been promoted.
Appointments to the rank of lieutenant are made when sufficient current or anticipated vacancies occur in the lieutenant ranks. When such vacancies occur, nine sheriff department commanders from each of the department's eight divisions plus one commander from the department's executive office have a "pre-break up" meeting. In that meeting, the commanders review candidates in eligible Groups for promotion and make recommendations as to who will be the "promotees" to the rank of lieutenant. Commanders are given information about candidates for promotion in a biographical information document that includes each candidate's name; date of hire; age; residence; employee number; current and past dates of units of assignments; date and rating of each candidate's last three performance evaluations; educational attainment; and coding indicating the candidate's gender and race or ethnicity. During the pre-break up meeting, the commanders discuss, for example, the nominees' biographical
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