California Court of Appeal

In plaintiff's employment discrimination and retaliation suit against defendant-agency for being suspended as an administrative law judge on three occasions subsequent to her filing a charge with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging that travel assignments were made discriminatorily, judgment in favor of plaintiff is affirmed where: 1) the doctrine of res judicata does not preclude a state employee from pursuing both internal administrative civil service remedies and those available under the Fair Employment Housing Act; 2) although the doctrine of collateral estoppel may act to preclude a retaliation claim if issues decided in the administrative action eliminate a necessary element of the employee's case, in this case, the administrative agency's findings do not eliminate a necessary element of plaintiff's retaliation action; and 3) there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/09/2009
• Published 12/09/2009

Judges

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Alicia M.B. Fowler, Assistant Attorney General, Vincent J. Scally, Jr., Noreen P. Skelly, Deputy Attorneys General, for Defendant and Appellant., Herron & Herron, Joseph Clapp and J. Wynne Herron, San Francisco, for Plaintiff and Respondent.