California Court of Appeal

In Employment Development Department's (Department) action issuing an assessment against defendant-providers of payroll services for underpaying its unemployment insurance contributions, trial court's reversal of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board's (Board) affirmance of and ALJ's decision setting aside the assessments is affirmed where: 1) given the unity of focus on retroactivity in Unemployment Insurance Code sections 982(e) and 1127.5(d), the Legislature appears to have intended to reference the latter statute to incorporate the limitations section of 1127.5(d), not the entire statutory scheme for correct employer assessments; 2) nothing in the record supports the defendant's assertion that the Legislature intended compliance with section 1127.5(a), (b), and (c) as a prerequisite to the Department's issuance of assessments against employers determined to be unified enterprises under section 135.1 and 135.2; and 3) amici curiae's various challenges are rejected, including a claim that the trial court's interpretation of the statutory scheme violates defendant's due process rights and a claim that the trial court determined that the statutes were "ambiguous" and supplanted the Board's interpretation with its own.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/18/2010
• Published 11/18/2010

Judges

• RAYE

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• David Carroll Wheeler, Sandra Hughes