G&A Obtains Class Certification for Parity Pay Case

On Friday July 2, 2010 the Sacramento County Superior Court granted Goyette & Associates’ motion for class certification in the parity pay lawsuit for the California Correctional Supervisors Organization (CCSO) against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the California Department of Personnel Administration (DPA).  Under the difficult multi-part ‘test’ to certify a class action pursuant to state law (CA CCP section 382), the Court found that G&A had established all the required elements to show that named Plaintiffs CCSO and Lieutenant Chris Gold adequately represented all ‘similarly situated’ CDCR Sergeants and Lieutenants who are CCSO members under a certified class.  Based on the factual and legal arguments made by G&A Attorneys Gary Goyette and Francesca Gianuario, the Court certified the class and rejected CDCR/DPA’s arguments that the suit should not proceed as a class action, but should be limited to a Petition for Writ of Mandate.  The lawsuit now proceeds as a certified class action for CCSO’s effort to obtain retroactive pay for a year and a half period in which CDCR provided retroactive pay to the rank-and-file Correctional Officers, but refused to provide the same or any similar pay or benefits to the Sergeants and Lieutenants.  The Court’s decision to grant the motion and certify the class reflects the detailed hard work and experience of G&A’s civil litigation attorneys dealing with class actions.