Lozano Smith Represents School District in Case Regarding Proper Jurisdiction for Suits Under the Federal USERRA
On December 15, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Rimando v. Alum Rock Union Elementary School District (9th Cir. 2009), Case No. 08-17371, 2009 WL 4837653, holding that a California public school district is a "State employer" for purposes of the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 ("USERRA"), and consequently suits against school districts under USERRA must be filed in state court.
In Rimando, a former school district employee filed suit against the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District arguing that his lay-off by the district violated the USERRA and related state laws. The district moved to dismiss the plaintiff's federal court complaint. The district argued that it was a "State employer" under USERRA because under California law and the Eleventh Amendment of the United States Constitution, school districts are "arms of the state." As a "State employer" under the statute, the district argued that the express wording of the USERRA required the plaintiff to file his USERRA claims against the district in state, not federal, court. Congress changed USERRA in 1994 so that claims against the employers that are arms of the state would be filed in state court and, thus, could not be subject to such employers' Eleventh Amendment immunity defense available in federal court only at that time. The federal district court in Rimando agreed with the school district's arguments and dismissed the plaintiff's complaint for lack of jurisdiction.
On appeal to the Ninth Circuit, the appellate court affirmed the lower court based upon the parties' briefing and without oral argument. The Ninth Circuit agreed with the school district's argument that the plaintiff's case and arguments were foreclosed and controlled by the Ninth Circuit's decision in Townsend v. University of Alaska (9th Cir. 2008) 543 F.3d 478, which involved analysis of the University of Alaska's assertion of defenses to a USERRA suit by a former employee paralleling the defenses raised by the school district. The Rimando decision is the first decision by the Ninth Circuit to address USERRA suits brought against California public school districts.
Lozano Smith attorneys, Senior Counsel
Mark Kitabayashi and Associate
Sloan Simmons, represented Alum Rock Union Elementary School District in the case.