Opinion ID: 1183588
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: measurement of damages

Text: (5a) The Courts of Appeal are divided on the issue of the manner in which back pay due an employee is measured. In Keely v. State Personnel Board, supra, 53 Cal. App.3d 88, 98, the court held that the amount of back pay due is to be measured from the date of actual dismissal to the date the evidentiary hearing was held. In Kristal v. State Personnel Bd., supra, 50 Cal. App.3d 230, 235, 241, the court affirmed a decision of the trial court holding that the proper measuring time is from the date of actual discipline to the date the board's decision became final. The board suggests the correct termination date should be the date on which the employee could reasonably have been expected to make a responsive showing to the charges against him. The constitutional infirmity of the disciplinary procedures used in the present case was the imposition of discipline prior to affording the employee notice of the reasons for the punitive action and an opportunity to respond. ( Skelly v. State Personnel Bd., supra, 15 Cal.3d at p. 215.) This infirmity is not corrected until the employee has been given an opportunity to present his arguments to the authority initially imposing discipline. ( Id. ) Under the procedures applied to plaintiff, the constitutional vice existed until the time the board rendered its decision. Prior to that time, the discipline imposed was invalid. The board's argument that we should measure damages terminating at the time the employee could reasonably have responded cannot be accepted. The due process right to respond exists only if response is permitted to be made, and therefore must be available for consideration prior to rendering the disciplinary decision. As noted, at the time plaintiff was permitted to file an answer, the discipline imposed on him was invalid. The proper period for measuring the amount of back pay due therefore begins at the time discipline is actually imposed and ends on the date the board files its decision.