Hipsher v. Los Angeles County Employees etc.

Hipsher v. Los Angeles County Employees etc. (CA2/4 B276486 6/19/18) Public Pension forfeiture/Due Process

The Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (Gov. Code, § 7522 et seq. [PEPRA] was enacted, in part, to curb abuses in public pensions systems throughout the state.  (Alameda County Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. v. Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Assn. (2018) 19 Cal.App.5th 61, 75 (Alameda), review granted Mar. 28, 2018, S247095.)  Section 7522.72 provides a mechanism whereby a public pensioner forfeits a portion of his or her retirement benefits following a conviction of a felony offense that occurred in the performance of his or her official duties.

Shortly after appellant Tod Hipsher retired from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, he was convicted of a federal felony for directing an offshore gambling operation (18 U.S.C. § 1955). Respondent, the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA), subsequently reduced Hipsher’s vested retirement benefits based on the determination by the County of Los Angeles (County) that his gambling conduct was committed in the scope of his official duties (§ 7522.72).  Hipsher challenged LACERA’s forfeiture determination by a petition for writ of mandate and a complaint seeking declaratory relief.  The trial court entered a mixed judgment.  It issued a peremptory writ of mandate directing the County to afford adequate due process protections before reducing Hipsher’s retirement benefits, while finding in favor of the defendants with respect to Hipsher’s cause of action for declaratory relief.

Hipsher contends section 7522.72 is unconstitutional as applied to him because it impaired his contractual right to his vested pension, and is an unlawful ex post facto law.  The County disagrees and contends it owes Hipsher no additional due process and is not bound by the trial court judgment because it was not named as a respondent in the peremptory writ. 
          
We conclude section 7522.72 is constitutionally sound, but that LACERA, not the County, bears the burden to afford Hipsher the requisite due process protections in determining whether his conviction falls within the scope of the statute.  Accordingly, we modify the judgment to require the County to provide the requisite due process, while affirming the remainder of the judgment.

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