Dawson v. Butte-Glenn Community College District CA3

Filed 3/6/25 Dawson v. Butte-Glenn Community College District CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Butte) ----

SUSAN DAWSON, C098653

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. 20CV01711)

v.

BUTTE-GLENN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT,

Defendant and Respondent.

DONALD FINKBINER, C098702

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. 20CV02018)

v.

BUTTE-GLENN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT,

Defendant and Respondent.

1

These consolidated appeals concern the discharge of two part-time employees of the Butte-Glenn Community College District (the community college) whose duties included training and testing peace officer recruits. Appellants Susan Dawson and Donald Finkbiner asserted in the trial court that unlawful motives influenced the community college’s decision to discharge them—gender discrimination and retaliation in Dawson’s case, and disability discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation in Finkbiner’s case. Different judges ruled against Dawson and Finkbiner by granting the community college’s motions for summary judgment. Because of appellants’ counsel’s failures to comply with rules of California appellate practice, we need not address the merits of the litigation below. We affirm. BACKGROUND In 2019, appellants were responsible for administering “scenario” testing for peace officer recruits at the community college. After an unusually high number of recruits failed their tests, the community college requested guidance from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). POST sets the standards for training and certification of peace officers in California and approves training facilities throughout the state, including at community colleges. A POST certificate is a statutory prerequisite to exercising the powers of a peace officer in California. (See In re Acknowledgment Cases (2015) 239 Cal.App.4th 1498, 1506-1507.) POST made several recommendations to the community college after their independent investigation, including the use of new “scenario managers” when testing peace officer recruits. Following POST’s investigation into the testing failures and resulting recommendations, the community college discharged Dawson and Finkbiner, who challenged their discharge decisions in separate lawsuits. After two different judges granted the community college’s motions for summary judgment, Dawson and Finkbiner appealed in May 2023. They filed their opening briefs