Oquendo v. California Institution for Women

Opinion

SULLIVAN, J.

*

This is an appeal from an order granting a motion for summary judgment in favor of Respondents California Institution for Women, Department of Corrections and State of California, collectively CIW, in an action brought by appellant to pursue his claim for reasonable accommodation under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Appellant, a probationary teaching employee at CIW who was epileptic, was rejected by the appointing power, which rejection was found proper by an administrative law judge whose determinations were adopted by the State Personnel Board, on the basis that job stress had aggravated appellant’s disability. The determination also stated, “Appellant’s epilepsy qualified him for reasonable accomodation [sic]. However, reasonable accomodation [sic] is not the real issue here. Appellant’s performance was not being hindered by his disabilty, i.e. epilepsy, but by his epilepsy being aggravated, resulting in the increase in the frequency and severity of his

[522]

seizures. It is the cause of the aggravation that must be addressed, not an accomodation [sic] to the aggravation.”

Appellant did not seek judicial review of the State Personnel Board decision but commenced the instant action under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, alleging that CIW failed to provide the reasonable accommodation required by the statute. The trial court granted CIW’s motion for summary judgment finding that there was no triable issue as to any material fact and that CIW was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The parties have treated the summary judgment as determining that appellant is collaterally estopped from pursuing the instant action because the issue of accommodation was tried in the State Personnel Board proceeding and we will deal with it within that framework.

Appellant argues that in

State Personnel Bd.

v.

Fair Employment & Housing Com.

(1985) 39 Cal.3d 422 [217 Cal.Rptr. 16, 703 P.2d 354] our Supreme Court held that rulings by the State Personnel Board have no estoppel effect on subsequent proceedings under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. While the four separate opinions in