Moreno v. Cal. State Teachers' Retirement System

Filed 6/26/20; Modified and certified for pub. 7/21/20 (order attached)

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

ERNEST H. MORENO,

Plaintiff and Appellant, C089558

v. (Super. Ct. No. 34-2018- 80002822-CUWMGDS) CALIFORNIA STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM,

Defendant and Respondent.

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) determined that Ernest H. Moreno’s retirement benefits had been incorrectly calculated and initiated action to adjust Moreno’s retirement benefits and collect the overpayment. The trial court denied Moreno’s petition for writ of administrative mandamus challenging the CalSTRS actions, and Moreno appeals.

1

Moreno contends (1) CalSTRS’s adjustment of his retirement benefits and collection of the overpayment are barred by the statute of limitations found in Education Code section 22008, subdivision (c)1 because CalSTRS was on inquiry notice of the problem as early as 2008, and (2) CalSTRS must be equitably estopped from adjusting his retirement benefits and collecting the overpayments. We conclude (1) CalSTRS was not on inquiry notice of the reporting error that led to overpayment until December 2014 when it began an audit of Moreno’s retirement benefits, and, therefore, CalSTRS’s adjustments to Moreno’s retirement benefits and collection of overpayments were not barred by the statute of limitations; and (2) CalSTRS is not equitably estopped because CalSTRS was not apprised of (or on notice about) the overpayments until December 2014. Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND The parties do not dispute what happened, but instead disagree about the inferences to be drawn and the legal effect of the undisputed facts. Our summary of the background is derived mainly from the trial court’s recitation of the facts. Moreno served as president of East Los Angeles College in the Los Angeles Community College District (District). In 2006, he entered into a contract with the District to be the interim president of Los Angeles Mission College for the 2006-2007 school year. The contract entitled Moreno to a one-time $25,000 payment for the additional work and allowed Moreno to elect when to receive the payment. The District renewed the contract with Moreno for the 2007-2008 school year, and he chose to take both one-time payments, totaling $50,000, during the 2007-2008 school year.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Education Code.