Rivera v. Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission

Opinion

BEACH, J. Maria Rivera appeals from an order denying her motion for preliminary injunction. Appellant had held the position of eligibility worker II with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS); she had also been a client of DPSS and a recipient of public social services from aid to families with dependent children (AFDC). Appellant alleged that on May 16, 1975, she received a notice of discharge from her position; the discharge was based on the allegation that she had accepted overpayments as a recipient of funds from DPSS under the AFDC program.1

The complaint for injunction further alleged that appellant made a timely request for a hearing to the civil service commission. In June 1977, a discharge hearing was held before a civil service commission hearing officer. Appellant’s representative, relying on Welfare and Institutions Code section 10850, moved that the applications and records [1004]concerning appellant as a client of DPSS were confidential and that those records should not be examined in the course of the civil service commission hearing. The commission hearing officer decided that the code section did not prohibit the use of the records in a hearing involving appellant’s status as an employee of DPSS. This ruling was affirmed by the Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission. Appellant sought an injunction to restrain the use of confidential records; but the trial court, although recognizing that it was a close question, denied the injunction. The court also stayed proceedings.

Contentions on Appeal:

1. Welfare and Institutions Code section 10850 prohibits revelation of the records of any individual who receives public social services under a program for which grants-in-aid are received from the United States government for purposes not directly connected to the administration of that program.

2. Use of appellant’s own recipient record in her civil service discharge hearing is not a purpose directly related to the administration of the program for which she received aid.

3. Appropriate procedures exist for the determination of the question of appellant’s alleged overpayment. The results of such a procedure could be utilized, if necessary, at a civil service discharge hearing thereby precluding the need for the revelation of confidential documents at the discharge hearing.