California School Employees Ass'n v. Santee School District

Opinion

COLOGNE, J. This action by California School Employees Association (CSEA) was instituted on behalf of certain classified school employees1 for declaratory relief and to recover compensation for two holidays, Labor Day 1976 and Admission Day 1976. The superior court determined the defendant Santee School District was obliged to pay holiday pay for Admission Day 1977 but not for Labor Day or Admission Day 1976. CSEA appeals.

Labor Day was on Monday, September 6, 1976, and Admission Day was on September 9, 1976. The teachers at the Santee School District [787]officially reported for duty on Tuesday, September 7, 1976, to prepare for the opening of the regular school year the following Monday.

During the summer, the media center specialist resigned and the Prospect Avenue school was without media center assistants to check out materials to the teachers. Certain of the classified employees were requested, but not required, by the principal to perform their work of special “as needed” services in the school’s media center. They were paid for this work. Two of the employees worked Tuesday, September 7, Wednesday, September 8, and Friday, September 10. Others worked on September 8 or September 10, or both days.

The employees did not receive pay for Labor Day, September 6, and Admission Day, September 9, and we are asked to determine whether they are entitled to compensation for the holidays in question.

At the outset, we should state the failure to file individual grievances does not bar the claims of the other claimants. Under the facts of this case and the finding by the superior court that the issue had been brought to the attention of the board by one claimant and rejected, “it would have been futile for Plaintiff to exhaust administrative remedies requesting holiday pay . We hold, and the district apparently concedes by its failure to address this issue in its appellate brief, there is no merit to the argument claimants have not exhausted their administrative remedies (see Huntington Beach Police Officers’ Assn. v. City of Huntington Beach (1976) 58 Cal.App.3d 492, 499 [129 Cal.Rptr. 893]).

Former Education Code2 section 13656, as applicable to the facts at hand (now § 45203), read in part: “All employees a part of the classified service shall be entitled to the following paid holidays provided they are in a paid status during any portion of the working day immediately preceding or succeeding the holiday: January 1, February 12 known as ‘Lincoln Day,’ the third Monday in February known as ‘Washington Day,’ the last Monday in May known as ‘Memorial Day,’ July 4, the first Monday in September known as ‘Labor Day,’ September 9 known as ‘Admission Day,’ ...” (Stats. 1974, ch. 1257; italics added.)