California School Employees Ass'n v. Tamalpais Union High School District

Opinion

ANDERSON, J. California School Employees Association (hereafter CSEA) petitioned the Superior Court of Marin County for a writ of mandate to compel Tamalpais Union High School District (hereafter the District) to pay its classified employees holiday pay for February 13, 1981, plus interest and attorney’s fees.

The court tentatively decided in favor of requiring appellant to pay the holiday rate plus interest but denied the prayer for attorney’s fees. The court [881]then entered judgment in favor of CSEA and issued a writ of mandate compelling the District to pay the appropriate wages plus interest. The District appeals.

The sole issue presented on appeal is whether the District, in giving its certificated employees February 13, 1981, off, had declared a holiday within the meaning of Education Code1 section 37222,2 which obligated it to give a holiday to its classified employees under section 45203.3 Section 45203 then provided that all holidays given to certificated employees under section 1318 or section 37222 shall be given to classified employees, with certain exceptions.

February 13, 1981, Friday and the day after Lincoln’s birthday, was listed as a local holiday on the District’s calendar for certificated employees. The District, however, contends that a “holiday” within the meaning of section 45203 was not declared for certificated employees on February 13, 1981. It reads “holiday” under section 37222 to mean a commemoration. However, section 37222 does not define “holiday,” but in another context it has been defined as “ ‘(1) a consecrated day, a religious festival; (2) a day on which the ordinary occupations are suspended, a day of exemption, i.e., cessation from work, a day of festivity, recreation, or amusement; and a legal holiday is a day designated and set apart by legislative enactment for one or more of such purposes.’ ” (Vidal v. Backs (1933) 218 Cal. 99, 105 [21 P.2d 952, 86 A.L.R. 1134].) Clearly, February 13, 1981, was an exemption or cessation from work and would therefore constitute a “holiday.” [882]The fact that the sections subsequent to section 37222 describe commemorative holidays does not support the District’s conclusion that governing boards may declare local holidays only to commemorate events.