May 22, 2009 @ 6:54 pm

A judge again throws out county lawsuit against sheriff deputies over pensions

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has once again thrown out the county's case against Orange County deputy sheriffs seeking to roll back a portion of their pension enhancement, referred to as "three at 50."

Last month, county officials amended their original complaint against the deputy sheriffs after Judge Helen Bendix threw out the majority of their case. She allowed county officials to restate one claim if they could prove that the annual payments for the retirement benefit were making it impossible to meet bills.

After a series of closed session meetings, supervisors finally amended their argument but ignored Bendix's instructions and instead restated their argument that the retroactive benefit violated the state constitution's debt limits because it granted benefits that were not earned.

Apparently, Bendix wasn't convinced. The question now facing supervisors is whether they continue their effort and appeal her decision to a higher court.

While there is existing case law that treats pensions differently than other types of debt, county officials insist that a pension liability should be seen as a debt. That is indeed the case in the private sector and with a new standard adopted by a nationwide accounting oversight panel.

However, deputy sheriffs have consistently argued that a deal is a deal and that no judge would easily undo a contract without alleged fraud.

After Bendix's ruling today, Wayne Quint, president of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, sent out a press release taking aim at the county.

"After fifteen months and $1.7 million in outside legal counsel fees, the County of Orange has yet to show any progress on this misguided effort," said Wayne Quint. "With the county's present fiscal crisis, I am hopeful the County Board of Supervisors will come to their senses and cut their losses. At this point it has to be apparent to them that they have no chance at all of winning this case."

Yet supervisor John Moorlach, who was influential in launching the lawsuit and the amended complaint, said he'll be asking his colleagues to stay the course and pursue an appeal through the state's appellate courts and eventually the Supreme Court if needed.

"If I thought it was frivolous, I would have never started,"

Moorlach said in a late afternoon interview. "I believe in this case, so I'll obviously encourage my colleagues to stay the course."