Guerrero v. Cal. Dep't of Corr. & Rehab.

• Decision Date: 06 November 2018
• Docket Number: A147507
• Citation: 239 Cal.Rptr.3d 726,28 Cal.App.5th 1091
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Victor GUERRERO, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION, Defendant and Respondent.

28 Cal.App.5th 1091

239 Cal.Rptr.3d 726

Victor GUERRERO, Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION, Defendant and Respondent.

A147507

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 4, California.

Filed November 6, 2018

Counsel for Appellant: The Legal Aid Society—Employment Law Center, Christopher Ho, San Francisco, Alexis Alvarez for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Counsel for Respondent: Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette and Gerald A. Engler, Assistant Attorney General, Miguel Neri and Jorge Aguilar II, Deputy Attorneys General, for Defendant and Respondent.

Streeter, Acting P.J.

I. INTRODUCTION

Victor Guerrero, a Mexican immigrant and aspiring California correctional officer, filed a federal action alleging discriminatory failure-to-hire against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (the CDCR), among other defendants. He pled federal and state law claims, but only his state claims allowed him to seek general damages.

The federal court dismissed Guerrero’s state claims on Eleventh Amendment grounds, effectively limiting his potential money recovery to the equitable remedy of backpay. To recoup damages, Guerrero filed this action in superior court. After final judgment was entered in the federal action—in Guerrero’s favor—the superior court dismissed his state claims under California claim preclusion principles.

On appeal, Guerrero now argues that federal law, not California law, governs the preclusive effect of the federal judgment. Under federal law, Guerrero contends, there is a well-recognized exception to claim preclusion rules where jurisdictional limitations in a prior suit blocked the plaintiff’s request for complete relief, as was the case here. We agree and shall reverse.

II. FACTS

A. Background

Guerrero is among the many Americans who are popularly known as "Dreamers." He was brought from Mexico to the United States by his parents in 1990 at age 11. In 1995, at age 15, he created a false Social Security number (SSN) to acquire a job, and used the made-up SSN until 2007, when he secured a legitimate SSN. He became a United States citizen in 2011.

After Guerrero gained citizenship, he applied to become a correctional officer with the CDCR. He passed the written and physical exams in the first stage of the CDCR’s eligibility process and was placed on the eligibility list. The second stage involved completing the CDCR’s background investigation questionnaire.

Question 75 on the questionnaire presented a problem. It asked, "Have you ever had or used a social security number other than the one you used on this questionnaire?" Guerrero answered "yes" and provided a supplemental explanation. Based on that answer, the CDCR informed Guerrero he was no longer eligible to become a correctional officer.

Undaunted, Guerrero appealed to the State Personnel Board (the SPB), lost, and then reapplied to the CDCR in spring 2013. He again passed the first stage of eligibility and moved on to the background investigation questionnaire. Once again, he answered "yes" to question 75 and provided an explanation. Ultimately, he was rejected again. He appealed to the SPB, to no avail.

B. Underlying Litigation

1. Filing of the Federal Action

After exhausting administrative remedies, Guerrero filed a complaint in federal district court on December 9, 2013 (the Federal Action), naming the CDCR, the SPB and various individuals as defendants. That case alleged employment discrimination in violation of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act ( Gov. Code, § 12940 et seq. ) (FEHA); national origin discrimination in a state-conducted program in violation of Government Code section 11135 ; federal constitutional claims under section 1983 of title 42 of the United States Code for violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of the United States Constitution; and state constitutional claims for violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of article I, section 7 of the California Constitution.

By way of relief, Guerrero sought, inter alia, declaratory relief, injunctive relief (including reinstatement to the CDCR correctional officer hiring process), compensatory damages, and an award of attorney fees and costs. He bolstered this requested relief with claims for a writ of mandate under Code of Civil Procedure section 1085 barring further use of question 75; and a writ of administrative mandamus under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 directing the CDCR and the SPB to set aside their decisions declaring him ineligible to be a correctional officer.

2. Dismissal of State Law Claims in the Federal Action

As the Federal Action moved forward, Guerrero added specificity, filing a first amended complaint in January 2014 and then a second amended complaint in February 2014. On motions to dismiss the second amended complaint, the district court granted dismissal in part. The court rejected the defense’s attack on the Title VII and federal equal protection claims; dismissed the federal due process claim as redundant in light of the more specific equal protection claim; and dismissed the state law claims on Eleventh Amendment grounds, without prejudice. ( Guerrero v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (N.D.Cal. 2015) 119 F.Supp.3d 1065, 1068–1069 ( Guerrero I ), affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded Guerrero v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (9th Cir. 2017) 701 Fed.Appx. 613 ( Guerrero II ).)

The order of dismissal explained that "[b]ecause adjudication of plaintiff’s California state-law claims in federal court would contravene the Eleventh Amendment, plaintiff’s state-law claims against all defendants must be DISMISSED. These may be re-filed in state court." ( Guerrero v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (N.D.Cal. May 7, 2014, No. C 13-05671 WHA) 2014 WL 1867067, 2014 U.S.Dist. Lexis 63282, citing Pennhurst State School & Hospital v. Halderman (1984) 465 U.S. 89, 106, 104 S.Ct. 900, 79 L.Ed.2d 67.) Following issuance of this order, Guerrero amended his complaint one final time, filing a third amended complaint omitting the state law claims. ( Guerrero I , supra , 119 F.Supp.3d at p. 1069.) As a practical matter, the dismissal of Guerrero’s state law claims stripped him of the ability to seek damages in the Federal Action. For monetary relief, he was left with only the equitable remedy of backpay.

Going into trial, Guerrero’s third amended complaint presented only federal questions. ( Guerrero I , supra , 119 F.Supp.3d at p. 1069.) In these surviving federal claims, the gist of Guerrero’s theory was that "[d]efendants’ disqualification of applicants who have previously used an SSN other than their own has an adverse and disparate impact on particular national origin minorities, such as Latinos, who seek to qualify for state employment." Guerrero alleged that the CDCR, with the knowledge and active support of the SPB, was disproportionately disqualifying Latino correctional officer applicants by using question 75 to target formerly undocumented immigrants like himself.

3. Filing of the State Court Action

In accordance with the district court’s observation that the state law claims "may be re-filed in state court," Guerrero filed a complaint in San Francisco County Superior Court (State Court Action) while the Federal Action was still pending. Once again, Guerrero named the CDCR and the SPB as defendants along with various individuals, and once again, he alleged failure-to-hire under a disparate impact theory based on the use of question 75. It is undisputed that, factually, the allegations of discrimination in these parallel state and federal proceedings were virtual mirror images.

As a first order of business in the State Court Action, the trial court held a case management conference in which the parties agreed to a stay pending completion of the federal proceedings, but also agreed that, upon resumption of the State Court Action, any collateral estoppel or res judicata issues arising out of the anticipated federal judgment should be decided first. Those issues were then briefed and scheduled for hearing at a time set far enough out on the calendar to trail the entry of judgment in the Federal Action.

4. Trial and Judgment in the Federal Action

While the State Court Action was stayed, a bench trial took place in the Federal Action, which ended with a judgment for Guerrero on his Title VII claim, awarding much of the relief he sought, including reinstatement to the CDCR’s correctional officer hiring process and $140,362 in backpay contingent on his successfully completing the CDCR training academy, plus an award of $1,237,024.82 in prevailing party attorney fees and $166,541.87 in costs. ( Guerrero v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (N.D.Cal. June 16, 2016, No. C 13-05671 WHA) 2016 WL 3360638 at p. 35 ( Guerrero Fees Order ), vacated and remanded, Guerrero II , supra , 701 Fed.Appx. 613.)

Guerrero was not wholly successful in the Federal Action, however. (See Guerrero Fees Order , supra , 2016 WL 3360638, at pp. 35–37.) The district court found for the CDCR on Guerrero’s federal equal protection claim under section 1983 ( Guerrero I , supra , 119 F.Supp.3d at p. 1082 ), and, while holding that he had suffered discrimination individually, it rejected his claim that the CDCR’s use of question 75 is categorically invalid. ( Id. at p. 1081.) The court found that the detection of SSN misuse bears upon the CDCR’s legitimate interest in maintaining the "integrity, honesty, and good judgment [of its] corrections officer[s]," and as a result, declined to enjoin its use so long as, going forward, the CDCR properly conformed the question to business necessity criteria established by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ( Ibid. ) The ensuing judgment is now final, having been affirmed on appeal.¹

5. Dismissal of...