Jaimes v. Cal. Comm'n on Teacher Credentialing
| Decision Date | 02 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | B291851 |
| Parties | JUAN M. JAIMES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. CALIFORNIA COMMISSION ON TEACHER CREDENTIALING, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
(Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BS170161)
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, James C. Chalfant, Judge. Reversed.
Trygstad, Schwab & Trygstad, Lawrence B. Trygstad and Richard J. Schwab for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California, Linda K. Schneider, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Antoinette B. Cincotta, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Theodore S. Drcar, Deputy Attorney General for Defendant and Respondent.
____________________
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Commission) appeals from a judgment granting a petition for writ of mandate directing the Commission to set aside its decision to revoke the teaching credential of Juan Jaimes as a penalty for his misconduct and to "impose some lesser penalty that lies within its discretion." The Commission argues its exercise of discretion to revoke Jaimes's credential is subject to de novo review and the trial court erred in ruling it had abused that discretion in revoking Jaimes's credential. We reverse.
Jaimes was born in Mexico in 1974 and immigrated to the United States in 1988. He graduated from Valley High School in Santa Ana, where he met Brenda Jaimes.1 Brenda and Jaimes married in 1998. In 2002, Jaimes graduated from California State University Fullerton with a degree in mathematics. In 2002, the Commission issued a "Single Subject Teaching Credential" to Jaimes. In September 2002, the Santa Ana Unified School District (Santa Ana District) hired Jaimes to teach math at Valley High School. He taught math for seven years at Valley High School until his resignation in 2009. In 2006, Jaimes and Brenda, who had two children, separated and filed for dissolution of their marriage. They reconciled in 2007.
Jenny Leon was born in Mexico in January 1988, and came to the United States in September 2003 when she was 15 years old. Leon lived in Arizona with her father and attended high school there. In June 2005, when she was 17 years old, Leon moved to Santa Ana and lived with her grandmother. Leon's aunt enrolled Leon in Valley High School for the 2005-2006 school year as a junior. During that year, Leon worked afternoons and weekends at a swap meet to earn money to pay for her food and rent.
During her junior year, Leon enrolled in Jaimes's geometry class. Jaimes's relationship with Leon was no different than his relationships with the other 40 students in the geometry class. Leon turned 18 years old in January 2006. Leon was Jaimes's student until June 2006, when the school year ended.
In summer 2006 between her junior and senior years, Leon continued to work at the swap meet. In July 2006, Jaimes encountered Leon while she was working at the swap meet. During this time, Jaimes was separated from Brenda. A week or two weeks later, Jaimes returned to the swap meet and asked Leon if she wanted to get something to eat. Leon agreed, and they ate lunch at the swap meet's food court. Leon told Jaimes that she was 18 years old and asked him his age. Jaimes told her and also said that he was separated from his wife After two months of dating, their relationship became intimate and sexual. Leon introduced Jaimes to her grandmother and aunt. Although Jaimes considered it "risky," Jaimes and Leon had unprotected sex. Jaimes told Leon that he could get in trouble "if theirrelationship was discovered." After Leon fell in love with Jaimes, Leon told Jaimes that she wanted to get married.2
On August 31, 2006, Leon transferred from Valley High School to Saddleback High School, also within the Santa Ana District. Leon testified that she transferred based on "convenience." To travel from her home to Valley High School, Leon took three buses, while attending Saddleback only required her to take one bus from home to school. During her senior year, Leon worked at the swap meet full time on weekends and after school on school days. Leon and Jaimes continued to see each other during the school year.
In October 2006, after learning she was pregnant, Leon informed Jaimes. The relationship between Leon and Jaimes ended some time during Leon's senior year, before their child was born. After they separated, Leon "no longer wanted to continue the communication" with Jaimes. Jaimes would sometimes "bother" Leon at work.
Leon stopped working "a month or a month and a half" before she gave birth. Leon gave birth to her son in June 2007, shortly after she graduated from high school. In 2007, after Leon filed a child support claim against Jaimes, Leon obtained an order garnishing his wages in the amount of approximately $700 per month. Leon testified that "it was better just to have that money transferred instead of [her] having to be calling [Jaimes]."In 2007, Jaimes and Brenda reconciled, and they had a third child together. Jaimes continued to teach at Valley High School.
On July 22, 2009, a "concerned citizen" sent the Santa Ana District a letter titled "HS TEACHER CHASING HS GIRL STUDENTS." The letter alleged that Jaimes had a sexual relationship with Leon and that Leon had his child. The letter asked:
On July 29, 2009, the Santa Ana District Executive Director confronted Jaimes. After meeting with an attorney, on July 31, 2009 Jaimes submitted his resignation. When Jaimes told Leon that he had resigned from his teaching position, Jaimes asked if Leon had sent the anonymous letter. Leon told Jaimes that she did not send the letter. Jaimes blamed Leon for having to resign from his teaching position. Jaimes told Leon "that because of what had happened, his job was taken from him." After his resignation, Jaimes taught school in Georgia for a year and a half. After he returned to California, Jaimes taught in other school districts.
Jaimes lived with Brenda until 2011, and again beginning in May 2012. In approximately 2014 Jaimes and Leon became romantically involved again. In November 2014, Jaimes and Brenda divorced. Jaimes and Leon married in March 2015. As of November 2016, Jaimes and Leon lived together with their nine-year-old son.
The Commission establishes the professional standards for obtaining teaching credentials in California. (Ed. Code, § 44225.)3 The Commission reviews and revises the code of ethics for teaching professionals. (§ 44225, subd. (c).) The Commission also has the responsibility to take adverse action as to any credential; the Commission may "privately admonish" or "publicly reprove" the credential holder, or "revoke" or "suspend" a credential for "immoral or unprofessional conduct" or "for evident unfitness for service." (§ 44421.) The Commission appoints a seven-member committee (Committee) to investigate allegations of misconduct against those who hold a teaching credential. (§§ 44240; 44242.5, subd. (e).) If the Committee receives information about a credential holder, the Committee may conduct a preliminary review. At the conclusion of this review, the Committee may either end the review or instruct staff to set the matter for an initial review. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 5, § 80308.) The initial review commences when a credential holder is notified that his fitness to hold a credential is under review. (§ 44242.5, subd. (c); Cal.Code Regs., tit. 5, § 80307.1.) No later than six months after the initial review commences, a formal review is held. (§ 44244 subd. (b).) At the formal review, the Committee determines either that no adverse action should be taken or that the allegations are sufficient to cause the credential holder to be subject to adverse action. (Ibid.)
The Committee makes a probable cause determination at the formal review. If there is no probable cause, the investigation is terminated. (§ 44242.5, subd. (c)(3)(A).) The Committee reports to the Commission its findings as to probable cause and its recommendation as to the appropriate adverse action. (§ Id., subd. (e)(1).) The Committee must send its recommendation to the credential holder within 14 days. (§ 44244, subd. (d).) If there is probable cause, the credential holder may request an adjudicatory hearing pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. (§ Id., subd. (c)(3)(B).) The Commission may adopt the recommendation of the Committee without further proceedings if the credential holder fails to request an administrative hearing. (§ 44244.1, subd. (a)(1).)
If the credential holder gives notice of intent to request an administrative hearing in response to the Committee's probable cause recommendation, the Commission files "an accusation or statement of issues" to "initiate an adjudicatory hearing." (§ 44242.5, subd. (c)(3)(B).) The administrative adjudication as to the credential is subject to the rules and procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act. (Gov. Code, § 11501, subd. (b)(58).)
In November 2012, the Santa Ana District informed the Commission that Jaimes had resigned from his teaching position while under...
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