Re: Spielbauer v. County of Santa Clara
February 9, 2009
We are pleased to inform you that the California Supreme Court unanimously overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision in the captioned case. The Supreme Court ruled that “insofar as the Court of Appeal held that plaintiff must receive an affirmative offer of formal immunity from criminal use of his statements before he could be dismissed for disobeying his employer’s orders to answer questions related to his job performance, its judgment is reversed.”
The Court found that the protections afforded public sector employees in the case of Lybarger v. City of Los Angeles are adequate and meet constitutional standards. The Court specifically referred to the amicus briefs filed by the California State Sheriffs Association and the California Police Chiefs Association in its decision.
We will provide a detailed Client Alert Memo shortly. If you have any questions prior to that, please feel free to contact me at (714) 446 – 1400 or via e-mail at mjm@jones-mayer.com