Riske v. Superior Court of L. A. Cnty.

231 Cal. Rptr. 3d 367, 22 Cal. App. 5th 295
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedApril 16, 2018
DocketB283035
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 231 Cal. Rptr. 3d 367 (Riske v. Superior Court of L. A. Cnty.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Riske v. Superior Court of L. A. Cnty., 231 Cal. Rptr. 3d 367, 22 Cal. App. 5th 295 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

PERLUSS, P. J.

*298Robert Riske, a retired Los Angeles police officer, sued the City of Los Angeles alleging the Los Angeles Police Department had retaliated against him for protected whistleblower activity by failing to assign or promote him to several positions and selecting instead less qualified candidates. Riske filed a discovery motion pursuant to Evidence Code sections 1043 and 10451 to obtain certain summary personnel records relied on by the City in making assignment and promotion decisions. After *299the superior court erroneously ruled those records were not subject to discovery because the officers selected for the positions Riske sought were innocent third parties who had not witnessed or caused Riske's injury, we issued a writ of mandate directing the superior court to vacate its order denying Riske's discovery motion and to enter a new order directing the City to produce those records for an in camera inspection in accordance with section 1045. (See Riske v. Superior Court (2016) 6 Cal.App.5th 647, 664-665, 211 Cal.Rptr.3d 477 ( Riske I ).) *369The superior court conducted the in camera hearing and ordered the requested personnel records to be produced in accordance with the parties' protective order. However, pursuant to section 1045, subdivision (b)(1), which excludes from disclosure "[i]nformation consisting of complaints concerning conduct occurring more than five years before the event or transaction that is the subject of the litigation" in which discovery or disclosure is sought, the court ordered redaction of all items in those reports concerning conduct that had occurred more than five years before Riske filed his complaint.

Riske again petitioned this court for a writ of mandate directing the superior court to order the City to produce those records without redaction. In response to our inquiry, both Riske and the City agree that, if section 1045, subdivision (b)'s five-year disclosure bar applies at all, it is measured from the date each officer was promoted instead of Riske-the alleged adverse employment action at issue in the litigation-and not the date Riske filed his complaint, as the superior court ruled. However, Riske also argues more broadly that section 1045, subdivision (b), which prohibits disclosure of stale complaints against police officers, has no application to the personnel reports sought in this case. We agree and grant the petition.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Riske's Whistleblower Activity

According to the allegations in his complaint, Riske worked as a police officer with the Department from 1990 until his retirement in September 2014. In 2008, while working as a detective-I in the Southeast Narcotics Enforcement Division, Riske reported two of his fellow officers for filing false police reports and testified against them at an administrative hearing that ultimately resulted in their termination. Afterward, Riske's colleagues referred to him as a "snitch" and refused to work with him, even at times ignoring Riske's requests for assistance in the field. Fearing for his safety, Riske transferred from the Southeast Division to the Harbor Division. Between 2011 and 2013 Riske applied for 14 highly desirable detective-I and *300detective-II positions. Notwithstanding his superior qualifications, his applications were repeatedly denied, each time in favor of less experienced or less qualified persons.

2. Riske's Lawsuit and Discovery Request

On September 12, 2014 Riske sued the Department for unlawful retaliation in violation of Labor Code section 1102.5, alleging the Department's refusal to assign or promote him to more desirable positions was in retaliation for his protected whistleblower activity. The City answered the complaint, denying the allegations, and then moved for summary judgment. The City argued, among other things, it had a legitimate business reason for its promotional/assignment decisions: The selected candidates were more qualified than Riske.

Prior to responding to the City's summary judgment motion, Riske served the City with a discovery request seeking all documents submitted by the successful candidates for the relevant positions and all documents relied on by the Department to select those officers for the positions, subject to the terms of the parties' stipulated protective order.2 The City produced *370some documents, including rating sheets and ranking matrices used by the Department's decision makers for each position, but nothing from the selected candidates' confidential personnel files.

3. Riske's Motion To Compel Discovery of Peace Officer Personnel Records

Riske moved under sections 1043 and 1045 for production of the selected officers' Training Evaluation and Management System ("TEAMS") reports, which summarized the successful candidates' history of discipline, commendations and other personnel matters throughout the officer's employment.3 To support his request for the TEAMS reports, Riske included an affidavit from retired Captain Joel Justice, a 21-year veteran of the Department, who was familiar with the Department's hiring policies and procedures during the period Riske submitted his applications for reassignment and/or promotion. According to Captain Justice, "TEAMS reports play a crucial role in the *301[candidate] selection process. Specifically, it is mandatory for supervisors on interview panels to review the TEAMS reports submitted by candidates applying for promotional or coveted positions." "As a supervisor participating in the decision to select an officer for a promotional or coveted position, I would refer to candidates' TEAMS reports to determine, among other things, how many sustained personnel complaints they had; how many citizen commendations they had received; how many other commendations they had received; how many uses of force they had; and whether their work history evidenced that they were hard-working." The TEAMS reports submitted by the candidates contain only sustained complaints; unresolved or unsustained personnel complaints are not included. Captain Justice stated before making a hiring decision he would run "a final selection process TEAMS report," which would reflect any pending personnel complaints that had not been adjudicated. Information obtained from a candidate's TEAMS reports, together with the candidate's two most recent performance evaluations, would then make up the "final rating of 'Outstanding,' 'Excellent,' or 'Satisfactory' the decision makers would assign to that officer for the vacant position."

4. The Court's Denial of Riske's Discovery Motion; Riske's First Writ Petition; Issuance of the Writ Compelling an In Camera Hearing

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
231 Cal. Rptr. 3d 367, 22 Cal. App. 5th 295, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/riske-v-superior-court-of-l-a-cnty-calctapp5d-2018.