California judges are underpaid, lawsuit claims

A Sacramento County Superior Court judge claims that the state of California is underpaying its judicial officers.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard claims that the method CalHR uses to calculate judges' salaries is incorrect. Gilliard's complaint says that the California Department of Human Resources, CalHR, is in violation of Cal. Government Code §68203(a), which states that the salary of each judge or justice shall be increased by multiplying their current salary by the average percentage increase for California state employees in the current fiscal year. The average percentage salary increases reported by the CalHR to the State Controller in a pay letter shall be used, according to Cal. Government Code §68203 (b)(1).

"In drafting Section 68203, the legislature could have articulated limitations as to which categories of salary increases should be included in the calculation, if that is what the Legislature had intended to do. But the Legislature imposed no such limitations," the judge's attorney, Jack P. DiCanio, wrote in the complaint.

"And the legislature had numerous other opportunities to restrict the categories of salary increase to be included in the calculation. After 1979, Section 68203 was amended at least six times: in 2000, 2006, 2012, 2016, and twice again in 2017. At no point did the legislature ever restrict the calculation in Section 68203 to one specific category of salary increases. Despite the absence of any limitation as to which categories of salaries should be included in this calculation, since the 2006-07 fiscal year, defendant CalHR has only used one category of salary increases -- [general salary increases] -- to calculate the 'average percentage salary increase," continued DiCanio, who is a partner with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

Gilliard seeks a declaration that CalHR must include all categories of salary increases in calculating the average percentage salary increase. She also seeks back pay and benefits going back to fiscal year 2016-17.

Gilliard is a director of the Alliance of California Judges. She filed her lawsuit about a week after the Assembly passed AB 181, which will give judges a 2.6% pay increase. AB 181 is awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature. The Alliance of California Judges broke away from the California Judges Association in 2009 in disagreement over court closures and other cost-cutting measures. Gilliard's allegations potentially impact all judges in the state.

"The California Judges Association has been meeting with CalHR over the years to discuss judicial compensation, and CJA's leadership expects to continue its discussions with CalHR. We are unable to comment upon pending litigation," said the organization's executive director and CEO, Nicole Virga Bautista.

A CalHR representative said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Superior court judges will make roughly $245,000 annually under AB 181, with Court of Appeal and Supreme Court justices earning significantly more.

According to data published by the National Center for State Courts in July, California has the third-highest paid trial court judges in the nation. The state's appellate court justices receive the highest pay in the nation.

However, adjusted for cost of living, California's judges pay falls in right in the middle, ranking 25th highest paid. This may partly explain why Newsom is having a tough time filling some positions. While he has appointed judges at a faster rate than most of his predecessors, the number of open positions has grown. There were 108 open superior court judgeships on Aug. 1, according to the Judicial Council's monthly vacancy report, up from 82 on Jan. 1. The state has six open Court of Appeal positions, down from eight at the beginning of the year.