California Attorney General Jerry Brown Tuesday said he plans to intervene on the side of public employees and retirees in a lawsuit Orange County has filed challenging retroactive pension increases granted to sheriffs’ deputies.
Orange County supervisors brought the lawsuit seeking a declaration that the benefit increases were unconstitutional and seeking an injunction barring the county’s retirement board from paying out the increased pension benefits for any years of service prior to 2002.
County Supervisor John Moorlach said in January, when the board voted to proceed with the suit, that the retroactive aspect of the pension benefit increase violated state constitutional prohibitions against incurring debt without voter approval, making gifts of public funds, and granting extra compensation to employees after a service has been rendered.
Brown said he intends to seek court permission to file a brief on behalf of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to protect the Orange County deputy sheriffs’ pension plan.
“The county’s lawsuit poses a significant threat to all public employees in California, including local police and other law enforcement officers,” Brown said in a statement.
