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Judge says California owes back pay to tens of thousands of furloughed workers

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An Alameda County Superior Court judge said Thursday that California owes back pay to tens of thousands of state workers that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has furloughed without pay since last February.

Judge Frank Roesch first ruled in favor of three state employees unions appealing the unpaid days off in December, arguing that the governor had overstepped his authority in trying to address the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit.

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In his final judgment published Thursday, Roesch ordered back pay for those furloughed workers. Roesch argued that furloughing state employees who are paid from special funds interferes illegally with the operation of specially funded agencies.

In his December ruling, the judge called the governor’s use of furloughs an “abuse of discretion” and ordered the governor to “cease and desist” the unpaid days off of those paid through special funds.

The Schwarzenegger administration has said it plans to appeal the decision and, for now, the furloughs continue. “Ultimately, this is going to be decided by the state Supreme Court and we expect that they will uphold the governor’s authority to do furloughs,” said Aaron McLear, a Schwarzenegger spokesman.

Monica Ahuja, an attorney for one of the plaintiffs in the case, Service Employees International Union, Local 1000, said the union plans to seek an immediate end to the furloughs and back pay restored. She said the ruling applies to 53,000 employees in 68 departments. “We’re basically going to go in and cite irreparable harm [to state workers] to show the judge that the automatic stay should be lifted,” Ahuja said.

But the governor’s office said it expected no retroactive pay to be ordered until all appeals are completed. “On appeal, we expect back pay to be stayed,” McLear said.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento

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