Pocket Guide to Due Process in Public Employment

By Emi Uyehara
1st edition, 2005

$12 each

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The right to procedural due process is one of the most significant constitutional guarantees provided to citizens in general and to public employees in particular. Its entitlement has been created by statute, charter, ordinance, and other local laws or enactments. This pocket guide provides an overview of due process in public sector employment to assist employees and their employers in understanding their respective rights and obligations.

The guide explains who is protected, what actions are covered, what process is due, remedies for violations, and more. A section focuses on the due process rights afforded to several specific types of employees: state civil service, public officers, police officers, school district employees, and community college district employees. The Pocket Guide also includes a discussion of Skelly and other key cases on due process and the liberty interest.

Author Emi Uyehara is a partner in the San Francisco law firm of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. What Is Due Process? 1

A. Introduction 1
B. Sources of the Right: The U.S. and California Constitutions 2
C. What is a Property Interest? 3
D. Who is Protected? 4
E. Who is Not Protected? 4
F. What Actions Are Covered? 6
G. What Actions Are Not Covered? 11
H. What Process is Due? 15
I. Opportunity to Respond 21
J. Remedies for Violation of Due Process 27
K. Public Employees and the Liberty Interest 29

II. Due Process Rights of Specific Types of Employees 38

A. Public Officers 38
B. State Civil Service 39
C. Police Officers 39
D. School District Employees 40
E. Community College District Employees 50

III. Key Cases 58

A. Due Process 58
B. Liberty Interest 61