Garcia-Holmes v. Los Angeles Unif. School Dist,.

Filed 7/20/06 Garcia-Holmes v. Los Angeles Unif. School Dist,. CA2/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Mary Thornton House, Judge. Affirmed.

Sullivan, Workman & Dee, Joseph S. Dzida and Theodore S. Khachaturian for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Ballard, Rosenberg, Golper & Savit, John B. Golper, Elsa Bañuelos and Christine T. Hoeffner for Defendant and Respondent.

introduction

Plaintiff Concepcion Garcia-Holmes brought the present action for wrongful termination in violation of public policy against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and another defendant, not a party to this appeal. She appeals from a judgment of dismissal entered by the trial court in favor of LAUSD after its demurrer to the operative third amended complaint was sustained without leave to amend. Garcia-Holmes challenges the trial court's conclusion that her administrative claim was not filed within the applicable limitations period as required by the California Tort Claims Act (Gov. Code, § 810 et seq.), and therefore the present action is barred. She also challenges the trial court's ruling that she cannot state a valid cause of action for breach of contract. We conclude that the present action necessarily sounds in tort and therefore Garcia-Holmes's claim was not timely filed, and further, that her claim does not support maintenance of a cause of action for breach of contract. We affirm.

factual and procedural background

Garcia-Holmes was employed by Community Outreach for Prevention and Education (COPE), a California public benefit corporation, and by LAUSD, as a parent organizer. Her duties included recruiting parents of middle school students to participate in programs and support groups, and acting as a liaison to help the parents organize and communicate their concerns to the middle school and the associated L.A. Bridges Program. Her employment was terminated after she expressed parents' concerns to the school regarding a teacher who gave failing grades to an entire class.

Garcia-Holmes filed a complaint for wrongful termination in violation of public policy on January 26, 2005. Therein, she alleged that on or around April 29, 2004, she was suspended from work without pay, and her employment was eventually terminated in June 2004. Garcia-Holmes alleged that â€