Sarkissian v. City of Calabasas
Filed 8/23/06 Sarkissian v. City of Calabasas CA2/2
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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 TWO
| VAHE SARKISSIAN, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CITY OF CALABASAS et al., Defendants and Respondents. | B184007 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC262218) |
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County.
David A. Workman, Judge. Affirmed.
Law Office of Gene M. Ramos, Gene M. Ramos for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Hopkins & Carley, Ernest M. Malaspina for Defendants and Respondents.
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A municipal employee was terminated after falsely accusing a coworker of criminal misconduct. The employee invoked an internal appeal process, and an administrative hearing officer upheld the termination. The employee unsuccessfully challenged the administrative decision in a petition for a writ of mandate in the trial court. The denial of the petition was affirmed on appeal. The employee has now brought a wrongful termination lawsuit against the city and his former coworkers. The trial court dismissed the lawsuit on a motion for summary judgment, reasoning that the employee is estopped from relitigating issues adjudicated against him in the administrative proceeding. We affirm.
FACTS[1]
Appellant Vehe Sarkissian worked as a building inspector for respondent City of Calabasas (the City). Respondent Daniel Salles was Sarkissian's supervisor. The two men were responsible for enforcing building codes during construction. In his third year on the job, Sarkissian received a performance review from respondent Robert Harvey, an official in the City's building department. Harvey noted certain deficiencies that Sarkissian needed to address.
A few months after receiving his performance review, Sarkissian visited the City clerk and accused respondent Salles of accepting credit cards from building contractors. The City clerk instructed Sarkissian to put his allegations in writing. Sarkissian then delivered a memorandum to a City councilperson, repeating his claims about the improper credit card use. The City councilperson referred the allegations to respondent City Manager Donald Duckworth. Because Sarkissian's allegations involved possible criminal activity, Duckworth asked the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to investigate Sarkissian's â€
