Judges’ lawsuit alleges they were ‘wronged’ in pay raise

A coalition of California judges says the state has penalized them for years by misusing the formula it uses to calculate their pay raises.

In a new lawsuit, one of those judges is demanding that the state redo the calculation going back nearly a decade to include information that likely would have resulted in larger increases.

The California Judges Alliance says the state owes them bigger pay raises, which they say aren’t keeping up with inflation.

CalMatters Reports the formula at the heart of the lawsuit seems simple. State law requires judges to receive annual raises based on the “average percentage salary increase” given to other California state employees. This year, judges received a salary increase of more than 2.5 percent, compared to more than 3 percent the previous year.

But the state has already made miscalculations. The previous case filed by a retired appeals court judge, Robert Mallano, relied on an error the state made during the Great Recession.

That’s when he refused salary increases for judges, even though some civil servants received small salary increases. The state, ordered to recalculate the judges’ salaries, issued them checks for $15,000 for non-payment.

This time, the complaint from Sacramento Superior Court Judge Maryanne Gilliard calls attention to how Govs. Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom raised public sector salaries without giving them substantial across-the-board pay increases. It alleges the state illegally undervalued judges by failing to take into account some of the pay raise benefits provided in recent contracts.

Both governors signed contracts providing for across-the-board wage increases of up to 4 percent, benefiting all workers represented by a given union, as well as more generous targeted increases for specific groups of employees.

The justices say the state has only considered general pay increases in the formula it uses to set judicial raises — while excluding more targeted pay adjustments.

The base salary for California judges is the third highest in the country, according to the National Center for State Courts. But when you factor in cost of living, California is in the middle of the pack, at 25th.