The nation's largest county pension system lost its bid to control staff pay
California's top court has settled who gets the final word on public-sector pay and job titles, and it sided with the employer.
In a decision issued August 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of California ruled that the County of Los Angeles - not the pension system that employs hundreds of its workers - holds final authority over how those jobs are classified and paid.
The dispute pitted the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, known as LACERA, against the County. LACERA runs the retirement fund for county workers. The court called it the largest county retirement system in the nation, with a portfolio over $72 billion and more than 185,000 members. It employs more than 400 people, whose salaries and benefits made up over three-quarters of its administrative costs in each of the three years before the lawsuit.
The fight was about staffing. In 2021, LACERA asked the County to approve three new positions and to adjust classifications and pay for eight existing roles. The County approved one new position at the salary requested, approved a second at a lower salary, and denied a third. It rejected all but one of the eight adjustments, granting that one at less than LACERA sought. The County's chief executive concluded that some positions were "not supported," did not align with County classifications, or exceeded the pay of comparable roles.
LACERA argued it held the trump card. It said its...
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