A California court Dec. 11 dismissed a lawsuit challenging the apprenticeship policy established under a project stabilization agreement reached between San Diego Unified School District and construction unions (Associated General Contractors of America v. San Diego Unified School District, Cal. Super. Ct., No. 09-00095057, dismissed, 12/11/09).

The five-paragraph ruling issued by the California Superior Court for the County of San Diego found “the contractual apprenticeship provisions in the district's PSA are consistent with the Labor Code and do not circumvent legislative authority.”

Judge Judith Hayes added that the district was within its “proprietary rights” when it entered the agreement. The court also ruled that the agreement “does not discriminate against non-union contractors.”

The court stated that the AGC's standing to sue was “unclear on the facts presented” and that the petition would be denied even if its standing were more certain.

The Associated General Contractors San Diego Chapter filed the lawsuit July 30 challenging apprenticeship policies established under the PSA for projects funded through voter-approved Proposition S (55 CLR 764, 8/6/09).

The chapter argued that in limiting apprenticeship programs permissible under the PSA to joint labor-management run programs, the district circumvented the state certification process outlined in Labor Code Section 1777.5 and California Code of Regulations, Title 8, sections 212.4, 230, and 230.1.

AGC San Diego spokesman Brad Barnum told BNA Dec. 14 the judge's decision was a tentative one drafted prior to the Dec. 11 hearing at which further testimony was heard. “We're telling our members there's a possibility she might reverse based upon what was argued,” he said.

“We're very pleased the court read through all the law carefully enough to see that no one is harmed by the PLA and, in fact, that the AGC has no standing or basis to file this writ against the district,” said Ellyn Moscowitz, a member of San Diego Unified's legal team.