Defendants City of Hermosa Beach (the City) and the Hermosa Beach Police Department terminated plaintiff Jonathan Cruz from his employment after they implemented a COVID-19 vaccination requirement as an employment qualification and denied his request for a religious exemption. Plaintiff sued defendants for violating the procedural provisions of the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (POBRA; Gov. Code, § 3300 et seq.) and for unlawful retaliation in violation of Labor Code section 1102.5 and the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA; § 12900 et seq.).
Defendants moved for summary judgment, asserting that POBRA did not apply to plaintiff’s termination. Defendants also argued that plaintiff had failed to demonstrate a triable issue of material fact as to the existence of a causal link between plaintiff’s protected activity and the adverse employment action. The trial court granted summary judgment.
On appeal, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred because POBRA applied to his termination and he raised triable issues of material fact that defendants had a retaliatory motive when they terminated his employment. We affirm. In the published portion of this opinion, we conclude that POBRA does not apply to a vaccination requirement imposed on all employees as an employment qualification.
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