Stanislaus County Office of Education failed to provide paid holidays and vacation, lawsuit says
The Stanislaus County Office of Education is being sued by two of its employees whose attorneys allege SCOE failed to provide them with paid vacation and holidays in violation of the state Education Code.
The lawsuit also alleges that when SCOE started providing the employees with paid vacation and holidays last year, it did so by reducing their pay to cover the cost of the time off.
The two employees are occupational therapists Susan Lyneis and Regina Ceja. The lawsuit states they are categorized as classified employees under the state Education Code, work less then 12 months a year, are paid based on a 200-day work schedule and are not represented by a union.
The lawsuit alleges SCOE treated other classified employees who work less than 12 months and are not represented by a union — such as mental health clinicians and behaviorists — the same way and wants the court to certify the litigation as a class-action lawsuit on behalf of these employees.
“... SCOE did not actually start providing Plaintiffs (Lyneis and Ceja) and the other members of the Class with paid vacation and paid holidays,” according to the lawsuit. Instead, it reduced their “base pay rate such that these 20 additional ‘paid’ days resulted in” the classified employees “receiving the same pay they would have received had SCOE not provided them with paid vacation or holidays.”
The lawsuit alleges SCOE notified Lyneis and Ceja in a July 2023 email that they would receive paid time off but their annual pay would remain the same.
SCOE spokeswoman Judy Boring said in an email to The Bee that because this is an active lawsuit, SCOE would have no comment. But Boring did say SCOE changed how it categorized “certain work groups” as required by the state Education Code and that “no one was negatively impacted” by the change.
The lawsuit was filed Jan. 18 in Stanislaus County Superior Court. Lyneis and Ceja are represented by attorneys Vladimar J. Kozina and Robert J. Wassermann with the Mayall Hurley law firm, which has offices in Stockton, Lodi and Southern California.
Lyneis declined to comment, and Ceja did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Their attorneys also declined to comment.
SCOE states on its website that it helps school districts in Stanislaus County in such areas as business, technology, professional development, teacher recruitment and support services.
The lawsuit states that as occupational therapists, Lyneis and Ceja assess students suspected of having disabilities, develop interventions and work with teachers to help these students.
Besides certifying the lawsuit as a class action on behalf of the classified employees, the lawsuit asks the court to appoint Mayall Hurley to represent the classified employees, award the employees damages and Mayall Hurley attorneys fees and compel SCOE to provide paid holidays and vacations to its classified staff.
The lawsuit does not state how much in financial damages attorneys are seeking on behalf of Lyneis and Ceja as well as the other classified employees.
