Suit seeks to stop pay raises to Cal State execs
The average 12% raises recently given top Cal State University administrators and campus presidents are an illegal gift of public funds and should be stopped, alleges a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The suit contends that the pay raises will cause “irreparable harm to the taxpayers of the state of California” and that their retroactivity, to July, violates the state Constitution.
Raul and Crystal Rodriguez of Hemet, the plaintiffs, are recent graduates of Cal State San Bernardino. They were active in seeking to roll back student fees and did volunteer work with the Cal State faculty union. Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Assn., said the union helped the couple with the suit.
Saying the hikes were needed to keep executive recruitment competitive, the Cal State trustees last month approved controversial raises that amounted to more than $44,000 a year for some administrators. Under the plan, system chancellor Charles B. Reed will be paid $421,500 and campus presidents will average about $292,000 year, plus annual housing allowances worth as much as $60,000 and other perks.
Cal State system spokeswoman Claudia Keith said university officials had not seen the suit and so could not comment on it. But in general, she said, the university often grants retroactive pay raises, including ones to the faculty, because of delays in passing the state budget.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
