The Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL) and State Teachers’ Retirement Law (STRL) provide defined benefit retirement plans administered by CalPERS or CalSTRS, respectively, for eligible employees of participating public agencies (“employers”). To fund these plans, public education agency employers report member compensation to either CalPERS or CalSTRS directly, or through their county offices of education. 
Alysha Stein-Manes
Alysha Stein-Manes primarily represents Liebert Cassidy Whitmore’s educational institution clients in a range of employment, labor, and student matters.
Alysha regularly advises community college districts on academic and classified employee evaluation and discipline; administrator contracts and evaluation; equal employment opportunity recruitment and hiring practices; discrimination, harassment, and retaliation investigations; general governance matters; California and federal Voting Rights Act compliance; government transparency under the Brown Act and California Public Records Act; and a variety of student matters. She is also experienced working with governing boards on conducting CEO evaluations and contract negotiations, as well as advising and training boards on ethics, Brown Act, and other governance issues.
Alysha also regularly represents community college districts in arbitrations and administrative proceedings regarding discipline of permanent employees and the release of probationary faculty members, and in matters before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and California Office of Administrative Hearings.
Alysha provides counsel to private institutions of higher education, in matters including the intersection of student disability accommodations and discipline; personnel policies and practices; employee evaluation and discipline; Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”); and discrimination and harassment complaints and investigations.
Alysha is also a leader in the retirement and health arenas. She regularly provides counsel to LCW’s clients about the Affordable Care Act and disability interactive process, and to LCW’s public agency clients in the areas of the post-retirement work restrictions, PEPRA compliance, and reporting employee compensation to CalSTRS and CalPERS.
Alysha has extensive experience as a litigator, representing public agencies and non-profit educational institutions at all levels of the litigation process in state and federal court
Alysha serves on the Executive Committees for LCW’s Public Education Practice Group and Retirement, Benefits, and Disability Practice Group.
Prior to joining LCW, Alysha served as an Education Policy Analyst for former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa. In this role, she advised and developed communications strategies for the Mayor’s education platform and initiatives. Alysha also advocated for federal grants and legislation at local, state and federal levels, and managed collaborative and multi-dimensional projects between mayoral and school district staff and labor, business and non-profit stakeholders to improve educational outcomes for the children of Los Angeles.
What’s a “Skelly” Conference, Again? Legal Requirements and Best Practices for Complying with Employees’ Due Process Rights When Imposing “Significant” Discipline
You’ve probably heard the term “Skelly” meeting or conference hundreds, if not thousands of times, but what does “Skelly” really mean? Even if you think you know, a refresher can’t hurt, right?!
Most California public employees have what is known as a constitutionally protected “property” interest in continued employment, once and…
Hiring the Best While Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Public Sector Workforce
Over the last several years, virtually all levels of government have increasingly recognized the critical link between building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace and effectively meeting the needs of the communities they serve—in particular, historically underserved and marginalized communities.
At the federal level, the Biden Administration has issued several Executive Orders that recognize the…
Additional Funding for Schools, Community Colleges, and Other Local Agencies is on the Ballot November 3
Who will be our Country’s next President is not the only issue on the ballot November 3. If you’ve voted in California before, are in the middle of studying your ballot, don’t mute your TV commercials during election season, or read text messages that you receive from campaign volunteers, you know that California has a…
California Court of Appeal Clarifies Standard by Which a Public Agency’s At-Large Voting System Will Be Deemed to Violate the California Voting Rights Act, Having the Potential to Significantly Impact California Voting Rights Litigation
Last month, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District of California issued a decision in Pico Neighborhood Association, et al v. City of Santa Monica (Jul. 9, 2020, No. B295935) __ Cal.App.3d __ [2020 WL 3866741] (“Pico”), finding that the City of Santa Monica’s at-large voting system did not violate the…
New Year, New Laws, Old Goals: Addressing Systemic Compliance Issues in the New Year
How many times have you set a New Year’s resolution and a month or two into the New Year said to yourself, “oh well, maybe next year”? We all too often set personal and professional goals each year, only to give up or put them on the back-burner once we get behind in reaching those…
Can Sending an Emoji to a Colleague Expose Me or My Employer to a Claim for Harassment? Tips for Preventing Harassment Claims In the Age of Social Media
If you are a supervisory employee for a public agency or private school in California, or a member of your employer’s human resources department, you have most likely sat through a 2-hour supervisory training regarding preventing harassment in the workplace. You may know this training as “AB 1825 Training.” If you are a non-supervisory employee,…
California Court of Appeals Further Clarifies STRS’ Authority to Collect Overpayments Made to Retirees
Over the last several years, the California Courts of Appeal have addressed questions regarding the California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s (CalSTRS) ability to collect overpayments of monthly retirement benefits paid to retirees because of, among other things, miscalculations of the retirees’ compensation earnable. A Court of Appeal handed down the most recent case, Blaser v.
Three is Company: Police Departments Usage of Drones and Robots and What it Means for Employer-Employee Relations
This post was authored by Alysha Stein-Manes and Daniel Seitz
Remote surveillance is an area of expanding interest for law enforcement agencies. Police departments continue to equip their sworn officers with body-mounted video cameras (“body cams”), and, in California, the Legislature has begun to regulate discoverability of body cam footage. Agencies in California and across…
The Census is Coming: Preparing Your Agency for 2020
This blog was authored by Alysha Stein-Manes.
April 1, 2020, is national Census Day and will kick off a year-long process of counting every resident in the United States. In California, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (the “Commission”), a non-partisan commission comprised of democratic, republican and independent (decline-to-state or no party preference) voters, is…