Important Information for Court Reporters

Dear OCEA-member Court Reporter,

Today OCEA received a letter from Orange County Superior Court General Counsel Jeff Wertheimer. The letter informed OCEA that “… the Court recently looked into the issue of whether the salary of court reporters employed by Orange County Superior Court (“OCSC") remains tied to the salary that the Los Angeles Superior Court (“LASC”) pays its court reporter employees.” The letter informed OCEA that because the Government Code section that established this salary relationship and is included in our MOU has been repealed, the Court has concluded that there is no longer any statutory or precedential authority to tie the pay structures together.

As a result, the Court communicated its determination that: (a) it will honor the most recent two percent (2%) LASC raise and raise the salaries of OCSC Court Reporters effective July, 7, 2017, to be included in your July 21, 2017, and subsequent paychecks; and (b) the Court will not in the future tie OCSC Court Reporter salaries to LASC Court Reporter salaries.

We wanted to get this communication from the Court to you immediately. We are currently reviewing the Court’s position and will keep you informed as this develops.

In Solidarity,

Bridgette Washington
Senior Labor Relations Representative

Publication Date: June 9, 2017