Employment Law: LA Superior Court to Lay Off 300 Employees

March 16, 2010

Los Angeles – The nation’s largest trial court system is set to lay off more than 300 employees to help with its $79 million budget deficit.

A judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court made the announcement this week.

The 330 jobs that will be cut are also expected to be the first wave in the series of layoffs and more job cuts and courtroom closures that can be expected in the coming months.

The LA Superior Court said that the public may feel the effects in the coming months and should expect more courtroom closures.

Presiding Judge Charles “Tim” McCoy added “When you cut this deep into the workforce of this court, the system must ultimately wear down.”

A total of 17 courtrooms will be closed and McCoy is appealing to state lawmakers to redirect reserved money intended for building new courthouses to saving employee jobs to keep the existing courthouses open and operating.

Last summer, the Superior Court has started implementing once-monthly furlough days to save $18 million a year.

However, even with the furlough days, they still expect to lose about $130 million in the coming years.

The Los Angeles Superior Court operates about 600 courtrooms in 50 courthouses all over the county.