In Monterey/Santa Cruz Counties Building & Construction Trades Council et al. v. Cypress Marina Heights LP, 191 Cal.App.4th 1500 (2011), the California Court of Appeal upheld an innovative prevailing wage statute promulgated by the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA), a regional redevelopment agency established to oversee the transition of the Fort Ord military base to civilian use. The Court held that FORA could obligate private contractors to pay prevailing wages in the redevelopment of Fort Ord through inclusion of this obligation in deed covenants transferring the land. The Court also held that labor unions and associations of union contractors had standing to enforce the prevailing wage deed covenant.
The decision is the first in California recognizing that labor rights can be enforced through deed covenants. The Court also upheld the trial court’s grant of attorneys’ fees to the Plaintiffs, who initiated the lawsuit after FORA declined to enforce the deed covenants itself.
DCB represented the Plaintiffs in all phases of the litigation.
