Tameny Actions Cannot Be Maintained Against Public Entity Based on Respondeat Superior

Lloyd v. County of Los Angeles, published March 19, 2009, is a lower-appellate-court follow-up to Miklosy v. Regents of UC (2008) 44 Cal.4th 876. Miklosy held that plaintiffs cannot sue public entity employers for wrongful termination in violation of public policy, aka a Tameny action.  A Tameny claim is a common law cause of action; even if the public policy violated is found in a statute or constitutional provision, the cause of action itself is not based on statute. Government Code section 815 bars all common law causes of action against public entities. Therefore, section 815 bars Tameny actions. The Lloyd court ruled that a plaintiff cannot get around this limitation by asserting that the public entity employer is vicariously liable for its employees' common law torts, under Government Code sections 815.2(a) and 820(a). That is because a Tameny action lies only against the employer -- the public entity.