As election season comes up, plenty of talk goes around about whether new candidates can do a better job than our current government officials — whether it’s the race for President or our local Fullerton City Council races, a lot of focus has been placed on getting bad government officials out of office. 

And yet, one category of government official — arguably one with the most direct effect on our governmental systems — goes largely ignored: our local Superior Court judges.

With Orange County quickly becoming a center for state court venue shopping in California — a practice in which prospective litigants choose a county to file in where they think they are more likely to win — it is more important than ever that the judges on our bench have respect for the law and for justice, ruling equitably and without bias, and not ignoring the law to serve their friends and their own interests.

Unfortunately, one of only three Complex judges in Orange County — who handles class action cases, labor cases, and more — is Randall J. Sherman. He has largely ignored the law to consistently side with government agencies and large corporations against workers and local residents.

Prior to being assigned to the Complex division, he served as a Probate judge, taking on cases about estates, conservatorships, and elder abuse. He was a corporate lawyer before that, representing clients like Smilecare — who put mercury in tooth fillings — and the City of Lynwood, where he defended their retaliatory firing of a city whistleblower. 

His most recent well-known ruling was in UC v. UAW 4811, where despite California and federal labor law protecting the right to engage in unfair labor practice strikes even amidst no-strike clauses, he ordered that UAW 4811 workers shut down their strike. This ruling on June 7, 2024 — just a few days into the strike — made it illegal for the students to stop working or for anyone to assist them in their strike, ending their ability to fight over their contract disputes and forcing them back to work. It was going to take effect until June 27, which would have nearly been the entire duration of the strike; it was only authorized through June 30.

However, his record goes back much further. Based on research from Titan YDSA — a group at California State University, Fullerton that advocates for good government and workers’ rights —  his appeal overturn rate is 41.5% for his 53 cases thus far. 

Compared to the statewide average of 20 percent, this rate is absurdly high; there is only a 0.074% chance of this happening by random chance alone if he were a normal and regularly competent judge.

When it comes to the cases that matter — “published” appeals, the only ones that set precedent in California — his record is even worse. 90.9% of his published appeals are reversals (10 out of 11). One of these went to the California Supreme Court, which upheld the reversal of Judge Sherman’s ruling.

Sherman was first appointed to the bench in 2005 by Governor Schwarzenegger, and in the three election cycles that have passed since (2008, 2014, 2020), he has never once appeared on the ballot. Judge positions are rarely contested, but after having been on the bench for 19 years, one would have expected him to have had to face the voters at least once.

These rulings have consistently been pro-government, anti-public, and anti-consumer. As a Complex judge, his cases are most commonly under PAGA, which allows mass lawsuits by employees for labor law violations. Time after time, he has improperly shut down PAGA claims, and appellate courts have had to define new standards of law to stop him from making those rulings.

Those rulings have included Semprini, where he tried to deny compensation-based employees overtime; Estrada, where he tried to stop a class action case about break rights because it was “unmanageable”; and Kec, where he attempted to compel arbitration in an overtime classification case. If these rulings had survived, they would have significantly weakened the legal rights of workers here in Fullerton, and across the state.

He also has attempted to lessen the First Amendment, saying that it is constitutional to ban protest imagery just because it is shocking and stopping a church in Irvine from suing to protect its land. His rulings also went against property and development rights, incorrectly ruling that the California Coastal Commission could stop mobile homeowners from building additions onto their homes in Linovitz Capo Shores.

Judge Sherman needs to be stopped from destroying public and worker rights — whether he resigns or is recalled, workers across Orange County and the state depend on him departing the bench. UAW 4811 is in court next on October 18 at 10 A.M.; for anyone who wants to follow the case, it is in room CX105 at the Civil Complex Center in Santa Ana. Continued efforts need to be made to get Sherman out, from protests to possibly even a recall; if you’d like to join the fight, you can contact Titan YDSA at csufydsa@gmail.com or (619) 880-0135.

Amy Parker is a resident of Fullerton and the General Secretary of Titan YDSA, who submitted this article as a community opinion piece.