Shernoff v. Superior Court

In Shernoff v. Superior Court (1975) 44 Cal.App.3d 406, the Court of Appeal held the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies has no relevance to the damage relief sought in the plaintiff's complaint since Insurance Commissioners' disciplinary authority was limited to restraint of future illegal conduct with no authority to enter a money judgment for past injuries; such authority remained in the court. This analysis parallels exactly the legal effect of section 94332 of the Education Code. The Superintendent of Public Instruction has no authority whatsoever to award the damages that plaintiffs here seek. As the Shernoff court said at page 410: "'No rule of exhaustion of administrative remedies precludes prosecution of a civil claim without resort to an administrative procedure which is irrelevant to the claim.'"