Gavin Newsom’s return-to-office mandate challenged as workers turn tables on governor
State employees are fighting back against Gov. Gavin Newsom ordering them off the couch and back into the office, arguing that by doing so thousands of additional cars will be on the road, hurting the state’s efforts to be carbon neutral.
In a blistering exhaustion letter, the California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment (CASE) argued that any agency adopting Newsom’s Return-to-Office executive order (RTO) without first studying its environmental fallout is violating the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.
The union blasted the mandate as a “discretionary project” under CEQA, which requires state and local agencies to review and disclose the environmental impact of major actions before moving forward.
CEQA mandates agencies “disclose and evaluate the significant environmental impacts of proposed projects and adopt all feasible mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate those impacts,” the letter noted.
CASE claimed agencies that enforce the RTO order without conducting those reviews are committing “an abuse of discretion.”
The union, which represents nearly 5,000 state-employed attorneys, judges and hearing officers, warned the policy could trigger major indirect environmental impacts, including increased commuting and pollution.
State employees are fighting back against Gov. Gavin Newsom ordering them off the couch and back into the office. REUTERS
The letter was issued to some 100 state departments/agencies demanding an environmental impact review of the RTO be done, Merced Sun Star reported.
The letter said departments adopting the RTO for employees back to the office “four days per week is a discretionary decision that will have myriad environmental impacts that must be analyzed, disclosed, and mitigated.”
The union claimed that CEQA demands that a review be done before the RTO can be adopted and made it crystal clear that the union will move forward with legal challenges if that doesn’t happen.
Matthew Gauger, CASE’s vice president, told the outlet that they expect the letters “to be very successful.” Prostock-studio – stock.adobe.com
“If Agency/Department refuses to conduct CEQA review prior to implementing its RTO policy, then CASE reserves the right to seek a writ of mandate in California Superior Court,” the letter read.
Matthew Gauger, CASE’s vice president, told the outlet that they expect the letters “to be very successful.”
“Putting 90,000 people on the road and pumping that much carbon into the air has an environmental impact,” he said.
Last year, Newsom faced push back from unions over Executive Order N-22-25 and it’s happening again. Anadolu via Getty Images
“It should only be done if there’s a proper environmental impact report, and that hasn’t been done.”
The letter included facts from the state auditor report from 2025, that claimed teleworking saved “nearly 50 million commute miles and avoided over 18,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in just the month of December 2023.”
CASE demands that not only the environmental review be done on the impacts to human health and the climate, but also that “feasible alternatives and mitigation measures” be found to reduce these greenhouse gases.
These feasible alternatives include “personnel to continue to telework, and thereby avoid thousands” of these emissions.
Because CASE said “it has worked for six years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Other options would include that the state “provide public transit passes at reduced or no cost, provide electric car charging, provide electric van pools, or provide financial incentives for purchasing electric vehicles.”
The Post reached out to CASE for further comment.
CalHR sent a statement to The Post that Newsom’s order “requiring state employees to return to the office four days per week remains in effect starting July 1, 2026, in alignment with agreements made last year to delay implementation by one year.”
“Departments have been preparing for employees’ return to the office in alignment with this directive, including assessing and adjusting workspace needs, where needed, for returning employees.”
Newsom first issued an order in 2024 requiring two days of in-person work, a policy that was later expanded to four days a week. New Africa – stock.adobe.com
Last year, Newsom faced push back from unions over Executive Order N-22-25 and it’s happening again.
Unions like SEIU Local 1000 — which represents nearly 100,000 state workers, and CAPS UAW, representing 6,000 scientific workers for the state — have blasted the governor over the move.
Newsom first issued an order in 2024 requiring two days of in-person work, a policy that was later expanded to four days a week.
