Does section 2081 of the California Civil Code apply to state agencies?

Moreover, the language of section 2081, on which the trial court based its ruling, also supports an interpretation of "person" to include state agencies. Section 2081 exempts several entities, including public agencies, from the section 2080 prohibition. It is illogical to expressly exempt an entity from a prohibition that did not apply to it in the first place. Therefore, section 2080 must apply to public entities or the exemption for public agencies in section 2081 is rendered surplusage a result we must generally avoid.⁹ (See Cooley v. Superior Court (2002) 29 Cal.4th 228, 249.)

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