Ann M. Richardson was appointed to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board by Governor Gray Davis in November 2003 and was confirmed by the Senate in January 2004.  Ms. Richardson was reappointed to the CUIAB for a four year term by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in July 2006 and was confirmed by the Senate in June 2007.

Ms. Richardson, a native of Sacramento, served as Deputy Legislative Secretary and Chief Deputy Legislative Secretary to Governor Davis from 1999 to November 2003.  Her duties included analyzing and negotiating legislation pertaining to policies on complex matters such as domestic partnership legislation, granting drivers’ licenses to immigrants, privacy legislation and legislation affecting labor and employment law.

Prior to joining the Davis Administration, Ms. Richardson was a Board member with Consumer Attorneys of California.  From 1985 to 1998, Ms. Richardson was in private practice as an attorney representing consumers in tort claims.  Ms. Richardson worked with the prominent San Diego law firm of Casey, Gerry, Reed & Schenk for 10 years before moving to Northern California to work for a plaintiffs’ personal injury law firm and subsequently opening her own practice.  As a partner in Elliot & Richardson, Ms. Richardson focused on product liability cases, labor and employment law claims and malpractice cases.

Ms. Richardson received her B.A. from San Diego State University where she majored in History and minored in Art History.  Ms. Richardson received her Juris Doctorate degree from the California Western School of Law in San Diego.  While there, she also taught Legal Research and Writing and was a staff writer for the California Western International Law Journal and an editor for the California Western Law Review.

Ms. Richardson is also a founding Board Member for the Foster Youth Education Fund, a non-profit group that provides educational scholarships to emancipating foster youth.  She is the founder of the Helen B. Taggart Memorial Scholarship, an ongoing scholarship awarded annually to foster youth entering college.  The scholarship is named after her grandmother.  Ms. Richardson is a member of the Sacramento Women’s Action Network, a giving circle that meets monthly to discuss and donate money and time to local charities such as the Wind Homeless Youth Shelter, the Foster Youth Ed Fund, WEAVE, and the Folsom Zoo, among others.

Ms. Richardson is married to Dr. Ronald M. Ruff, a neuropyschologist and clinical professor at UCSF.  Her son, M. David Ruff, is an attorney serving as principal consultant on the Assembly Revenue & Tax Committee and her daughter, Saralyn C. Ruff, is an MFT intern at a private clinic in Fairfield, CA.  Her son-in-law, Jason Flanders is an environmental attorney practicing law here in Sacramento.