Yolo County Settles
retaliation Case involving the DSA president
By Tim Talbot
The Yolo County Deputy
Sheriffs’ Association (DSA) President Ilsa vonLeden has settled a
dispute with Yolo County and the sheriff’s department resolving two
years of on-going harassment and retaliation directed at her in response
to her concerted labor activities as DSA president.
vonLeden is a veteran
member of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department and the current DSA
president, a position she has held for many years. Beginning in 2000,
the department began subjecting vonLeden to a continuous series of
internal affairs investigations, informal corrective actions and minor
disciplinary actions. The department initiated these administrative
actions over extremely trivial and contrived matters that would not
ordinarily evoke any response from the department. vonLeden was assigned
as the department’s civil deputy at the time; a position she held for
several years having previously received numerous commendations.
For two years, vonLeden
was subjected to administrative actions on an almost monthly basis. The
department’s actions always seemed to follow and be in response to
actions taken by vonLeden in her capacity as DSA president. Indeed, it
was no coincidence that during this period the DSA and the county were
engaged in contentious contract negotiations. vonLeden and the DSA’s
chief negotiator Gary Messing were continually battling with the county
over numerous bargaining related issues.
The harassment and
retaliation continued through November 2001, when vonLeden objected to
the department’s attempts to dictate and assign the DSA
representatives participating in discussions over the development of new
department performance standards. vonLeden, in her capacity as DSA
president, opposed the department’s efforts to bypass the association
and avoid the meet and confer process by choosing the deputies it wanted
to represent the DSA. The department’s response was to exclude the DSA
altogether from the discussion process. Approximately two weeks later,
vonLeden was told that she would be involuntarily transferred from the
civil deputy position to a position in court services.
As the DSA and PORAC LDF
panel attorney, I immediately jumped into action. A grievance was filed
challenging vonLeden’s involuntary transfer as a violation of the DSA’s
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and as part of an on-going pattern of
harassment and retaliation directed at vonLeden for her concerted labor
activities. The DSA’s MOU contains anti-harassment and retaliation
provisions expressly protecting the right of bargaining unit members to
engage in concerted labor activity. At the same time, I advised PORAC
LDF of the grievance and requested "affirmative relief"
coverage for vonLeden. The LDF trustees reviewed the grievance and
evidence of the on-going harassment and retaliation directed at vonLeden
and granted affirmative relief for her to pursue the grievance to
binding arbitration.
Before the case reached
arbitration, the county agreed to settle the dispute by removing from
vonLeden’s personnel files all documents and materials she identified
as acts of harassment and retaliation for her associational activities
and status as DSA president. All documents pertaining to or referencing
the incidents identified by vonLeden will be permanently removed, sealed
and cannot be used, referenced or considered for any personnel purpose.
The settlement achieved
the remedy sought by vonLeden and the DSA except for her unconditional
return to the civil deputy position. A long-standing disagreement
between the department and the DSA regarding the sheriff’s authority
under the MOU to transfer deputies involuntarily precluded resolution of
that issue. vonLeden agreed to accept the transfer on a non-precedential
basis in exchange for the county’s agreement to purge her personnel
files of all harassing and retaliatory documents. Both parties retained
the right to argue their respective interpretations of the MOU in any
future disputes and will likely address the issue in future contract
negotiations.
About the Author: Tim
Talbot is a labor law attorney and PORAC LDF panel attorney who
represents public safety employees. Tim is a partner in the Sacramento
office of Carroll, Burdick & McDonough.
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