DEPUTY FIGHTS OFF ‘WORK
AGREEMENT’
A Solano County sheriff’s
deputy has successfully fought off a "work agreement" proposed
by his supervisors as a disciplinary action for sleeping in court.
Deputy Guy Bristol,
assigned as a courtroom bailiff, received a counseling memo last June
because a judge reported the deputy was falling asleep in court. His
supervising sergeant and lieutenant recommended Deputy Bristol seek
counseling because he was losing sleep off-duty because of his father’s
terminal illness. He signed the memorandum and considered the matter
closed.
But an assistant sheriff
proposed in July to discipline Deputy Bristol for the sleeping incident
by requiring that he sign a "work agreement." The proposed
agreement prohibited him from sleeping on duty and ordered him to
counseling at his own expense.
The agreement waived the
deputy’s right to appeal any future disciplinary action and threatened
further discipline if he failed to abide by its terms.
Mastagni, Holstedt &
Chiurazzi attorney Christopher Miller objected prior to Skelly
hearing that Bristol could not be disciplined further with a "work
agreement" because the memo of corrective counseling constituted
the entire discipline.
Both the same conduct -
sleeping - and the same non-disciplinary remedy - counseling - were
addressed by the sergeant’s memorandum. The assistant sheriff
conducting the Skelly hearing concurred with that view and
withdrew the proposed work agreement.
"Work
agreements" are becoming a common method for law enforcement
administrators to get more "bang for the buck" out of
disciplinary actions. The Solano County "agreement", for
example, replaced a documented oral counseling with a contract that was
binding on the employee for six months, stayed in his file for another
year pending good behavior, and still allowed the department to use the
underlying incident to support additional discipline.
Signing such an agreement
unfairly exposes the peace officer to discipline much more severe than
the relatively minor punishment of a counseling memorandum or letter of
reprimand.
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