Yolo County Settles Retaliation Case Involving the Dsa President

Posted by Tim Talbot

The Yolo County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (DSA) President Ilsa von Leden 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.

von Leden 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 von Leden 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. von Leden 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, von Leden 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 von Leden 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. von Leden 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 von Leden objected to the department’s attempts to dictate and assign the DSA representatives participating in discussions over the development of new department performance standards. von Leden, 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, von Leden 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 von Leden 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 von Leden. The LDF trustees reviewed the grievance and evidence of the on-going harassment and retaliation directed at von Leden 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 von Leden will be permanently removed, sealed and cannot be used, referenced or considered for any personnel purpose.

The settlement achieved the remedy sought by von Leden 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. von Leden 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.