Deputies’ Union Sues Over Vehicle Punishment
Photo: Ford Motor Company
The union that represents Kern County sheriff’s deputies is suing the county to compel it to accept an arbitrator’s decision awarding damages to 12 deputies the union alleges were wrongly deprived of their personal patrol vehicles for driving too fast.
According to The Bakersfield Californian, attorneys for Kern Law Enforcement Association say in the Dec. 22 filing in Kern County Superior Court that the county’s Board of Supervisors “prejudicially abused its discretion” in voting to reject the arbitrator’s opinion and $6,372 award. The board failed to disclose the reasons upon which it decided to reject the opinion, and its decision is not supported by the evidence, the filing states.
“Our view is that the arbitrator’s decision is correct and (the board) didn’t officially state why they rejected it or what evidence they used,” Timothy Talbot, an attorney representing the union, said.
The dispute began following a Sept. 28, 2014, crash involving a deputy that killed a woman in Oildale. The deputy was responding to a fight at a bar and traveling at speeds of 85 mph on North Chester Avenue as it intersected with West China Grade Loop when he collided with the woman’s vehicle.
Sheriff Donny Youngblood took away those deputies’ right to drive their patrol cars home as punishment. Deputies are allowed to pay a fee to take their patrol vehicles home, and the Sheriff’s Office pays for gas and vehicle maintenance.
The union filed a grievance arguing the Sheriff’s Office had improperly suspended the deputies because there was “no evidence of misuse or abuse” of their assigned vehicles within the meaning of the policy, the court filing states. The grievance also alleged the deputies lost economic benefits associated with the ability to take their vehicles home.
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