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Education

JD, Whittier Law School

MA, California State University, Sacramento

BA, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Did You Know

Stefanie has traveled to 19 countries. Her favorite trip was to Malaysian Borneo to visit the orangutans.

Police Officer v. City (2024) – A hearing officer and final decision maker upheld the department’s decision to demote a sergeant to officer for failing to report serious misconduct.

Court Employee v. Superior Court (2024) – Convinced an arbitrator to uphold the termination of a court employee for the following:  violation of the code of ethics; discourteous or rude emails; unsatisfactory performance due to attitude and failure to follow supervisor’s instructions; and violation of court cell phone use rules.

Union v. City (2020) – The Union filed a grievance seeking to enforce a “fairness agreement” in the MOU. The Arbitrator dismissed the grievance because the Union failed to timely present it to the City.

Arbitrator Upholds Police Sergeant Termination (November 2016) – In a case involving similar allegations as the August 2016 case noted below, a sergeant was terminated for submitting false reports to the federal government, overtime abuse, and incompetence. The sergeant claimed to be conducting “investigations and surveillance” on overtime shifts that were paid for by a grant from the federal government. The enforcement grant required officers to engage in self-initiated enforcement activity or investigations but only if done in accordance with a department approved an operational plan. Officers working the overtime were required to submit daily activity reports to the federal government describing the activity conducted on the overtime shift. On a regular basis and for a significant period of time, the sergeant submitted false reports to the federal government regarding his alleged activity.

Arbitrator Upholds Police Sergeant Termination (August 2016) – A sergeant was terminated from his employment based upon findings that he engaged in overtime abuse and submitted false reports to the federal government. The sergeant was working overtime shifts that were paid for by a grant from the federal government to assist in certain federal law enforcement activity. The grant was an “enforcement grant,” which required the individual officers working the overtime shift to engage in self-initiated enforcement activity and backup regular shift officers only when necessary. Officers were then required to submit daily activity reports to the federal government, documenting what enforcement activity relevant to the grant they conducted during the shift. The reports were submitted by the officers directly to the federal government.

Firefighter/Paramedic v. City (2015) – Administrative law judge upheld the termination of two paramedic/firefighters who provided inadequate care to multiple patients.

Western University of Health Care Sciences et al. (2015) – Plaintiff sued the University for alleged violations of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). In June 2013, plaintiff was terminated from her employment due to poor performance. Subsequently, she filed the lawsuit alleging she was discriminated against because of a disability and race and harassed because of a disability. The University submitted a motion for summary judgment, or in the alternative summary adjudication, which was granted in its entirety by the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The court determined that the University met its burden of proving it had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for terminating plaintiff’s employment and that plaintiff had no evidence to prove she was discriminated against or harassed. Judgment was entered in favor of the University.

South Pasadena Police Officers Assn. v. City of South Pasadena (2015) – California Court of Appeal upheld judgment in favor of the City upon labor unions’ petition for a writ of mandate to compel the City to revoke its change in contributions to retiree medical insurance. The Court found no violation of the U.S. or California Constitutions when, after exhausting meet and confer processes, the City unilaterally imposed a change in the City’s contribution to the retiree medical insurance for current employees. The Court held the MOU’s promise of retiree medical contributions was only binding until the expiration of the MOU. Employees who did not retire during the term of the MOU had no vested right to any level of City contributions to retiree medical after the MOU expired and another MOU entered into or an imposition of terms and conditions of employment after impasse.

McCurdy v. Western University of Health Care Sciences et al. (2015) – Plaintiff Jullie McCurdy sued the University for alleged violations of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). In June 2013, plaintiff was terminated from her employment due to poor performance. Subsequently, she filed the lawsuit alleging she was discriminated against because of a disability and race and harassed because of a disability. The University submitted a motion for summary judgment, or in the alternative summary adjudication, which was granted in its entirety by the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The court determined that the University met its burden of proving it had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for terminating plaintiff’s employment and that plaintiff had no evidence to prove she was discriminated against or harassed. Judgment was entered in favor of the University.

Casa Ramona Academy Charter School – Teachers Association.

Retaliation Claims – Unique Concerns And How To Be Prepared
07/06/2021
California Public Agency Labor & Employment Blog

This article was reviewed in July 2021 and is up-to-date.
Often times, an employee may know that discipline or a poor performance evaluation is imminent. Occasionally, such an employee will engage in a preemptive strike—“You can’t discipline me or give me a poor performance evaluation now since I...

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Governor Newsom’s Extension of the Public Safety Officer Bill of Rights Act One Year Statute of Limitations in Jeopardy Following Sutter County Superior Court Decision
11/09/2020
LCW Special Bulletin

Since Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 4, 2020, he has issued more than 50 executive orders. Some of those orders directly impact existing statutory law.
In a recent challenge to Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-67-20 on elections,...

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Annual Review of the Strange and Unusual Employment Cases
11/04/2020
California Public Agency Labor & Employment Blog

Once again we take a look at the truly odd and remarkable employment cases from near and far.
Tweet the Gift Horse in the Mouth and You Might Be Shown the Door
An American company’s annual holiday gift to Canadian employees was a bottle of barbeque sauce and a grill scraper. One of the employee...

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