El Dorado County probation employees tired of workplace harassment
By Kathryn Reed
Chaotic could be one word to describe the El Dorado County Probation Department. Discriminatory, dysfunctional and secretive would be other words.
“The kids aren’t the problem, management is,” said one person who recently severed ties with the department.
Rank and file employees are fearful of talking to Lake Tahoe News on the record and most higher ups won’t even talk.
The Juvenile Treatment Center in South Lake Tahoe is one place county probation officers say is less than ideal to work. Photo/LTN
When word got out last week that Lake Tahoe News was asking questions, interim Chief Probation Officer Vince Janette sent the following email to all probation staff, “Recently a few staff members were contacted off duty by the media. I would like to take this opportunity to remind all staff of policy IV2 Contact with the News Media. Please take a moment to review the policy and report any contacts via the chain of command. If you are contacted at home or in the community this policy still applies.”
He then attached the policy in the email, which was given to LTN by someone other than Janette. Part of the policy says only the chief of the department or a designated manager may speak with the media.
It also says, “Staff is prohibited from writing letters to the media or otherwise communicating with the media as a representative of the Probation Department.”
When Lake Tahoe News asked Janette if he thought there is a morale issue within the department, he said, “I will not comment on that.”
When asked to comment on whether harassment issues are ignored, he said, “I haven’t heard that.”
According to the people who spoke off the record with Lake Tahoe News, Janette is one of the harassers.
Change in leadership
Janette is now in charge of probation because Greg Sly, who is still technically the chief, is out on leave until he officially retires Sept. 13. Sly is getting full pay and medical benefits until then.
At first Janette said, “I’d rather not comment” – in response to whether he applied to be the chief permanently. Then he added, “I will not be our next chief.”
When Sly was asked to explain what is really going on today at probation, he emailed LTN, “Current direction from the CAO and County Counsel is that all media questions are referred to them. Therefore, I need to refer you to their offices.”
Terri Daly is the county’s chief administrative officer and Ed Knapp the county counsel. Neither is communicating with Lake Tahoe News.
In an email obtained by LTN written June 7 to staff Sly says he is remaining out on medical leave.
Sly’s email says, “I wish my career and term as your chief would be ending under different circumstances, but sometimes doing the right thing pays off a little differently than one would like. During my entire 29 year law enforcement and community corrections career, I always pushed for true justice on all fronts. But as I have often said, ‘Sometimes Justice just isn’t Just.’”
Sly was out on administrative leave from Sept. 28-Dec. 12 as well. At that time Gary Hudgeons, then assistant chief probation officer, was put in charge of the department. He abruptly left when Sly returned to work.
Sly has not always gotten along with the current CAO, but the truth to why he keeps being put on leave is not forthcoming because officials say it is a personnel issue.
Feeling threatened
Those who are left to do the work at the South Lake Tahoe and Placerville detention centers say there is a culture of harassment and discrimination within the department. This includes workers at the facilities housing the youths as well as those working in the field.
And it’s not just women who have been harassed. One guy chose to take a demotion to get away from a harassing boss. Another left to work at a coffeehouse.
“Within the department retaliation is alive and well and strong. If you speak out, you will absolutely be gone,” one employee said. “There is no personality conflict; it’s a power and control issue.”
Sometimes the harassment is because a person is outspoken, sometimes it’s for having a quirky personality, sometimes for just not fitting in with the established older-white-male power structure, and other times it’s for reasons that are not obvious.
But it’s predominately women who are subjected to the hostile work environment – unless they are having an affair with one of their male superiors or their husband is a cop.
Several people have left the department this year. They are fed up with the treatment, filing grievances and getting nowhere but being retaliated against.
Harassment, according to those who spoke with LTN, is verbal and sexual – and ongoing.
Some complaints are investigated, some are not. But even when they are, they often end with the harasser not being reprimanded and the employee reaching a financial settlement with the county so they will go away.
One employee said they look around and ask, “Why is the person who all complaints were directed toward still here and the person who instigated the investigation now gone?”
Kathryn-Thank you for continued investigative prowess and the courage to write the truth. To the Brave Source–Integrity and Truth lead us ALL to FREEDOM! Ironically, Probation Officers should be supported in their endeavors to role model Truth
A second to Angel’s post. A while ago there were several threads of comments on here questioning why the City separated from the County years ago and why important City services like police and fire couldn’t be turned over to El Dorado County. Recent stories like this one should make it abundantly clear that the folks at South Lake Tahoe don’t want to stoop to receive the El Dorado County quality of government.
Great article Kae! “Transparency” in Government is not present in a lot of our County branches. Our County officials have two choices: be open and honest, or do a cover-up. The perception is, “If the County is doing something wrong, then they will not be open and honest”. Let me warn you Kae, you are dealing with a Massive System involving: judges, attorneys, law enforcement, Probation, State and County elected officials, and lots of State and County employees.
Thanks again for your efforts, please keep it going. The Press if our best tool for exposing “cove-ups”. County officials can use cover-up techniques on the average citizens with ease, but when they try to use cover-up techniques on the Press they are often exposed. Another consequence of a cover-up is a lawsuit. The County had been successfully sued many times. Unfortunately, when the County losses a lawsuit we citizens have to fork out the money to payoff the injured parties.
Are you planning to talk with Judge Kingsbury? She is very knowledgable about the Probation Department and the Juvenile Treatment Center (JTC). She was a help to our group when we were investigating Child Protective Services (CPS).
Chris Daly of the Mountain Democrat is another ally.
Thank God for the Press! The Press is so valuable that twenty states have now passes laws allowing the Press access to their Family Courts. Why? Once the Press was allowed into the once secret courtrooms, the lawsuits were greatly reduced and the cover-ups ended.
What a very sad state of affairs. Where is our representative on the Board of Supervisors during this nightmare?
If you would like more information on this check out Davis vs El Dorado county et al.
Look out Kae. Don’t be surprised if the Justice Department doesn’t start intercepting your phone and email to see how your news organization gathers the news, the same as they did to the Associated Press last year.
Keep digging and exposing cronyism, harassment and waste in our taxpayer funded services.
Alas, sadly this does not suprise me. Our area (on both sides of the state line) has a culture of corruption and impunity that rivals that of any big city. I hope this year’s grand jury investigates and comes to a conclusion so the perpitrators can be brought to justice. If not we may need federal intervention.
KAE! Thinking back to the days of Mark Nielsen AKA Harasser Extraordinaire, of at will employees and contract employees along with one sitting Judge.
Good old Mark supported by John Upton fired CAO Paul McIntosh. Paul ended up on the receiving end of $90,000 of very old money.
Mark also wanted County Counsel Neasham a contract employee dismissed. When Sam’s contract was up it was not renewed by the swing voter!! Ed Knapp was also a target but survived due to his ability and knowledge of the law.
Is it possible that the Grand Jury conflict was caused by complaints filed against Probation ?
The DA ,County Counsel and the BOS has to be aware of this mess. It has to blowup bigtime
Good job Kae!!! This is just sad. It makes the people in law enforcement that are honest good officers look bad too. Jad, the information on Davis v. EDC et al could not be found.(maybe the Co site isn’t working?) Irish, one of them is jail for embezzlement. I wonder if there are any public officials that can be trusted in this town? If the grand jury is in someone’s pocket and they disbanded, gave up or quit last year, how can any of them be trusted? With the IRS & DOJ scandals who can be trusted to save us?
Sadly, the disfunction and chaotic conditions will only get worse after Sly, “takes a piece of the county” with him when he retires. The next chief will likely be Craven, who is a micromanaging, retaliatory, control freak, who has learned a lot of practices from Sly over the years. Very unfortunate for the hard working honest officers. The county has conducted investigations into these issues and nothing is ever done to clean up the illegal behavior by management. They once investigated an officer for reporting another employee for committing a criminal act to another law enforcement agency, ridiculous. The reality is this department is so much more dysfunctional than this article indicates, only if the public knew the truth…….
Joe Boxer. I had trouble on the county site as well. could not get it to filter. I eventually found it, the case number to Davis vs EDC et al is SC20120040
Interesting story. The Court employees in El Dorado County (South Lake Tahoe) are also having problems and protested recently in Placerville at the Courthouse. With this much “flowing over” we all wonder what is really going on in the so called “Justice System” when even their employees are complaining o tyranny.
KAE! Ernie Claudio is right about his warning to you.
Suggest you Google CJP Judge James R. Wagnor- John O’Sullivan. What a mess!
Judge Suz. has to be aware of what is going on, she is too smart to get involved
Probation department, pretty much like other El Dorado County agencies who have authority in South Lake Tahoe, has had problems as long as I can remember; a memory which goes back to the ’70s. So much of what a Probation Department does cannot be released to the press, and the law enforcement folks, and even the judges, pretty much have their hands tied trying to change things.
I know from personal experience that Judge Kingsbury has been banging her head on the wall for well over 20 years trying turn these folks into something other than a gathering of hicks with no agenda favoring the public. She lead the fight to get a local juvenile holding facility built so problem juveniles in South Lake Tahoe wouldn’t have to be put back on the street or hauled back and forth between Placerville and, what Placervillians consider, a liberal “sin” city, but that was only a start. And Hans Uthe was a strong advocate for South Lake Tahoe until he retired.
I have no suggestion for a solution beyond strongly recommending that South Lake Tahoe folks take a major stand for independence from the corrupt county government and stop listening to those who are either ignorant or have personal agendas. Or, more likely, both. Starting with some participants in this forum.
Copper, It’s nice to know Judge Kingsbury is honest, at least someone is in this county. So how does corruption get reeled back in when the government is involved?
Joe, I wouldn’t normally reply to a comments section, and I don’t have much of a reply to make. But I think that becoming involved in government is a requirement for anyone living in a democracy. And by “becoming involved” I don’t mean tossing off a few beers and posting something seemingly clever on a web site comments page.
My advice: Read, study, learn which media sources you can somewhat trust and find a way to participate.
Read everything you have time for; consider everything that might make sense; develop an instinct for nonsense – and that instinct will get plenty of exercise.
And do whatever you can to support the folks who are supporting what you think is right.
Doing the right thing is becoming an increasingly lonely endeavor in our democracy these days. But if we don’t try, the folks who don’t really believe in the supremacy of the individual will win. And they’re damn aggressive with their agenda.
Joe, a new civil grand jury has been empaneled, overseen by Judge Douglas Phimister. They have the authority to look into this issue – as well as other issues which may exist in our county, cities incorporated within our county, joint powers associations, special districts, jails & lockups. They would have the ability to examine records & documents not generally available to the general public of the type referenced by copper. Complaints can be submitted by accessing the grand jury’s webpage, part of the County of El Dorado general web site, or by e-mail at grand.jury@edcgov.us.
The probation department has some serious issues, they promote people who have been demoted for serious offenses and who have committed criminal acts during there time with the department. The people who embrace the “Boys Club” are promoted and everyone else is ostracized or harassed. The tax payers would be appalled if they knew what was really going on in the facilities that are in charge of watching over their children. The kids are supposed to be redirected and shown good behavior. The kids have 24 hours a day to watch the supervisors & bad employees harass co-workers, the kids are learning knew ways to manipulate, scam, lie, bully & abuse others. Employees are terrified to come forward. People who do try and stand up for themselves become even more of a target. There is absolutely no unity and the shifts are pitted against each other. The higher up’s know all the rules to the games they play. They slip and slide in the grey areas so they can’t be held accountable and never get in trouble. Then they bend and twist those rules to get rid of the people who wont play along. There are a ton of skeleton’s in the probation department’s closet. It’s time the Fed’s come in and wipe out the majority of the department and start fresh.
Some of us stay and fight the corruption instead of commenting about it from afar.
Well, there’s a fine example of the lack of unity.