Sheriff’s Office Sergeants Win Case to Join Employee Association
Today, September 12, 2024, The Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB) issued a ruling on case no: RC-009–24 (document linked below).
In its order the board stated:
“…it is certified that the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Employees’ Association is the exclusive representative of the following standalone bargaining unit for the purpose of collective bargaining: All sergeants employed by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.”
This is a major loss for Sheriff Shane Nelson, Undersheriff Paul Garrison, and Captains Bailey and Shultz. It is an absolutely huge win for Sheriff’s Office employees.
We cannot overemphasize how important this is for the balance of power at the Sheriff’s Office. Whereas prior to this ruling the balance of power was overwhelming in favor of Command Staff, now things have thankfully become more even.
There is no question in our minds that Nelson and his top managers fought tooth and nail to prevent the sergeants from joining the association. They even went so far as filing a petition with the ERB against the move.
Why?
Because they knew that if the sergeants became members of the association Command Staff would lose significant power and control. Something which we imagine they are absolutely loathe to do.
We also believe the sergeants vote to join the association, whether intentional or not, could be seen as a vote of no confidence in Nelson and his chosen successor, Captain William Bailey. This could not have sat well with either of them.
The central pillar of the Sheriff’s Office ERB petition against the sergeants relied on Sheriff’s Office Policy 3.03 “Disciplinary Action” (linked below) which in section (G)(1) states:
“Sergeants are authorized to impose the following discipline: verbal
counseling; verbal reprimands; written reprimands; one day suspension without pay.”
Their argument was since sergeants can impose economic sanctions on employees, per Oregon statute, they cannot be a part of the employee association.
We always found this argument to be weak and in our article “Sergeants Unionize. Sheriff Has a Cow”, published April 30 and linked below, we wrote:
“In fact, Nelson’s opposition is ludicrous and we think it stands little chance of succeeding. Unfortunately for Nelson, the truth of the matter is that it is unheard of for a sergeant to impose such a “financial penalty” on a deputy. Such discipline is almost exclusively meted out by the captains and the Sheriff himself.
Furthermore, any Sheriff’s Office policy granting sergeants such authority is just “paper authority” and is likely there exactly to prevent sergeants from organizing.”
On July, 1, 2024, there was a hearing on the Sheriff’s Office petition against the sergeants joining the employees’ association. It was presided over by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).
At the hearing representing command staff were: Sheriff Shane Nelson, then Captain now Undersheriff Paul Garrison and Captain Michael Shultz.
Patrol Division Commander Captain William Bailey was conspicuously absent.
Representing the sergeants were: Sergeant Chris Erhardt, Sergeant James McLaughlin, Sergeant Jay Minton, and DCSEA President Deputy Jeff Pope.
At the hearing, it quickly became apparent that none of the Command Staff present could provide a single example of a sergeant having imposed economic sanctions against an employee.
For example, Garrison testified that suspensions without pay had occurred since he became Captain in 2016, but then he couldn’t recall any sergeant ever imposing a one-day suspension without pay (or any other economic discipline) and did not recall any instance of a sergeant being consulted regarding any economic discipline.
The same held true for Sheriff Nelson and Captain Shultz, neither of who, during their testimony, could provide a single example of a sergeant imposing economic sanctions on employees.
In fact, the ALJ found there was no evidence that sergeants were involved in any decision-making process regarding what level of discipline should be imposed after an investigation is completed. Instead, that process is handled at a higher level by captains and the sheriff, without consultation of sergeants.
So basically Nelson, Garrison and Shultz fell flat on their faces and their testimony was taken by the ALJ for the transparent and nonsensical effort it was at suppressing the sergeants efforts to join the employee association.
In closing we would like to congratulate all of the sergeants who voted to join the association. This is a great day for you all.
We would also like to commend Sergeant Earhart, Sergeant McLaughlin, Sergeant Minton, and DCSEA President Jeff Pope for having the courage to stand up and testify on behalf of their colleagues. In particular we understand it was Jeff Pope who was central to and who worked hard at getting the Sergeants into the association.
None of this could have been easy for these men to do given the ruthless culture of retaliation that Nelson and his team have instituted within the agency and which has been so well documented over the years. They each knew they could be the target of a weaponized internal investigation conducted.
So to them all we say: Well done and well earned.
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