Judge Ann Jones, Steve Cooley and Jackie Lacey: Bizzare Rulings and Corruption, Anyone Surprised?

Ann Jones has a pattern of ruling against the ADDA and in the County’s favor.

Ann Jones, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, has done the dirty work for Steve Cooley and Jackie Lacey with her bizzare rulings.  Jones ruled the new performance evaluation plan, or better known as “PERSA,” was already implemented before the ADDA was certified on March 24, 2008.  This ruling is not only bizarre, but completely false.  Deputy DAs used to be rated “outstanding” year after year, for their hard work, from their supervisors.  Thanks to Steve Cooley and Jackie Lacey “outstanding” is only for selected prosecutors (like Cooley’s daughter who was promoted faster then… well  anyone we know).   When Cooley left office, he made certain of two things: 1) his daughter was promoted ahead of anyone in her class or grade and 2) it would be easy to fire the next target.

For years Deputy DAs were rated  “outstanding,” but under Cooley’s leadership he was determined to get rid of the performance evaluation system.  Thanks to Ann Jones and Cooley’s “PERSA” system, now Jackie Lacey can fire or demote anyone who opposes her, and Alan Jackson may be next.  Will Jackson receive “competent” or “needs improvement” on his next performance evaluation?  The Association of Deputy District Attorneys opposed the “PERSA” (performance evaluation) change as part of their litigation, but Anne Jones has made a bizzare and unusual ruling, clearly to gain favior with Cooley and LA County.  The matter is up on appeal with labor attorney Dick Shinee spearheading the appeal.  If the appeal fails, any Deputy DA who sees corruption within the office, might as well turn a blind eye or be fired.

If Jackie Lacey can commit perjury and get elected, then anything is possible.  Dick Shinee has 1000 Deputy DAs counting on him.  A complete failure on his part, coupled with judiciary corruption in LA Superior Court (no surprise) will result in the disposal of any Deputy DA at the snap of Lacey’s fingers.  Watch yourself Alan Jackson, your transfer to a desk job for running a campaign commercial exposing Jackie Lacey’s dishonesty, is only the first step in Lacey’s plan to get rid of you.  If Jackson is rated “needs improvement” he will be the next DA to be placed on a “performance improvement program” then fired.  It really doesn’t matter if you win 100% of your trials, like Steve Ipsen, or take down criminals like Phil Spector.  What matters is that Cooley and Lacey remain in power, continue their corruption, and take out their foes.

Union Busting continues: Steve Cooley violates injunction, Jackie Lacey unable to control employees

Janet Moore and Julie-Dixon Silva lose control and engage in anti-union animus rants against the prosecutors union representative.

In the wake of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s race and union busting federal trial, anti-union animus continues. Jackie Lacey’s and Steve Cooley’s violation of a federal injunction is flagrant in the form of their manager Janet Moore and county counsel Julie-Dixon Silva.  

Steve Cooley and Jackie Lacey along with their directors and managers were ordered by federal judge Otis Wright, in the form of a federal injunction to stop harassing and intimidating members of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, a certified prosecutors union.

ADDA/AFSCME attorney Tris Carpenter, represents DAs in matters such as grievance hearings and union issues, and Mr. Carpenter accompanied a young district attorney in a grievance hearing where the DA “reported sexual harassment, domestic violence, trespassing, and potential grand theft”.  Read Unfair Labor Practices complaint here. Director Janet Moore along with wannabe judge, but thankfully not appointed by Governor Brown, Julie-Dixon Silva, both flew into a rage and began their rant of anti-union remarks and explicative vocabulary unbecoming of ladies, district attorneys and managers. Janet Moore was previously named in the anti-union federal law suit set for trial in early December.  Moore was unfortunately dropped from the law suit for unknown reasons.

With language fit for a sailor, Moore reportedly screamed at the union representative Tris Carpenter calling him a “paid Lackey whose only existence was to draw a salary from the dues paid by the members of the union”.  She told Mr. Carpenter to “get the f*** out of my office”, but that the district attorney filing their grievance could stay.  Moore violated the federal injunction, ERO 5.04.070 and ERO 5.04.240 by restraining and coercing employees from exercising their rights avail themselves of union representation and file grievances when they are mistreated.

Moore and Silva committed unfair employee relations practices and could be held in contempt of federal court.  Inside sources say this is only one of many flagrant violations that have existed over the past year since the injunction was filed. Meanwhile, Jackie Lacey has been seen around town at debates and fundraisers bragging about her abilities as a manager.  It seems her ability to manage Julie-Dixon Silva and Janet Moore are only part of Jackie Lacey’s problems as she enters into the District Attorney’s election and federal court where she will face perjury allegations.

Top Deputy District Attorneys Caught Union Busting in Emails Revealing Disparaging Comments and Racial Overtones

Attached to disparaging emails is a picture of an ape to represent the acronym A-PES.

Pam Booth, John Spillane and wannabe judge Julie-Dixon Silva were caught sending anti-union emails referring to Deputy District Attorneys as “A-PES”.  (Read emails here) Attached to the email string is a photo of an ape.  Anti union emails with disparaging racial overtones about Persians were found as part of discovery litigation.  Pam Booth is a District Attorney and Director for Bureau of Branch and Area Operations, Region II stationed downtown Los Angeles in the main courthouse.  John Spillane is a head deputy and previously named in the union busting federal law suit where the former Presidents of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys will hold Steve Cooley accountable for multiple acts in violating the United States Constitution.  Julie-Dixon Silva is County Counsel and legal advisor to Steve Cooley who recently submitted papers to be appointed judge by Governor Jerry Brown.  She was not appointed judge and for good reason. 

Booth, Spillane and Silva were included in emails sent back and forth discussing the renaming of performance evaluations for Deputy District Attorneys who had been previously rated outstanding.  These performance evaluations were called PERSA and were determined illegal by the Employee Relations Commission because the new system was unilaterally implemented by Steve Cooley after the union was formed.  The work place changes were neither bargained for nor agreed upon.  

John Spillane suggested, “My vote (with concurrence from Julie) is for A-PES. I like the fact that in the name and acronym, it is clear that this is an attorney PE system.”  He later stated, “Apes… as in planet of?  Okay we’ll go with it.”   Pam Booth stated, “Referring to our attorney staff as simians may be accurate but is not called for at all.” In another email Booth states, “At one point I wanted to go with Workplan Evaluating Employee’s Performance (WEEP) but didn’t think you all would go for that … Tom liked Peformance- Employee Workplan Evaluation (P-EWE) … Alicia liked Performance Evaluation Workplan (PEW), while this could cause some folks to think of church, it was far more likely that they would think of bodily functions.”  Booth goes on to use racial overtones saying, “I was thinking that I did not like the hyphen so very much and Tom agreed so we were going with PERSA (which is very close to Persia which is now Iran, a country that many people hate so we thought it appropriate).”

 The performance evaluation system was determined to be illegal by the Employee Relations Commission and an appeal hearing will be heard on July 27^th in front of Judge Ann Jones.

Jackie Lacey and Steve Cooley Face a Federal Injunction and Union Bustion Charges in Federal Court

Jackie Lacey and Steve Cooley will face union busting charges in December

Jackie Lacey and Steve Cooley stave off union busting and perjury allegations until December 4^th.  One day after Jackie Lacey is sworn in to office she prepares for trial.  Steve Cooley makes his way to federal court for union busting over the past decade.  (Read first amended complaint here)   Jackie Lacey testified in an Employee Relations Commission hearing, under oath, that she warned well respected Deputy DA Rob Dver to stay away from the union or it would be bad for his career.  (Jackie Lacey transcript #1) (Jackie Lacey transcript #2) Rob Dver testified that elected District Attorney Steve Cooley told him to stay away from the union and was then transferred to a lesser assignment. (Rob Dver-transcript)  Jackie Lacey later perjured herself when she recanted her testimony claiming the “twinkie defense”.  (Lacey perjury transcript) She said her original testimony, under oath, in front of the Employee Relations Commission was inaccurate because she had “low blood sugar” and was “obviously confused.”  Her poor eating habits were her excuse when she realized the impact of her statements about Steve Cooley and his anti-union behavior.  Jones Day will likely argue that Lacey and Cooley were merely warning their friend not to work with Steve Ipsen, an accomplished trial attorney with an outstanding trial record, and the prosecutors union.  Unfortunately, this violates the United States Constitution under the 1^st Amendment.  Lacey and Cooley are at the helm of turmoil that has plagued the DAs office for the past 10 years.  They are accused of violating the union members’ rights of free speech and rights of association under the federal constitution.

L.A. County settles part of suit alleging anti-union conduct

Steve Cooley’s Anti-Union Conduct

By Jack Leonard, Los Angeles Times

October 5, 2011

 

Los Angeles County will pay $575,000 to settle part of a federal law suit claiming that Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and his managers waged an anti-union campaign, according to a settlement agreement filed in court. The settlement, which must be approved by the Board of Supervisors, would pay $125,000 to the prosecutors’ union and $450,000 to Deputy Dist. Atty. Marc Debbaudt, who a county employment commission found was transferred in retaliation for his union activity. In addition, a preliminary federal injunction ordering Cooley and other county officials not to discipline or discriminate against prosecutors for belonging to the union would remain in effect for the rest of Cooley’s tenure as D.A. Cooley has announced he will retire next year at the end of his third term.Matthew Monforton, an attorney representing the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys, hailed the settlement as a victory for the union and described Cooley’s conduct as “outrageous and illegal.”Earlier this year, the county’s Employee Relations Commission upheld the findings of a hearing officer who concluded that veteran prosecutors were transferred to less desirable assignments as a result of their union work. Debbaudt, who joined the office in 1986, was sent from handling adult felony cases in Pasadena to working on juvenile matters in Pomona and then Sylmar, assignments usually given to less experienced attorneys. The hearing officer found that Cooley gave explanations that “were false and clearly pretexts” for conducting a “deliberate and thinly disguised campaign” aimed at destroying the union.Debbaudt and Cooley declined to comment on the settlement.Attorney Brian Hershman, a partner at the law firm Jones Day who represents the county, disputed the commission’s findings and said no prosecutors were retaliated against.He said the county settled the case to end what had become a distraction to the mission of the district attorney’s office. “We wanted to put that dispute behind us,” he said.Claims by two other prosecutors who are part of the lawsuit are scheduled for trial next month, Hershman said.

jack.leonard@latimes.com

Betty Pleasant Updates on Union Busting – Jackie Lacey and Steve Cooley

Betty Pleasant Updates Us on the LA Union Busting Crusade of Jackie Lacey and Steve Cooley

THE SOULVINE: COST OF UNION BUSTING
By BETTY PLEASANT, Contributing Editor

Story Created: Sep 28, 2011 at 7:09 PM PDT

As anticipated, the lawsuit against District Attorney Steve Cooley and his joined-at-the-hip cohort, Jacquelyn Lacey, for their union busting campaign to thwart the organizing of their subordinate deputies in the District Attorney’s office, is costing us taxpayers a fortune.

 A portion of the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court on April 5, 2010 by four individual deputy D.A.s and the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, was settled last week. According to the “Memorandum of Understanding Re: Settlement” dated Sept. 19, the county will pay the ADDA $125,000 for Cooley’s and Lacey’s wrongdoings, and will pay Dep. D.A. Marc Debbaudt $440,000 for the pain and suffering Cooley/Lacey caused him. And that’s just one plaintiff; there are three more plaintiffs involved now in settlement negotiations over the unlawful actions of Cooley/Lacey.

Oh, and you know that face-slapping preliminary injunction Judge Otis Wright issued on March 2, 2010 against Cooley for his flagrant anti-union actions? Well, last week’s settlement stipulates that the injunction be declared permanent and in full effect for as long as Cooley is the D.A. — “including both his current term and any subsequent terms.”

But wait. That’s not all. We know that whenever private citizens sue a government entity, we, the taxpayers, have to pay the price. When this matter came up, I decried the fact that the tax-supported county counsel was defending Cooley/Lacey against this suit. I felt, and still feel, that the Cooley/Lacey crimes are outside the realm of prosecutorial immunity and that — like Rep. Laura Richardson and other alleged law-breaking federal officials — these two should pay for their own defense. The on-the-payroll county counsel started working on the Cooley/Lacey defense, but then passed it off to the big time downtown law firm of Jones Day, which is expected to earn big time fees for representing these two miscreants. So, at a time when government coffers are supposed to be at an all-time low, we taxpayers must pay for the settlements and/or awards to five plaintiffs, the salary of the county counsel and the fees for Jones Day — all because Cooley didn’t want his deputies to form a union.

You know what else Cooley did? He did what he always does: He manipulated the justice system to meet his own ends. He engineered a stipulation to dismiss Lacey from the lawsuit, leaving only himself to blame. Why did he do that? It’s obvious. He desperately wants Lacey to succeed him as D.A. and he wanted the taint of this suit removed from her while she’s running for his office. Ah-h-h, he’s so sweet. He’s so helpful to her. That’s why Lacey loves him so and why she says, “working for this man makes my heart glow.”

There is nothing Cooley won’t do to get Lacey elected, up to and including bad-mouthing his old friend and staunch supporter City Attorney Carmen Trutunich and calling in all of his Republican markers so Lacey can have plenty of money to run on. Well, it’s a long time until election day and this thing can get very ugly, particularly in the Black community where the effect of the current Cooley/Lacey regime in the D.A.’s office has been onerous.

Steve Ipsen Announces and Celebrates with the Association of Deputy District Attorney’s in Their Agency Shop Victory via Facebook

After a 10 year battle, Steve Ipsen and the ADDA can finally celebrate in their hard earned victory. First certification, then affiliation with AFSCME and now passing Agency Shop.

Winning a 5:1 vote – the Association of Deputy District Attorney’s affiliated with AFSCME.  Now in a vote of 3:2 by all Deputy District Attorneys, union and non-union members, Agency Shop Passes.  All deputy district attorneys will pay their fair share and have representation and a voice in their future.

Just announced on his campaign Facebook page Steve Ipsen says, “I am pleased to announce that the Association of Deputy District Attorneys has won our Agency Shop election with a resounding 60% in favor: 302 to 204. As my friends and supporters know, for nearly a decade I have dedicated my efforts towards building the ADDA into a powerful organization looking out for prosecutors in the LA DA’s office, so that we can focus on prosecuting crime and protecting public safety. As the founder of the union, and 8 term president, I was proud when we became a union in 2008, joined in solidarity with AFSCME, the nations largest public employees union, in 2009, and affiliated with AFSCME AFL/CIO in 2010. Now with the agency shop election victory, we have achieved the final victory in becoming the organization prosecutors in Los Angeles deserve.”

Steve Ipsen founded the Association of Deputy District Attorney’s Union and was President of the ADDA for nearly a decade.  Succeeded by President Hyatt Seligman, the ADDA continues to win their battles against overwhelming forces by the County.