Prosecutors’ union files unfair labor practices complaint against Gascón

The Association of Deputy District Attorneys has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, alleging he made false, anti-union statements in an interview with a Southern California News Group editorial board member earlier this month.

The ADDA, representing about 800 prosecutors, said in a complaint filed last week with the Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission that its allegations stem from Gascón’s comment to SCNG editorial board member Larry Wilson published in a Feb. 18 column.

The ADDA alleges that Gascón made false claims that its members refused a pay increase he offered them and discouraged members from applying for promotions. Additionally, he accused the union of raising dues without consent from its members.

“In their work against me, the union had to raise their dues twice and now a third time — they spend it on the campaign against me, on recalls, on lawsuits. But … we are seeing cracks” in the internal opposition,” Gascón said in the SCNG column. “We gave tests for DA 4,” a step up for junior prosecutors, “and the union told people not to take the exam, and over 300 people took the exam. The union refused my offer to give raises to many of our attorneys,” because they didn’t want Gascón to have that victory.

ADDA President Michelle Hanisee said statements by Gascón, who is seeking reelection in November, are false and strategic.

“George Gascón’s lies are designed to undermine the hard work that our union has done to stand up for and defend our members’ civil service and workplace rights,” Hanisee said in a statement. “He is also seeking to shift the blame for his failed leadership onto the line prosecutors who work in the District Attorney’s Office.”

The District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the ADDA’s labor complaint and referred questions from SCNG to the Los Angeles County Office of County Counsel.

The ADDA’s labor complaint alleges Gascón’s comments to Wilson are “utter lies made up from whole cloth, without a grain of substance.”

“The ADDA’s Board of Directors has never discouraged its members from taking a promotional exam; indeed, all eligible members of the Board applied for the promotion to which Gascón referred,” the union said in its statement. “In his three-year tenure as District Attorney, Gascón has never offered to increase deputies’ pay; in fact, he lacks the power to do so. “

As for dues, the ADDA said that its members approved a one-time increase in their rates early in Gascón’s term that began in December 2020 to fund legal expenses associated with protecting them from “unlawful retaliation” by the district attorney.

“There’s only one reason for Gascón, or someone like him, to lie about the ADDA’s activities, and that’s to undermine the union’s credibility in the eyes of its members,” ADDA Vice President Ryan Erlich said in a statement. “If Gascón wants to blame someone for his failures over the last three years, he should blame the guy staring back at him in the mirror.”

Wilson could not be reached for comment.

The ADDA has criticized Gascón for allegedly skirting civil service regulations by continuing to hire so-called “unqualified political supporters” from the Public Defender’s Office.

Additionally, more than a dozen prosecutors have sued Gascón, alleging they faced retaliation and demotion and, in some cases, were denied promotions for defying his controversial sentencing directives.

According to a lawsuit filed by Deputy District Attorney Shawn Murphy, on Dec. 7 2020 — the day Gascón was sworn into office — he issued directives that substantially changed the way crimes are prosecuted, including a policy that abolished the ability of prosecutors to file certain crimes against juveniles governed under California’s “three-strikes” law.

Murphy, who was removed as head deputy for the Juvenile Division in 2021 after complaining about the directive, was awarded a $1.5 million settlement by a Los Angeles County jury.

Gascón faces 11 challengers on the March 5 primary election ballot, including four current deputy district attorneys. The ADDA has endorsed Deputy District Attorney Eric Siddall, a former vice president of the union, in that race.

Source: Orange County Register