Dissident Group Sues Own Union : Labor: Some claim a few members of the County Employees Assn. have illegally taken over union’s leadership, denying others seats on the board of directors.

Dissident members of the 6,000-member San Diego County Employees Assn. on Friday sued the labor organization, charging that a handful of officers have illegally taken control of the group and ended representative elections.

The dissidents also charged that the CEA executive committee has kicked some members off the association’s board of directors and refused to seat others.

According to the lawsuit, the board should be comprise at least 110 members, but there are now only 18 board members.

The allegations against the CEA and its leaders were leveled during a press conference called by eight association members at the County Administration Building.

Their complaints were aimed chiefly at the group’s executive committee, which the dissidents said number about six people.

“When you have five or six people deciding for more than 5,000 people, that doesn’t seem right,” said Jack Humphries.

CEA Vice President Carol Goss, an executive committee member, said there are 11 positions in the committee and now there are two vacancies.

CEA General Manager Richard Stearns said the group’s membership is closer to 6,000 and it negotiates contracts for about 8,000 county employees.

Humphries was one of six members at the press conference who said they were denied seating on the CEA board of directors.

Humphries and the others said 36 directors nominated to the board by the group’s membership were denied seating by the executive committee.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Superior Court, asks for an injunction against the group’s alleged illegal practices and a court order for “full and fair elections” to elect board members.

In addition, the lawsuit seeks the reinstatement of the 36 members who were allegedly denied seating on the board.

Goss, who is a senior clerk at the Probation Department, said she had not read the lawsuit but called the allegations frivolous.

She--and the lawsuit--noted that nominations for CEA offices will be submitted in July and elections are scheduled for September.

“They are nominated and elected by their fellow employees at their work site. The process will begin next month. Why was it necessary to file a lawsuit for this?” asked Goss. “The people who brought this lawsuit are people who have been coming to board meetings in the last three or four months. The bylaws say you can only become a board member if you are elected in September or fill an unexpired term.”

As for the reinstatement of the 36 members who were denied seats on the board of directors, Goss said they merely have to resubmit their nominations and run again.

She said the members were denied seating because they were not elected.

In the lawsuit, the petitioners conceded that the 36 members were elected by petition but contended that the CEA executive committee had previously allowed seating for board members who were elected by petition and not ballots.

It is commonly known in labor circles that the Service Employees International Union, Local 102 would like to merge with the CEA and has launched an aggressive campaign to recruit county workers.

Earlier this month, the 748-member San Diego County Probation Officers Assn. merged with the 2,000-member Local 102.

Jesus E. Quinonez, a Burbank attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the dissidents, is a member of a Los Angeles County law firm that represents several unions, including some SEIU locals in Los Angeles.

However, he said his firm does not represent Local 102.