Paid Leaves Draw Scrutiny in O.C.

Word that the Orange County district attorney’s office has spent nearly $750,000 on employees who were ordered to stay home during disciplinary investigations is adding to county officials’ growing concerns about the human resources department.

The new concerns come after The Times reported that employees working for Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas have served more than 1,600 days of paid suspension since he took office in 1999. Jan Walden, the assistant county executive officer who oversees the human resources department, approves paid leaves exceeding three weeks.

This week, Supervisor Bill Campbell asked the human resources department to report the amount of paid administrative leave imposed in each of the county’s 27 departments. Some supervisors also were discussing a proposal to require the human resources department to regularly report to them all paid suspensions of county employees.

It’s not the first time the county’s Office of Human Resources has been under scrutiny. In the last month, the Orange County Grand Jury has issued two reports criticizing department management. One report detailed allegations of a hostile work environment; the other criticized the department for paying a consultant several hundred thousand dollars more than originally authorized.

With Orange County facing a budget shortage, like many government agencies in the state, Campbell said he was deeply concerned to learn that so much money had been paid to district attorney employees forced to stay home from work.

“We’re in a terrible budget situation,” Campbell said. “I want to find out how widespread this is. Is this isolated to one department? If that’s duplicated in every other office, that would be terrible.”

At least one county employee from outside the district attorney’s office, Barry Adams, spent significant time on paid administrative leave, officials said. Adams, a manager in the public facilities department, was paid his full salary while on leave for more than eight months until he was given a new county job, said his attorney, Bill Hadden. Neither Hadden nor county officials would say why he was suspended.

Walden said administrative leave gives departments time to investigate alleged misconduct by employees. She said she does not know how many county employees have spent time on paid leave since she took over in 1995, but that she authorizes extended paid leave only when the agency is investigating alleged impropriety.

“If there was some reason to think an investigation was not ongoing and the department wasn’t in the process of investigating and making a decision, then we will probably not extend the leave any further,” she said. “We would not approve keeping them on leave indefinitely.”

Orange County allows managers of its 27 agencies -- from waste management to the Sheriff’s Department and tax collector’s office -- to suspend workers with pay for up to three weeks. After that, Walden must decide whether it is in the county’s best interest to continue the paid suspensions.

Two district attorney employees were suspended with pay for more than a year before Rackauckas took action: one was fired, the other was allowed to return to work.

A third worker, Deputy Dist. Atty. Randy Payne, was suspended for more than six months with pay amid questions about his handling of some cases -- at a cost of about $75,000 in salary and benefits. Last week he learned his punishment: five days off without pay. The office cited his decisions on four cases as justification for the discipline, Payne said. It’s cases like Payne’s and Adams’ that have several members of the Board of Supervisors concerned.

“County employees should be paid to work and I am concerned any time that large amounts of money are being paid to people who are being put on hold and are not actually serving the county,” said Supervisor Chris Norby, who supports a proposal that would allow the board to regularly review all paid suspensions.

“I’m sure there are different details in every one of these cases,” Norby said. “But I certainly want county salary money to be paid for people who are productively serving the taxpayers rather than simply waiting at home.”

Walden said it’s common for paid leave to last longer in law enforcement agencies because state law provides additional protection for peace officers.

Still, some district attorney officials said they believe the paid suspensions of 14 workers under Rackauckas is out of line with past administrations.

James Enright, who served as the chief deputy in the district attorney’s office until 1990, said he could not recall one case in his 24 years in which the office placed a worker on paid administrative leave.

“It is very unusual, there’s no question about that,” Enright said. “I may be missing somebody, but I just can’t think of a situation where we had anybody on administrative leave and were paying them to stay home.”

Hadden, who specializes in employment cases involving public employees, said he believes the eight months Adams spent on leave was unwarranted.

“It is highly unusual except in the most extreme cases -- of which this is not one -- for an employee to be on administrative leave for that long,” he said.

Campbell said he’s not surprised to learn that other agencies have had long paid suspensions. “It’s been my experience that where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” he said.

Walden said she would have no problem with additional oversight by county officials.

“However they want to establish the rules, it’s the board’s decision,” she said.