Fired sheriff’s aide alleges double standard

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s employee who was fired for visiting friends in state prison is trying to get her job back by noting that the department didn’t dismiss the son of a top county executive for a similar offense.

Sheriff’s Department policy prohibits employees from visiting inmates in county jail facilities or associating with people who have a “reputation in the community for criminal activity.”

Christopher Bunn, son of Sharon Harper, county deputy chief executive, was suspended for three days in 2004 after the department learned he had visited friends who were jailed at the Lancaster sheriff’s station where he worked as an aide.

After a second policy violation -- Bunn was found to have associated with a gang member and lied to a police officer about the man’s identity -- the Sheriff’s Department transferred him to the Department of Public Health instead of firing him.

Cynthia Jaquez was fired in 2006 after officials learned she had visited state prison inmates more than 20 times and engaged in a romantic relationship with a felon. She and Bunn worked as law enforcement technicians, civilians who answer 911 emergency telephone calls, dispatch deputies to crime scenes and supervise inmates at their stations.

Jaquez’s attorney, Elizabeth Gibbons, has subpoenaed the Sheriff’s Department to get all records related to Bunn’s discipline. She said she intended to argue that the department treated Jaquez differently from Bunn, so she should be reinstated.

“He was given special treatment because of who he’s related to,” Jaquez said. “I never got that treatment. I was told, ‘No, you’re discharged.’ I want the same sweet deal: three days off.”

Gibbons said she decided to explore the new defense after reading a Times article about Bunn’s policy violations and transfer to Public Health.

Sheriff’s officials said it was not appropriate to compare the two cases. In its termination letter, the department accused Jaquez of visiting one inmate 28 times and of having a romantic relationship with an ex-convict for six months after his release from prison. The department started investigating Jaquez in 2005 after homicide detectives noticed her in a photograph with wives and girlfriends of members of the Mexican Mafia prison gang.

“It would be inappropriate to compare one personnel matter to another personnel matter because they’re inherently different. If any punishment results, it would be different as well,” said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for Sheriff Lee Baca.

Officials familiar with Bunn’s case said it appeared it was handled differently from others. An internal affairs investigation found he had associated with gang members, obstructed an investigation, made false statements to a supervisor and behaved in a disorderly manner, according to sheriff’s records.

Some department officials determined that Bunn should be fired for the offenses, officials said, asking not to be identified because the matter is considered confidential under county policy. One official said he had never heard of a department transferring an employee as a form of discipline.

Bunn’s employment with the Sheriff’s Department ended April 29. He started with Public Health on April 30, payroll records show. The new job pays $41,700 per year -- about $3,300 less than he made with the Sheriff’s Department.

County policy prohibits the transfer of an employee from one department to another if that employee has a pending disciplinary case. In the Bunn case, the Sheriff’s Department considered the transfer to be his punishment, said one official familiar with the matter.

Jaquez said she would have gladly accepted a position with another county department but wasn’t given the option.

“Why wasn’t I allowed to go to a different department if they thought I was going to be a problem” because of past friendships with prison inmates? she said. “I didn’t commit a crime. I broke a rule.”

Harper said she had no involvement in her son’s transfer.

Gibbons, the attorney representing Jaquez in an appeal to the county Civil Service Commission, said county policy prohibits disparate treatment of employees in discipline cases.

“My client was treated the direct opposite of him,” Gibbons said. “The department claims they have a zero-tolerance policy, that if you’re caught doing anything remotely like Cynthia did, then you must be fired.

“If that were true, Bunn would have been fired after the first incident.”

Jaquez’s case is scheduled to be heard by a Civil Service Commission mediator Sept. 27.

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stuart.pfeifer@latimes.com