Editorial: L.A. County employees need workplace protections, but they also need to be held accountable

About 100,000 people work for Los Angeles County in one capacity or another — as nurses, lifeguards, physicians, librarians, accountants, engineers, chemists, appraisers, cooks, prosecutors, and on and on. It is for the most part a skilled and highly dedicated workforce, peppered with some employees whose performance falls woefully below standard, with sometimes tragic consequences. For four social workers facing trial in connection with the death of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez in 2013, or probation workers charged in the beating of a 17-year-old in juvenile detention last year, or workers in other county departments similarly accused of misconduct or even crimes, the question is whether they are being righteously called out for unacceptable performance, or unfairly scapegoated for failures in management or policy in an especially high-profile and political environment.

The civil service system was meant to protect public employees from unfair discipline or retaliation by their bosses, but when operating properly it should also protect them from co-workers whose misconduct goes unpunished and consequently undermines the standards, reputation and morale of the entire workforce. Shoring up and clarifying the rules, and what kind of discipline can be meted out, and when, and for what, serves workers and the public alike.

The need for that clarification came into focus a year ago when a Times story described how the civil service system has thwarted Sheriff Jim McDonnell’s effort to fire deputies who were found to have lied or committed other egregious misconduct. The Board of Supervisors then called for a series of studies, reports and recommendations on the civil service system, making in effect a commitment to improve its employee discipline system.

The board on Tuesday can move two steps closer toward making good on that commitment. It can seek final input on a contract for better training and better procedures for civil service hearing officers. And it can begin a process to amend the civil service rules to allow discipline of sheriff’s deputies and other employees for making false statements in internal investigations. Both are good and necessary steps to protect the public, as well as the county workers with integrity who seek fairness on the job and the kind of good reputation that they and the vast majority of their co-workers deserve.

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