Ochoa v. County of Kern

Ochoa, terminated from his employment as a Kern County Deputy Sheriff, claimed violation of the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (Gov. Code 3300) by failure to complete an administrative investigation of his alleged misconduct (sexual advances toward a woman younger than 18) and to notify him of the proposed disciplinary action within one year of the public agency’s discovery by a person authorized to initiate said investigation. Ochoa argued that a sergeant initiated an investigation of his alleged misconduct on March 25, 2013, and an internal affairs investigator notified him of the proposed termination on August 11, 2014.The superior court denied the petition. The court of appeal affirmed. Although the sergeant could not initiate an internal affairs investigation, he was “a person authorized to initiate an investigation” of the allegation within the meaning of the statute, so the one-year limitations period commenced March 25, 2013. The Sheriff’s Office acted in a timely manner because the first criminal investigation sufficiently tolled the limitations period. The statute requires the tolling of the one-year statute of limitations while a criminal investigation is pending if the misconduct is the subject of that investigation. View "Ochoa v. County of Kern" on Justia Law