United Steel v. Anderson
| Decision Date | 15 June 2018 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. SA-17-CV-1242-XR |
| Parties | UNITED STEEL, PAPER AND FORESTRY, RUBBER, MANUFACTURING, ENERGY, ALLIED INDUSTRIAL AND SERVICE WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, ET AL., Plaintiffs, v. JARVIS ANDERSON, ET AL., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas |
On this date, the Court considered Defendants' Motion to Strike Allegations (docket no. 7) and Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (docket no. 8), and the responses and replies thereto.
Plaintiffs United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union ("USW"), Bexar County Probation Officers Association ("BCPOA"), United Steelworkers Local Union 9528, and Sergio Castilleja filed this action against Defendants Jarvis Anderson, Brian Brady, and Bexar County Community Supervision and Corrections Department ("CSCD"), asserting primarily violations of their First Amendment rights to free speech and association in relation to union activity, as well as various state law claims.
Plaintiffs have submitted a lengthy 67-page Complaint covering events beginning in 2006. The Court summarizes the allegations, presuming them to be true at this stage. According to the Complaint, Plaintiff Castilleja formed, joined, and/or assisted in organizing the Union1 at the CSCD for the mutual aid and protection of himself and his fellow probation officers and other employees of the CSCD, and he has been prominent in organizing CSCD employees into the Union and advocating on behalf of the Union and fellow employees. Compl. ¶ 8. Plaintiff Castilleja served as a Steward for the Union from 2007 until January 28, 2016, when he was elected president of Bexar County Probation Officers Association (BCPOA) by his fellow Union members. Id. ¶ 9.
On December 13, 2006, Castilleja along with other spokespersons for the labor organizing effort presented a petition and requested a meeting with the CSCD Director at the time, William Fitzgerald, to discuss grievances held in common by a substantial number of employees concerning working conditions. Because Fitzgerald did not meet with them and then announced that all employees who wished to continue working had to reapply for their jobs and attend retention interviews, fourteen CSCD employees, including Castilleja and Sheri Simonelli, sued Fitzgerald, alleging unlawful retaliation. Fitzgerald removed the lawsuit to this Court, where it was docketed as Simonelli v. Fitzgerald, SA-07-CA-360-XR.
Around the same time, the USW issued a charter to the CSCD employees as USW Local Union 9528, and the members adopted the name Bexar County Probation Officers Association (BCPOA). Simonelli was elected to serve as president. In 2008, she was terminated after sending an email from her private email address to her Union members and issuing a press release regarding a drug testing controversy at CSCD. She filed a lawsuit,docketed as 08-CV-648-XR, and it was consolidated with 07-CA-360-XR. Regarding their Complaint in this case, Plaintiffs state that their "purpose in referencing No. 07-CA-360-XR and 08-CV-00648-XR is not to rehash previous litigation, but rather to contribute to the historical context of the Bexar County CSCD, and Plaintiffs Castilleja's and Union's associational and speech activities in relation thereto, as ongoing matters of public concern." Compl. at 10 n.1.
Fitzgerald resigned in January 2010, and Defendant Jarvis Anderson was chosen by the Bexar County judges as the new CSCD Director. In May 2010, the consolidated actions were settled, and Simonelli has returned to her job as a probation officer.
Plaintiffs allege that Defendant Anderson removed language concerning protections for union membership from the CSCD Administrative Manual to prevent employees from knowing about their statutory rights. Plaintiffs allege that in the summer of 2011, CSCD created a "Non-Disclosure Agreement" and required employees to sign it. Counsel for BCPOA sent a letter objecting to the agreement as interfering with the right of employees to free speech to comment on matters of public concern. Anderson responded that CSCD honored and respected the First Amendment rights of employees and would not unlawfully infringe on them or coerce employees to give up those rights.
In December 2012, Simonelli was promoted to a first-line supervisory position. She remained a member and president of the BCPOA, but ceased representing individual employees in grievances and disciplinary appeals. As a result, Castilleja's responsibility to do so increased dramatically, and he represented employees in more grievances and appeals than any other BCPOA representative. Plaintiffs allege that Castilleja's frequent and vigorousrepresentation of fellow employees on behalf of the Union incurred the hostility of Defendant Anderson.
At their monthly membership meeting in February 2014, the members of BCPOA voted no-confidence in Defendant Anderson's leadership of CSCD. In July 2014, Plaintiff Union submitted a petition on behalf of the Union to the Bexar County Administrative Judges. Plaintiffs allege that "Anderson immediately engaged in vicious retaliation." Compl. ¶ 40. Plaintiffs allege that, within a few days after the Union delivered its petition, Anderson summoned BCPOA president Simonelli and interrogated her in a coercive manner over spurious alleged work performance and conduct issues, falsely accusing her of policy violations in a manner calculated to drive home a clear message of hostility toward her union activities and speech in her leadership of BCPOA. Anderson further threatened her with termination. Anderson also berated Vaughn so severely and viciously that it contributed to her hospitalization shortly thereafter, and subjected Castilleja to a coercive and threatening interrogation over false accusations. The Union's legal counsel sent another letter to Anderson addressing his alleged retaliatory actions, and Anderson's conduct ceased.
Plaintiffs allege that in December 2014, as part of a reorganization, Anderson forced Castilleja to become a DWI officer in Central 3 Region Office, in disregard of his seniority and his preference, and this was a display of Anderson's hostility toward Castilleja because of his vigorous Union activities.
In 2015, BCPOA invited Anderson to meet with the Union members to hear and discuss their concerns. Anderson refused to meet with them. After Anderson refused, the members of BCPOA, at their November 19, 2015 membership meeting conducted away fromCSCD premises and after work hours, again voted no-confidence in Anderson's leadership of the CSCD. The members of BCPOA endorsed a no-confidence petition with the intention of obtaining signatures and submitting the petition to the Bexar County district and county court judges who hear criminal cases to persuade the judges in their administrative capacities to remove Anderson from his position as CSCD Director. The petition listed 18 topics, several of which the Union felt were "of serious and legitimate public concern."
Plaintiffs allege that one of the serious concerns with Anderson's leadership articulated in the no-confidence petition was that probation officers with DWI caseloads were subjected to more rigorous performance scrutiny and audits of their cases than other officers. Other topics included in the petition asserted to be of public concern were: (1) "The Ever Changing Policies & Procedures of the Corrections Software Solutions"; (2) "The Frequent Transferring of Cases Based on Zip Codes & Defendants Lost in Transition"; (3) "The Unethical Activities & Behaviors of those in charge at the Residential Facilities"; (4) "Refusing to Meet with the Probation Officer's Association"; and (5) "The Large Disconnect between the Chief, the Judges, and the Employees." The "unethical activities" referenced concerns that Applewhite Road in-patient rehabilitation facilities were keeping probationers too long, past their judicially ordered terms of confinement. Complaint ¶¶ 58-59. The Complaint alleges that "[t]he CSCD adhering to judicial orders for the treatment of criminal defendants serving terms of probation supervised by the Defendant CSCD and Defendant Anderson is inherently a matter of public concern." Id. ¶ 59.2 Plaintiffs allege that circulating the petition and itscontents were not part of their ordinary job duties as CSCD employees. Plaintiffs further allege that Anderson knew of the vote to prepare the no-confidence petition.
In November 2015, Simonelli resigned as president of BCPOA, allegedly over stress that Anderson would retaliate against her. At that time, Castilleja was stationed at the Central 3 Region Office, and his supervisor John Escalante gave him a satisfactory performance review and "spoke glowingly about" his performance in November 2015. Castilleja was elected to fill the position of BCPOA president in January 2016. The next day, Anderson approached Castilleja in the CSCD workplace and tried to persuade Castilleja to put a stop to the no-confidence petition. Anderson asked Castilleja "to start on a fresh slate" regarding labor relations between Anderson and the Union. Castilleja responded that he would move forward with the petition, and Plaintiffs allege that this angered Anderson and he decided to retaliate by making an example of Castilleja. Anderson allegedly had telephone conversations with Simonelli in February and March 2016 in which he threatened to "get" Castilleja.
Plaintiffs allege that Anderson sought a pretext to terminate Castilleja's employment, both as an act of vengeance against Castilleja and for the purpose of deterring and coercing employees from supporting the Union's no-confidence petition by making an example of Castilleja. They allege that Defendant Brian Brady, Deputy Director of the CSCD, conspired with Anderson to frame up such a pretext, and they jointly decided to transfer Castilleja to another work unit in order...
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