Feds: Sheriff’s Department delayed deputy’s rehire because he wasn’t a U.S. citizen

A federal investigation has found that Stanislaus County and its Sheriff’s Department engaged in hiring practices that violated anti-discrimination law, including improperly delaying the reinstatement of a deputy because he was not a U.S. citizen.

The deputy was a lawful permanent resident, and he applied for and was eligible for U.S. naturalization, the U.S. Justice Department. announced in news release.

Federal investigators said the deputy met all applicable citizenship requirements under California law and should have been rehired as soon as he provided proof of his filed citizenship application. But he wasn’t. The delay in the deputy’s reinstatement occurred in 2017, when then Sheriff Adam Christianson was running the department.

The investigation also found the county had posted job ads that discriminated against law enforcement applicants who were lawful permanent residents. It determined sheriff’s officials and the county violated the anti-discrimination portion of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

“Qualified non-citizens who meet all legal citizenship requirements and wish to protect and serve their communities should not face unnecessary and unlawful barriers based on citizenship status,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband said in the news release sent Tuesday. “We are pleased that Stanislaus County has committed to ensuring compliance with the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.”

Dreiband, of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, also commended the county “for its cooperation and corrective action.” The county must provide training for its human resources staff on the anti-discrimination portion of the law.

The Sheriff’s Department reinstated the deputy after it was notified of the federal investigation, according to the Justice Department. The county gave the deputy, who worked in the county jail, six months of back pay for his lost wages. The deputy, who was not named, still works for the department and is now a naturalized U.S. citizen.

No malicious intent

Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse, who was elected into his post last year after being chief of the sheriff service in Patterson, said there was no malicious intent and the resulting delay in the deputy’s reinstatement was a “one off” or a one-time error.

“We hire people from all sorts of backgrounds,” Dirkse told The Bee. “We’re in the business of following the rules ... We found (the error), we fixed it and we’re moving on.”

A settlement agreement resolving the claim against Stanislaus County was signed by the county’s Human Resources Director Tamara Thomas last week. Attorneys representing the federal government signed the agreement on Tuesday.

The sheriff said his department underwent an audit by the state’s Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training. It identified what Dirkse and Undersheriff Ralph Ghimenti called a “discrepancy in the paperwork” in the deputy’s file.

The custodial deputy, who had worked as a jailer for more than a year, was in good standing with the department.

California law dictates that all peace officers must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are eligible for and have applied for citizenship.

“When it was brought to our attention that the citizenship application process had not been completed, the employee opted to self-demote for a time and began the process of becoming a citizen,” said Amy Vickery, a county spokeswoman. “This allowed us to continue providing benefits and steady employment.”

Dirkse said the deputy in April 2017 agreed to the self-demotion and worked as a storekeeper with a reduced salary. The sheriff said working in the jail’s inmate commissary would allow him to continue earning a salary.

It’s possible the deputy would’ve been forced to end his employment with the department had he not been offered the storekeeper job, Dirkse said. But he said that assumption was merely speculative.

“We did what we thought was right and proper after consulting with counsel and human resources,” Ghimenti told The Bee.

In June 2017, after the deputy had filed his application for naturalization, the Sheriff’s Department improperly delayed the deputy’s rehiring based on his citizenship status, according to the settlement agreement between the Justice Department and Stanislaus County.

“It was delayed, and he was reinstated in October 2017,” Ghimenti said about the custodial deputy. “He was reinstated after the process, and he was made whole with his salary.”

The amount of back pay was not made public. Vickery said the deputy remains in good standing with the county and has continued his work as custodial deputy.

Custodial deputy salaries range from $58,000 to about $70,000, while a storekeeper’s salary is about 30 percent less, according to the county’s list of job salaries.

The settlement agreement calls for the investigation to be kept out of his personnel file, and it can’t be shared with any other potential employer.

Job advertisements

Along with the deputy’s delayed reinstatement, the Justice Department discovered the county had posted job ads with language that unlawfully excluded applications from eligible people who were lawful permanent residents.

The unlawful language was found in ads for sheriff’s deputies, probation officers, trainees and interns, according to the Justice Department.

The law forbids employers from discriminating in the hiring process based on citizenship status. This anti-discrimination provision protects those who have recently acquired lawful permanent residents status.

Stanislaus County must pay the federal government $7,000 in civil penalties, according to the settlement agreement. The county also must provide training for its human resources staff on the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Listed in the settlement agreement, Stanislaus County and its agencies shall not:

• Discharge or refuse to hire or reinstate an individual on the basis of citizenship status.
• Post or publish any job qualification criteria restricting jobs based on citizenship status.
• Require or request any applicant answer a question about his or her citizenship status before he or she receives and accepts an offer of employment.

County officials also must review and revise its job ads and questionnaires to ensure compliance with the anti-discrimination provision.

“We want to do right by all of our employees and we work diligently to stay current on internal hiring processes,” Vickery said. “We have addressed our forms and employment postings and will continue to work toward staying ahead of the curve in a changing environment when it comes to compliance.”