Civil Service Commission accepts hearing officer recommendation, reduces discipline to one-day suspension

The Civil Service Commission voted unanimously to accept a hearing officer's recommendation to overturn a city termination and reduce the employee's discipline to a one-day suspension, reinstating the employee with back pay and benefits.

Commission members considered the hearing officer's report under agenda item 3. A city representative told the commission that the city would not object to the hearing officer's recommendation. City Attorney's Office representative Enrique Gilguin said, "that is the consensus between, between ourselves, the city that, to accept miss Palafox's recommendation." The recommendation, as summarized in the record, was that the discipline of separation (termination) not be sustained but be reduced to a one-day suspension and that the employee be reinstated with appropriate back pay and benefits under applicable city policies.

The commission moved to adopt the recommendation; the motion was seconded and passed without opposition. The clerk recorded the decision as unanimous. The record shows the commission accepted the hearing officer's recommendation and instructed staff to effect reinstatement and pay adjustments consistent with the recommendation.

The hearing officer named in the record is Patricia Palafox. The transcript lists the agenda item as "Valentine Loya Sun Metro Termination"; the record contains inconsistent name spellings in places. The commission's action in this meeting was procedural: accepting the hearing officer's recommended remedy and recording the vote. No further disciplinary steps or appeals were recorded in this session.

City staff indicated acceptance of the recommendation during the meeting; the commission did not require a rehearing after the city indicated it would not oppose the recommendation.