Employment Advocacy and Prosecution Team

Chief Counsel, Debra Ashbrook

Assistant Chief Counsels: Stephanie Clauss, Paul Kopf, Alfred Mondorf, Joseph Macaluso and Rose Mohan

With nearly 50,000 employees, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is the largest state employer in California. The vast majority of these employees are dedicated hard-working law abiding citizens.

The Employment Advocacy and Prosecution Team (EAPT) actively protects public safety by advising the Office of Internal Affairs, the Employee Relations Officers, and CDCR Hiring Authorities regarding the investigation and prosecution of those CDCR employees who have committed crimes or misconduct as specified in Government Code § 19572.

VERTICAL ADVOCACY

The Vertical Advocate is the backbone of the EAPT.  A Vertical Advocate is an EAPT attorney assigned to one or more specific Hiring Authority locations to monitor investigations and prosecute “designated cases” of employee misconduct. Designated cases are matters involving staff integrity and/or dishonesty, abuse of authority, sexual misconduct, use of force in which an inmate suffers death or serious injury, use of deadly force, serious allegations made against supervisors, or other high profile cases. The Vertical Advocate also represents the Department and named employees in the defense of claims arising from the Whistleblower Retaliation Act (Government Code § 8547, et seq.).

The Vertical Advocacy system provides legal representation for the Department during the employee disciplinary process in order to hold staff accountable for misconduct by way of thorough and complete internal investigations, principled decision-making and assessment of the investigations, and consistent appropriate discipline. Each Vertical Advocate provides legal guidance from the outset of an investigation and represents CDCR in administrative hearings before the State Personnel Board. The EAPT also represents the Department in any appeals arising therefrom.

HOUSE COUNSEL

The EAPT has a substantial house counsel role in the area of employment law. On a daily basis, an EAPT attorney fields questions on personnel and employment matters from the institutions, parole regions, and Headquarters. The provision of legal advice and opinions can range from verbal legal advice to formal written opinions on issues of law involving the Department's relationship with its employees. The EAPT attorneys also are expected to provide legal opinions on legislation and answer questions about employment posed by members of the legislature, the Agency Secretary's Office and the Governor's Office.

In addition to general legal advice regarding personnel matters, EAPT attorneys have developed special expertise in several complex areas such as employee drug testing; employee privacy rights; personnel investigations; work place violence assessment; restraining orders; subpoenas for employee records/Pitchess Motions; and the Peace Officers Bill of Rights.

EAPT designs and delivers The Employee Relations Officer Advocacy Curriculum (EROAC). The EROAC is a course of study designed to train Employee Relations Officers (EROs) to represent the interests of CDCR at State Personnel Board (SPB) hearings on employee discipline.