County of Siskiyou v. State Personnel Board

This case illustrates the limited role that a judge has in reviewing a decision of the State Personnel Board regarding what employment consequence is appropriate when a public employee engages in misconduct that causes discredit to a public agency and exposes the agency to civil liability.

Raegan Duncan, an employee of the Siskiyou County Department of Human Services (DHS), was acquainted with a father who was in the midst of a contested court proceeding over whether his children should be placed in his custody or with their mother. To help her friend, Duncan submitted a declaration in the court proceeding, stating the father is an excellent parent who “unquestionably should have sole custody of his children with supervised visits given to the mother.” Referring to him as her “client,” the declaration represented that Duncan’s opinion was based on her contacts with the father due to her employment, including “home visits” she made to his residence as part of her duties with DHS. Her declaration ended by noting the father “is the rare client/person that makes my job fulfilling.”

Actually, Duncan was not employed with the child protective services division of DHS, and her…