Davis

Laura Davis appeals from the judgment of the superior court, which denied Davis’s petition for a writ of mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) compelling the Civil Service Commission of the County of Los Angeles (the Commission), the county’s department of health services (the Department), and Nursing Director Michael Sue Cronin (Cronin) to reinstate Davis in her position as a supervising staff nurse I at the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California (LAC/USC) Medical Center. On December 29,1993, Davis was terminated from her employment, effective December 27, 1993, for repeatedly threatening to kill her immediate supervisor, Nurse Manager Kimberly Cooper (Cooper).

Davis appealed the discharge and requested a hearing before the Commission. A hearing was held on June 6 and 7, October 6 and 7 and November 18, 1994, after which the hearing officer found that Davis made explicit, repeated, willful, unequivocal, unconditional, immediate and specific threats to kill her supervisor, with the specific intent that the threats be taken as threats; and that the threats placed the supervisor in reasonable fear for her safety. The hearing officer therefore concluded, among…