L.A. County Dept. of Children and Family Services v. L.A. County Civil Service Commission CA2/4

BACKGROUND

In 2004, DCFS hired Eberly as a trainee Children’s Social Worker (CSW). In January 2005, she became a permanent CSW. Her duties included conducting monthly face-to-face visits with the children assigned to her, assessing their placement, and recording information in DCFS’s “CWS/CMS” computer system (CWS/CMS system). Prior to Eberly’s discharge, her performance was evaluated as “[c]ompetent” and “[v]ery [g]ood,” and she was never disciplined. In November 2009, Eberly’s supervisor became aware that Eberly’s records in the CWS/CMS system misdescribed four visits with children. On April 2, 2010, DCFS issued Eberly a notice of its intent to discharge her. After a Skelly hearing was conducted regarding Eberly’s discharge, she was assigned limited

2 duties while the hearing officer’s recommendation was pending.1 In May 2010, there was a report that Eberly made an improper entry in the CWS/CMS system. DCFS amended the allegations against Eberly to include the incident, and a second Skelly hearing was conducted regarding it. On June 25, 2010, DCFS discharged Eberly. The DCFS’s discharge letter stated that in November 2009, Eberly falsified records of four visits with children.…