Johnson v. County of Los Angeles CA2/8

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

1. Allegations of Complaint Johnson is a 25-year employee with the County. In February 2007, the County promoted her to Departmental Human Resources Manager III of the Probation Department. Her duties included supervising the implementation of county, state, and federal disability discrimination laws. On December 21, 2009, she injured her upper extremities, neck, and back when she was moving employee personnel files from one location to another. Johnson also alleged her job-related stress and strain resulted from retaliation and harassment because she objected to the County’s unlawful employment practices. The County initiated a baseless investigation of Johnson after she took time off for physical and mental health treatment and missed a meeting from which her immediate supervisor had excused her. On March 31, 2010, her treating physician took her off work due to a temporary inability to perform her duties. Also on March 31, she received a negative performance evaluation, notwithstanding her history of receiving a rating of “outstanding” or “very good” on all prior performance evaluations. The County issued her a “Notice of Intent to Reduce” (NIR) from…