Merced County v. Kong-Brown CA5
Opinion
Opinion
Smith, J.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
This case arose from the termination, on August 24, 2017, of Corrections Officer Billy Bush’s employment as a jail corrections officer with the Merced County Sheriff’s Department (sheriff’s department). Bush had been employed as a jail corrections officer by the sheriff’s department since April 2005. The process that led to Bush’s termination began when the sheriff’s department opened an internal affairs investigation regarding Bush’s role in an incident that occurred at the Merced County Jail (the jail) on April 19, 2017. Bush was involved in the incident in his capacity as a jail corrections officer. The internal affairs investigation concluded that Bush had violated multiple policies of the sheriff’s department and Merced County (the county) and merited termination. Bush was served with a written notice of the sheriff’s intent to terminate his employment with the county; the intent-to-terminate notice charged Bush with violating multiple policies of the sheriff’s department and the county. Bush sought a Skelly hearing regarding the charges against him.1 Following the Skelly hearing, Bush was terminated.