Smith v. Cal. State Personnel Board CA4/2

I.

INTRODUCTION

Appellant T. Fitzgerald Smith was an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for the

California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (the Board). While presiding over a

hearing involving alleged workplace sexual harassment, Smith made comments that he

concedes were inappropriate. In response to a complaint about Smith’s comments, the

Board terminated him. The State Personnel Board (the SPB) upheld his termination, as

did the trial court.

Smith appeals. He does not dispute that his inappropriate comments warranted

discipline, but he argues his dismissal was too harsh a penalty. We conclude the SPB did

not abuse its discretion in finding that Smith’s dismissal was appropriate. We therefore

affirm the judgment.

II.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Employment Development Department (EDD) denied Enrique Sandoval’s

claim for unemployment benefits because he was terminated for allegedly sexually

2 harassing a coworker, Lopez. Smith, who had been an ALJ for about nine years, presided

over Sandoval’s appeal of the EDD’s decision.

At a hearing on the matter, Sandoval’s employer’s head of human resources, Jeff

Stumbo, testified about his investigation into…