Kourounian

BACKGROUND

A. Kourounian’s Case Appellant, then known as the California State Board of Equalization, hired Kourounian as a tax auditor in 1989. He was promoted to “senior tax auditor” in 2001. On or about April 5, 2012, Kourounian was promoted to business tax specialist 1 (BTS1). Promotion to this position included a one-year probationary period.

2 Several witnesses testified that Kourounian’s performance prior to his 2012 promotion was very good. Gregory McNamee, Kourounian’s supervisor from 2002 to 2011, testified Kourounian was one of the “top-producing auditors” and his audits were “quite good.” McNamee never had any problems with Kourounian’s analytical skills. Mareta Ter-Galstian and Becka Jun, who supervised Kourounian consecutively in 2011 and 2012, gave similarly positive testimony. Ter-Galstian described Kourounian as independent, able to handle complex audits, knowledgeable, and competent. Jun described Kourounian as independent, able to handle complex audits, capable of handling BTS1 level audits, and knowledgeable. In September 2012, while Kourounian was serving as a probationary BTS1, Warren Klomp and Doris Chiang told Kourounian he was selected to be appointed…