County boosts personnel policies after audit spurred by harassment claim against ex-CEO

• Personnel policies took effect Tuesday.
• Changes come after review prompted by former CEO's sudden departure.
• About 600 county managers will receive training on employment policies.

County supervisors bolstered key personnel policies Tuesday to comply with the findings of an audit spurred by a harassment claim against former CEO Mike Powers.

Powers stepped down two years ago to avoid being fired after an investigation supported claims he had sexually harassed a female county employee and referred to her with a racially insensitive nickname. He had served as the top executive in the county government for 11 years before his sudden departure in March 2022.

Powers sued for wrongful termination, denied that he had sexually harassed the employee and said she did not seem offended the few times he used the nickname. She blamed not only him but the county government in a lawsuit, alleging that county officials failed to intervene to protect her. Both lawsuits are still pending.

Along with sexual harassment the updated policies address other forms of harassment, discrimination, prevention of retaliation, equal opportunity for employment, workplace violence, protection of whistleblowers and maintenance of a respectful workplace. About half of the revisions were approved by the board and the others by the new CEO, Sevet Johnson, for reasons related to the county's approval process. All took effect Tuesday.

Managers did not present information showing how the policies were changed nor did the board discuss the alterations, a sharp departure from normal practice.

Interim personnel chief Tabin Cosio said no publicly available analysis of the changes had been prepared and the work done by a private law firm to update the policies was protected from disclosure as attorney work product. He said the county was still being transparent because the new language was responsive to recommendations from the FordHarrison auditing firm that were publicly disclosed last year.

"I believe it has been a very public and open process," he said.

He also furnished a copy of the former policies to The Star, which provided a way to compare new with old. Generally, the new policies do not delete any information but rather build on them.

The new policy on sexual harassment shows a variety of concrete examples of what constitutes harassment, including messaging on social media. It also lists more ways to report complaints and says officials who condone the conduct can be held personally liable for monetary damages. In the latter case, the government reserves the right not to defend the accused parties or pay damages.

Falling short of exemplary practices

Within two weeks of Powers' departure, the board ordered an independent review of county personnel policies and procedures. A year later, the private Washington, D.C. audit firm of FordHarrison came back with dozens of recommendations, finding that county policies generally met baseline standards but should be revised to address "vast protections" under California law.

Although county officials said the policies were compliant with the law, the auditors found they fell short of meeting exemplary practices.

The county's human resources division differed with some of FordHarrison's conclusions, but agreed to retain a law firm specializing in government employment matters to help implement the auditors' recommendations, Cosio said. The selected firm, Hanson Bridgett, was charged with reviewing the existing policies, investigative procedures and training programs as well as producing a training program for investigation of complaints.

The training program for investigators gets underway next month, according to a letter that went to the board. Additionally, the firm will deliver several half-day, in-person trainings related to key employment policies for executives and managers, the letter says. An estimated 600 managers are expected to complete the training over the next few months.

FordHarrison is also investigating whether employees inside Powers' office received preferential treatment for raises and promotions compared with workers in the rest of county government.

County Auditor-Controller Jeff Burgh said Tuesday that he expected the firm's findings to be finished and released soon, but had no definite date. FordHarrison has been working on that audit for about a year, but it's a complex undertaking because the CEO's Office is being compared with about 10,000 other employees in the remainder of county government, Burgh said.

Kathleen Wilson covers courts and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com.