CASE is pleased to announce a victory for our members at the Board of Parole Hearings at CDCR. CASE had filed two grievances regarding a new Incompatible Activity Statement (IAS) that was written specifically for the attorneys and administrative law judges employed at the Board of Parole Hearings. After a meet-and-confer that took place between BPH and CASE on September 26, 2017, BPH has decided to rescind the new Incompatible Activity Statement.
The original incompatible activity statement is found in the BPH General Office Expectations manual and is written for all employees of BPH. It states that employees may engage in outside employment of any kind, if it is not incompatible with CDCR employment, after receiving permission from their Chief Deputy.
The rescinded IAS, which was specifically written for attorneys and administrative law judges, forbade any and all employment outside of the State that included the practice of law. The IAS stated that attorneys and administrative law judges at BPH could not conduct or be paid for any legal services that they may wish to provide outside of the State, regardless of whether it was compatible with BPH employment. The only exceptions being the practice of law for family matters or as a volunteer for an organization, and even those exceptions would have required prior approval by the BPH Executive Officer.
The exceptions offered were so narrow that it would prohibit our members from offering pro-bono representation to undocumented immigrants facing deportation. It also would have prohibited a member from assisting a kind, elderly neighbor in getting a TRO to prevent ongoing elder abuse inflicted by her wayward, drug-addicted nephew. Not only did BPH offer no justification for these restrictions, but BPH management acknowledged that their primary goal was to ensure that Unit 2 members would not have an opportunity to earn income outside of their BPH salary.
Members at the Board of Parole Hearings may now practice law outside of the State after receiving permission from their supervisor to make sure it is compatible with their employment at BPH. CASE will now withdraw the two grievances previously filed on this matter.
If a member has any questions or concerns regarding this issue, please contact CASE Labor Relations Representative Monica Miner at mminer@calattorneys.org.
If you are not currently a Voting member, CASE encourages you to join and add your voice to our efforts to improve the working conditions and salaries of all members of Bargaining Unit 2. To sign up go to calattorneys.org/sign-up.
As always, your support of CASE and your colleagues in Bargaining Unit 2 is greatly appreciated.
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