"YOU" refers to JUSD and its management personnel throughout these possible claims and defenses.

These are defenses that may be raised in a Skelly hearing or in a separate lawsuit against JUSD.  Obviously, the applicability of these defenses depends on your individual situation.  Please seek your own counsel if not represented already by our office or someone else.

1. You have provided improper notice under law and any allegations have not been timely made under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

2. The causes stated in the Notice are in bad faith.

3. No fair or proper notice has been given to the CSEA, PERB, U.S Department of Education or others who have involvement in the actions sought to be instituted.

4. Falsification of records, to the extent you are alleging it, was done at your instruction, under your supervision, and with the intent to cause the unlawful termination of employees.

5. JUSD has placed students at an unlawful risk of safety threats or harm, not the employees.

6. There is an identifiable pattern of racism within JUSD and that racism is the pretext for all or some of the action being taken against Ms. ------.

7. As compared to other employee’s discipline histories, it is manifestly obvious that you are not treating all employees equally. Only those employees that you dislike, out of personal animus, have been subject to disciplinary action of the nature and extent sought herein.

8. Given the number of employees, which you claim to have been incompetent or unsafe, it appears that any failures were attributable to poor training, an unjustified and unequal focus on administrative efficiency over the interest of child safety.

9. Any charges concerning curricula for bus driver employees was developed only at your instruction and behest. It is hypocritical and illegal to now complain of the very instructions, directives, and rules you formulated.

10. Counsel for employee-respondent has been known to represent at least 3 bus drivers’ legal interests within the last couple of months. Illegal interviews or information-gathering sessions have occurred, at the hands of JUSD counsel, during the time these persons have been represented.

11. Each of the allegations are categorically and/or generically denied.

12. You failed to timely raise these issues during the informal interview process.

13. You are retaliating against the protected First Amendment interests of your employees, including those who ran for a position with the classified union.

14. A public hearing is sought with respect to these matters.

15. The opportunity to call and cross-examine witnesses is hereby sought and expressly reserved.

16. If the allegations are true, you have unlawfully failed to report your own failures to responsible governmental officials and have unlawfully taken state and federal funding related to transportation, when you knew, or should have known, of violations of law affecting your right to such funds.

17. Your policies, directives, and rules are illegal under applicable law or otherwise insufficient to meet basic legal requirements in affected areas of concern. The respondent-employee had no control over your creation, execution and enforcement of such inadequate policies.

18. You had a custom, practice, and policy of selective or absent enforcement of your own written rules, regulations, and policies.

19. You have unlawfully pressured witnesses to provide inaccurate statements about the facts of this case.

20. You did not advise employees of their right to be free from duress or undue influence by the District in the provision of witness statements.

21. Your attorneys have not acted as ‘independent’ investigators.

22. The District has paid legal fees which were exorbitant, directed at a specific outcome (not independent), and the Board has not properly authorized the employment of such attorneys for the purposes in which they have acted in this case.

23. You have unlawfully pressured the CSEA local representatives into being relaxed in their defense of employees. You have interfered with the lawful economic and personal interests of the Union’s members.

24. You have made unlawful threats against the exercise of civil rights by employees and such conduct is in violation of the California Civil Code, federal civil rights law, and California administrative law.

25. You have intentionally taken action to make it financially impossible for an employee to defend against your baseless allegations.

26. Your actions herein are an unlawful and wasteful use of tax dollars.

27. Your expenditure of monies to pursue baseless allegations takes money away from the students JUSD is supposed to serve.

28. In your interviewing processes, you have defamed -------- and others.

29. In your interviewing processes, you have placed ---------- in a false light.

30. In your interviewing processes, you have unlawfully invaded the privacy of Ms. -----------.

31. Your conduct violates the California Labor Code.

Each of the above claims/defenses are expressly interposed, reserved, and subject to amendment or modification according to proof.

Additionally, co-representation by CSEA is hereby expressly sought herein.

A public hearing is hereby requested.

Notice to individual board members is hereby sought.

Disqualification of any interested hearing officers is hereby sought.

Provision of all notes, statements, recordings, or other evidence of witness statements is hereby sought.

Referral to the California Office of Administrative Hearings is hereby sought as you are incapable of providing a fair hearing process.

DEMAND FOR CSEA CO-REPRESENTATION

It is hereby respectfully demanded that the CSEA provide an advocate (as defined by law) at the hearing of any matters raised against Ms. ---------- or any other client represented by the undersigned. Pro bono representation is being provided by the undersigned with respect to only certain aspects of the allegations made against affected JUSD employees. The Union is expected to fully advocate for its members, who have lawfully paid dues and performance under applicable membership agreements.