Judge: Cooley's retaliation against union members 'striking and rampant'

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday against Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and other Los Angeles County officials, ordering them not to discipline or discriminate against prosecutors for belonging to the union that represents hundreds of local deputy district attorneys.

The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II, came in a lawsuit filed by the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys alleging that Cooley and others demoted, transferred and gave mediocre performance reviews to prosecutors as part of an anti-union campaign.

County lawyers disputed the claims, saying the union was using the lawsuit to get the upper hand in contract negotiations.

But Wright concluded the union would likely win its case, saying evidence established retaliation against union members “that is both striking and rampant.”

The judge wrote that the county did not dispute allegations that Cooley instructed one prosecutor to “undermine” or interfere with the union and that the prosecutor was demoted when he refused. 

Wright also noted that several other union board members complained they had been transferred to lesser assignments against their will. And the judge found that the county was improperly charging union members more than it charges non-members for medical coverage.

--Jack Leonard

Comments

[CA Moderate]

This exposes Cooley for the bully that he is. Making the prosecution of medical marijuana dispensaries a priority shows just how out of touch he is with the citizens of LA. BTW, isn't it a crime to retaliate against union members?

[me]

What. Are we supposed to be shocked that the man runs his office with the same ethics he enforces the law with? Majority be damned.

[My opinon means nothing]

Hey "CA Moderate" and "me", Cooley is the COUNTY DA! You bone heads are thinking of Trutanich, the CITY DA! Boy, what a couple of morons.

[Greg]

If we can't trust Cooley to follow the law, we shouldn't trust him to be Attorney General.

[Leon]

Time to recall Cooley.

[JWC]

The corrupt LA DA's office needs to finally own up to their foolishness and ineptitude in regards to Roman Polanski's case (and many other) cases such as the one above. The case was settled. The publicity-hungry judge was pressured and cajoled by a member of the DAs office to reject the settlement and impose a much harsher sentence. That former DA now claims he was lying about his conversations with the judge (uh, okay...). The case is tainted. It's over. All this is just more chest-thumping political theatrics. Why do we always have idiots for DAs in Los Angeles?