EMPLOYER DISCRIMINATION; EVIDENCE OF UNLAWFUL MOTIVATION; NEXUS – Cursory Investigation

Single Topic for Decision 2692M

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* * * Remedial Order VACATED and MODIFIED by City of South Pasadena (2021) PERB Decision No. 2692a-M. * * *

Employer’s investigation was neither independent nor thorough where interviewee selection process only involved finding department employees of different ranks and excluded people not employed at the department who likely had valuable details about employee’s condition and the reasonableness of his actions. Employer’s investigator made no attempt to speak with employee’s physician or to examine employee’s medical records. Since one of the charges was that employee violated a prohibition against engaging in physical activities while on disability leave, understanding what activities, if any, employer’s doctors considered appropriate seemed to be not only an obvious, but a critical component of employer’s investigation. (Adopting proposed decision at p. 17.)