EMPLOYER INTERFERENCE, RESTRAINT, COERCION; INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHT TO SELF OR UNION REPRESENTATION; WEINGARTEN RIGHTS – Investigatory Interviews

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408.00000 – EMPLOYER INTERFERENCE, RESTRAINT, COERCION; INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHT TO SELF OR UNION REPRESENTATION; WEINGARTEN RIGHTS
408.03000 – Investigatory Interviews

Based on the facts of this case, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) had a duty not to interfere with the protected rights of correctional officers or their exclusive representative.
The subject-matter of the interviews—the officers’ observations during their work at the prison—were work-related. Although OIG did not conduct the interviews at the request of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), CDCR management cooperated with and supported the interviews. OIG coordinated with local prison management to have the officers made available for the interviews, and directed officers to report at a specified time and place for the interviews. OIG held the interviews at the officers’ job sites, before or during the officers’ on-duty time. Moreover, some OIG agents apparently recognized the validity of the officers’ requests for representation and permitted their union representatives to participate in and record the interviews. (p. 20.)