Blanchard v. Sotelo CA2/6

Filed 8/27/14 Blanchard v. Sotelo CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

JAMES BLANCHARD, 2d Civil No. B250121 (Super. Ct. No. 56-2011-00403332- Plaintiff and Appellant, CU-WM-VTA) (Ventura County) v.

EDMUND SOTELO, as City Manager, etc.,

Defendant and Respondent;

OXNARD FIRE DEPARTMENT et al.,

Real Parties in Interest and Respondents.

James Blanchard appeals a judgment denying his petition for writ of administrative mandamus. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5.)1 He sought a review of the decision of respondent Edmund Sotelo, the City Manager for the City of Oxnard ("City Manager"). City Manager upheld the disciplinary action of real parties in interest Oxnard Fire Department and Fire Chief Randy Milligan to demote Blanchard from fire captain to fire engineer.2 We conclude, among other things, that: 1) substantial evidence supports the trial court's finding that Blanchard was demoted because he abused his authority as fire

1 All statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure. 2 Unless otherwise indicated, defendant and real parties in interest are referred to as "the City."

captain and committed dishonest acts; 2) the City did not abuse its discretion by demoting Blanchard to fire engineer; and 3) Blanchard has not shown that the administrative procedure denied him due process. We affirm. FACTS Blanchard was a fire captain in the City's fire department. On October 8, 2008, Fire Chief Milligan gave notice to Blanchard that the department intended to demote him "from Fire Captain to the rank of Fire Engineer" because of "improprieties regarding [his] use of sick leave, family sick leave and numerous overtime opportunities." In the notice, Milligan said Blanchard, among other things, had "admitted" to: 1) "retroactively changing a work code, thereby falsifying public documents"; 2) "replacing the original roster with a falsified roster, thereby exhibiting either extremely poor judgment or a desire to conceal [his] actions"; and 3) "discarding the original roster" showing poor judgment or an intent to conceal his actions. Blanchard appealed and received a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Assistant Fire Department Chief Brad Windsor testified that Blanchard "changed a work code, he falsified public records," and "he was dishonest about it." Blanchard testified that he changed an employee leave time entry from family sick leave to regular sick leave on a day he "wasn't ill." When asked if "that was an act of dishonesty," he responded, "It wasn't my intention to be dishonest but looking at it I would come to that same conclusion." He also testified that he replaced a true "roster" and substituted "a false roster" in its place. He said, "At the time it didn't seem like a big deal, but after evaluating what I did, I believe it was a poor decision." The ALJ in a proposed decision found, among other things, that Blanchard was disciplined for his "falsification of time records." "After [he] manipulated the system, he removed the original printed record and replaced it with the changed record." But the City did not follow the proper disciplinary procedures. Consequently, the ALJ recommended that Blanchard be "reinstated to the rank of Fire Captain . . . ." Under the City's procedures, the final administrative decision-maker is the City Manager. In his decision, City Manager said he declined to adopt the ALJ's proposed