Ledger-Dispatch

By Raheem Hosseini (editor@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

Amador County Sheriff's Deputy Ray = Marchant reads=20 from a prepared statement at the board of supervisors meeting = Tuesday. He=20 is accusing the county of unjustly placing him on industrial = leave.

Photo by: Bethany A.=20 Monk
Clad in a dark suit, Ray Marchant = easily=20 clears six feet and has a stocky, wide frame. But despite his imposing = size and=20 years spent putting himself in potentially dangerous situations, on this = day,=20 Marchant's voice betrays a nervous quiver.

That's because = Marchant, a=20 53-year-old sheriff's deputy with Amador County, is in unfamiliar = territory.=20 Reading from a prepared statement, the 17-year law enforcement veteran = chose=20 Tuesday's board of supervisors meeting to air his side of a simmering = dispute=20 with county administrators he accuses of forcing him out of a job he can = still=20 do.

"I didn't want to do this," he said at one point, breaking = away from=20 the script he prepared with his attorney, "but I was raised to work for = a=20 living."

On the surface, Marchant's allegations seem=20 striking.

He's claiming the county arbitrarily placed him on = industrial=20 leave in February, in effect paying him to stay at home. Marchant = believes this=20 is part of a larger scheme for the financially strapped county to save = on other=20 costs, like overtime and benefits, a scheme that has engulfed as many as = two=20 other deputies.

But there's much more to this story, say county = officials=20 with knowledge of the workers' compensation issues. The problem is=20 confidentiality laws prevent them from discussing specific cases, making = Marchant's side the only one people will likely = hear.

Undersheriff Jim=20 Wegner said the department wants all injured staff back "as soon as it = is safe=20 for the employee to do so."

County Administrative Officer Terri = Daly, who=20 was one of two people Marchant singled out as behind his ouster, said = she=20 couldn't comment on the specifics. Speaking generally, she called the = workers'=20 comp system "pretty tightly regulated."

"We are bound to follow = the=20 prescribed processes for every employee - even when it may appear to not = make=20 sense," Daly added. "Workers' comp is expensive for employers and we = can't=20 really cut corners in order to cut costs. To protect the employee and = the=20 employee's co-workers, we need a doctor's clearance to allow injured = employees=20 to return to work."

Marchant was in a single-car collision on his = way to=20 a 911 call back in April 2004, fracturing his neck in two places. Five = months=20 later, he was back on full unrestricted duty and, in that time, = participated in=20 an officer-involved shooting, a vehicle pursuit and multiple physical=20 confrontations, he said. Nearly four years later, on Feb. 8, Marchant = was told=20 he was being placed on industrial leave. It's unclear whether that = decision was=20 connected to the 2004 accident or something else. The Health Insurance=20 Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA, prevents = companies=20 from discussing employee medical issues and Marchant's attorney, Adam = Stewart,=20 didn't return requests for comment.

Stewart is also representing = Jeffrey=20 Ernst, who was one of the deputies Marchant named. "I'd love to talk, = but=20 (Stewart) told me not to," Ernst told the Ledger = Dispatch.

According to=20 Marchant, there was some discrepancy over whether Ernst injured himself = while=20 restraining a suspect or aggravated a pre-existing injury he suffered = while in=20 the military.

Wegner explained that whenever a sheriff's employee = is=20 injured on the job, the department completes a series of required forms = that=20 document when and how the injury occurred, regardless of how minor it = is. The=20 forms are sent to the county's risk management department, which = ultimately=20 informs the sheriff's office if and when the employee can return to = duty, and=20 under what circumstances.

Susan Gard, chief of legislation and = policy for=20 the state Division of Workers' Compensation, said about 20 percent of = workers'=20 comp cases result in some sort of dispute. "There can be a wide range of = issues=20 that people argue over," she said. "What we encourage is that the = parties figure=20 it out themselves."

When that isn't an option, the state provides = an=20 appeals judge, once known as a referee, to settle the = dispute.

State=20 records showed Marchant previously filed a complaint against the county = in=20 January 2005. That was settled in May 2007, Gard said. Marchant filed a = new=20 discriminatory complaint this past March. He told the Ledger Dispatch he = and his=20 attorney were hoping to resolve the current matter without engaging in=20 litigation.

"I want to work. Usually, it's the opposite," he = said,=20 referring to workers' comp cases in which injured employees want paid = leave. "if=20 people want to cut funding, stop fighting the Indian (gaming) thing. = You're not=20 going to win that. Ever."

Ernst filed a complaint against the = county in=20 November 1998. That case was settled the following year and the file = destroyed=20 in 2004, Gard said.

While unable to discuss Marchant's case, Daly = did=20 dispute Marchant's attempt to link his personnel issues to a broader=20 cost-savings conspiracy.

"Workers' comp is not a means to cut = costs by=20 any stretch of the imagination," she said.

Daly also briefly = addressed=20 Marchant's allegation that the county's retirement incentive program was = part of=20 a "scheme" to "'gut' the Sheriff's Office of experienced officers," as = he said=20 in his statement.

"Regarding the early retirement program, we = have worked=20 hard to ensure that the program is fair and consistent," Daly said in an = e-mail=20 to the Ledger Dispatch. "We are trying to find the balance between = compassion=20 and fiscal responsibility."

The county is offering financial = incentives=20 to employees who voluntarily opt for early retirement. Daly said the = county did=20 extensive research before suggesting the cost-savings proposal to ensure = it=20 wouldn't be discriminatory. The board of supervisors approved it last = month.=20 Employees must be over the age of 50 and have worked for the county at = least=20 five years to be eligible. As of Tuesday, 12 people had applied for = voluntary=20 retirement. The deadline for all applications is Aug. 20.

"The = plan is=20 not, 'Let's get rid of the old workers and replace them with younger, = newer=20 models,'" Daly said.

Another budget strategy supervisors adopted = was a=20 work furlough program, in which employees would voluntarily agree to = time off=20 without pay. Daly herself has applied for a program she hopes will shave = $200,000 from the county's general fund deficit, which was projected at = between=20 $3 million to $4 million before the early retirement and work furlough = offsets=20 were factored in. The alternative to these programs was laying off 30 to = 40=20 county employees, Daly said. Employees that are granted furloughs have = the=20 option of shortening their leaves as well, she added.

The fiscal = picture=20 could change somewhat when the state finalizes its budget.

Raheem = Hosseini