Ventura County Grand Jury
• 2007-2008
• Agency Response
Response to:
Auditor-Controller
Christine L. Cohen Louise Webster Uditor-controller Sandra Bickford County of Ventura*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 2 findings
F02
Page 1
states, "Processes in place to report workplace behavior problems are not trusted by employees because the agency with the alleged bullying issue is allowed to investigate complaints using personnel within its own organization. This system risks the exposure of a complainant's identity and reinforces employee perception that the investigation would not be conducted fairly." I disagree partially with the finding numbered FI-02. The Employee Fraud Hotline was not intended for these types of personnel complaints. However, although not under the intended purview of the Employee Fraud Hotline, we do not disregard such complaints; rather, we accommodate the complainant and facilitate investigation. Of the complaints received during FY 2010-11 that could fall under the category of bullying, HR was informed of the complaints for investigation or oversight purposes.
Related Recommendations (1)
R02
Page 2
states, "The CEO-HR should create an independent hotline to receive complaints specific to improper workplace behavior that is separate from the A-C Employee Fraud Hotline. It should be staffed by non-County personnel to protect the anonymity of callers." Recommendation numbered R-02 requires further analysis. While action to create an independent hotline rests with the CEO-HR, it should be noted that multiple hotlines can create confusion for complainants and, as a result, complainants sometimes use the Employee Fraud Hotline as a "catchall" for various types of complaints, including those for which a separate hotline already exists. In cases where the complainant does not wish to be redirected to the other hotline, the Employee Fraud Hotline accommodates the complainant and facilitates investigation. Therefore, the Employee Fraud Hotline may continue to be involved in such personnel complaints. We will coordinate with the CEO-HR to evaluate options. It is anticipated the review will be completed
F03
Page 1
states, "The BOS does not receive detailed data that would identify bullying problems within County offices." I disagree partially with the finding numbered FI-03. The BOS is informed of substantiated complaints in accordance with Government Code 53087.6, which governs the Employee Fraud Hotline. Phone: (805) 654-3151 Fax: (805) 654-5081 auditor.countyofventura.org christine.cohen@ventura.org The Honorable Vincent O'Neill, Jr., Presiding Judge of the Superior Court July 5, 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS
No recommendations for this finding
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.