Los Angeles County Association of Environmental Health Specialists Vote of No Confidence in Liza Frias, Brenda Lopez, and Scott Abbott

A vote of no confidence is a document expressing the fact that our members have no confidence in EH Management to run this department in a competent manner, to keep their employees safe, and to effectively serve the population of Los Angeles County. It is not legally binding. It is a tool that our Union will use to put political pressure on the County Board of Supervisors to stop EH Management’s policy changes that are harmful to both the Department and its employees.

There is no deadline for members to sign the Vote of No Confidence, and there is no deadline for it to be submitted. However, the sooner we are able to submit it, the sooner we can get the attention of the Board of Supervisors and have our concerns addressed.

Management has instituted policies over the past year that endanger the safety and mental health of employees, and have created a hostile work environment. These policies include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Limiting office time to 90 minutes, less time than was allowed before the pandemic, while at the same time saddling us with more office work.
• Placing restrictions on telework and forcing employees to be present in the office, completely disregarding the high community spread of the Delta variant.
• Requiring employee work shifts to end no earlier than 5:00 PM, a policy which provides no benefit to the department.
• Failing to provide fit-tested N95 masks to staff while other DPH departments have been able to provide and fit-test their staff with N95s.
• Requiring staff to take their COVID Wellness break in the office, which, coupled with the limits on office time, is nothing more than a transparent attempt to make staff work through their COVID Wellness break.
• Failing to implement COVID-19 employee symptom checks until over 6 months after DPH began requiring symptom checks for employees at private businesses (April 10, 2020 - October 16, 2020)
• Requiring since June 15, 2021 that inspectors stay in a food facility full of unmasked diners to type their inspection reports.
• Threatening employees who speak up about safety-related issues with discipline.
• Requiring all “very good” performance evaluations to be reviewed by the EH Director and EH Assistant Director, while allowing “competent” or lower performance evaluations to be handed out without approval by upper management. This policy epitomizes Management’s reluctance to provide praise and positive feedback to staff, as well as their willingness to hand out negative feedback and punishments.

Again, this list is not exhaustive, but it is a sample of the excessive micromanagement that is the current EH Management’s style.

Several members of the Union Board of Directors and our Teamsters Representative Gregorio Daniel meet with EH Management once per month during the Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) meeting to discuss issues of concern. The above issues have all been brought up to management, and they have been dismissed out of hand. No attempt has been made by management to consider the impact on employees’ health, safety, and personal lives.

As an example, when Management was asked in the June JLMC meeting what data was used to determine that 90 minutes was adequate time to complete all of the extra office work that has been given to us, they admitted that no data had been reviewed, and that 90 minutes had always been the standard going back years and years. The Union demonstrated that this was false, as evidenced by a DSE handbook showing an acceptable office time of between 2 and 2.5 hours. The Union Board told Management that 90 minutes was not enough time, and asked management to conduct a study to determine an acceptable amount of office time. During the next JLMC meeting, Management stated that “we looked at some DTARs, and we decided that 90 minutes is enough” without providing any data or any study results indicating how much time typical office work takes.

When asked about requiring employee schedules to end no earlier than 5:00 PM, Management stated that it was necessary because A) 8:00-4:30 was never an official schedule (The DSE handbook shows that the standard 5/40 schedule is in fact 8:00-4:30) and B) inspectors need to provide coverage for the entire County work day of 8:00-5:00 (coverage that is already provided by inspectors who work a 4/40). When both of those arguments fell apart, Management’s reasoning then became “once you’re gainfully employed with the County we can change your schedule as we see fit” and “we checked and what we’re doing is legal”, demonstrating that Management doesn’t care how policy changes affect their staff, as long as they’re not breaking the law.

At this point in time, the LACOAEHS Board has exhausted all other less-drastic options.

POST 2/8/2024 EDIT: We reached out to Barbara Ferrer (see letter above) and were ignored. We went to several County Supervisors and they were told by management that it was just a handful of disgruntled employees.

A Cease and Desist Letter outlining the above complaints was delivered to Megan McClaire, Chief Deputy Director of L.A. County Public Health and Liza Frias’s direct supervisor, Dr. Muntu Davis, L.A. County Health Officer, and Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of L.A. County Public Health. The letter was received on August 13, 2021. We have yet to receive a response.

The head of HR is present for all Joint Labor Management Committee meetings, so HR is aware of our concerns and has sided with Management at every step. Most of Management’s policy changes do not necessarily violate any laws or our MOU, so filing grievances or complaints is not a viable means of redress.

POST 2/8/2024 EDIT: When we do file grievances, the response that we get from management/HR is "There is not enough evidence to support your claim, therefore it is denied," and the grievants are targeted for retaliation. This is why so few grievances are filed, and it is exactly why Heather declined to file a grievance regarding her telework request.

We know that these policies are coming from Liza Frias because she implemented the same policies during her time as Director of Environmental Health in Orange County, resulting in a mass exodus of staff from that department. She did the same thing at the Pasadena Health Department too. The staff of the Pasadena Health Department held a party after Liza left; not a farewell party on her last day of work, but a “Hooray She’s Gone” party after she had already left.

Brenda Lopez has supported these policy changes at every opportunity. During the JLMC meetings where Brenda has had to fill in for Liza, Brenda unequivocally defended these policies as being in the best interests of the department and gave no consideration to the impact these changes would have on staff.

Scott Abbott is included because he is not just a messenger. His title is District Surveillance and Enforcement Branch Director. He is supposed to direct his branch. He is now an assistant director of EH -- yes, we have two assistant directors, because this division wasn't top-heavy enough as it was. If a policy is being imposed that he disagrees with, he needs to speak up and suggest a reasonable alternative. From what we can tell, he has not done so. Scott Abbott has also played a large role in threatening discipline against staff members who raise safety concerns. When several inspectors refused to conduct routine inspections without proper PPE one week into the pandemic, Scott sent an email to district chiefs not asking “what are their concerns and how can we address them?” but rather “I want the names of those inspectors.”

Prior to approving this vote of no confidence, EH Management was already treating their staff like kindergarteners. Accepting that treatment without fighting back because people are too scared is exactly what management wants us to do.

Your vote of no confidence in EH Management, along with participating in any other union activities, is legally protected as long as it is done on your own time and not using County equipment/devices. Breaks during the work day count as your own time.

Despite that, EH Management may find other excuses to punish employees who are involved. That is why this Vote of No Confidence will not be submitted unless it is signed by 70% of our members. If 70% of LACOAEHS members are signing with you, there is no way that EH Management can discriminate against us all.

Even after we have gathered enough signatures to submit the petition, we will also keep private the names of those who cast their vote. When we take this vote to the County Board of Supervisors, we will present the vote and inform them of the total number of signatures that were obtained. If they request to see the signature list, we will have to show the list to them, but strictly for eyes-only review. We will not leave a copy of the signature list behind after the meeting, and we will not intentionally transmit electronically or otherwise any copy of the signature list to anyone outside of the union. Please be aware that while we will make every effort to maintain anonymity for union members, we cannot fully guarantee that management will not find out about your vote.

Keep in mind that any job action more drastic than this will have zero anonymity. If we have to escalate matters further, for example if we vote to strike, management will know for certain who is participating. This vote is a unique opportunity to effect change in our workplace while keeping our members as safe from retaliation as possible.