Is LA County putting itself at legal risk by sending light-duty probation officers home? – DailyNews
A new mandate forcing Los Angeles County probation officers physically unable to work in the juvenile halls to stay home could expose the county to significant liability as it potentially violates federal laws requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to injured and disabled workers, according to legal experts.
In a February memo, Probation Department Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa announced plans to redeploy 250 field officers on 60-day rotations to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall and the Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility, where persistent under-staffing has led to such poor conditions that state regulators ordered the facilities to close if…