24/7 Whistleblower Program

(1)

Not sustained 5/14/2010

4/8/2010 Yes

Bidding to Other Public Entities and Outsourcing

Complaint alleging unfair competition in contracting practices.

Lack of supporting evidence.

4/28/2010 Yes

Citizen with Shoulder Injury

Complaint alleging injury to left shoulder caused by County staff.

Pending

5/1/2010 Yes

Irregularities in Contracting Matters

Complaint alleging irregularities in contracting practices.

5/7/2010 Yes

Hostile Work Environment by Supervisor

Complaint by employee alleging supervisor is creating a hostile work environment.

No violation of County rules.

5/7/2010 No

Sample Election Ballots

Request to make sample election ballots easier to tear out of booklet.

Requested change is not possible.

(2)

5/10/2010 Yes

Work Out of Class Payment for Acting Supervisor

Complaint alleging acting supervisor is receiving out-of-class pay without doing the work.

Pending

5/13/2010 Yes

Tax Prep Services on County Time

Complaint alleging employee is providing tax prep services on County time.

Pending

5/15/2010 Yes

Unfair Hiring Practices

Complaint alleging contractor was hired into permanent status without a job posting and without regard to the hiring freeze.

Pending

5/18/2010 Yes

Retaliation & Failure to Protect

Complaint from two employees alleging they were retaliated against because one had complained of a co-worker's drinking problem.

Pending

5/19/2010 Yes

Employee Soliciting for Side Business

Complaint alleging a County employee is soliciting expert witness business from County customers.

(3)

Does not involve County 5/19/2010

5/19/2010 No

Fraud by Private Attorney

Request for document review to determine validity of trust case.

Caller referred to State Bar.

5/23/2010 Yes

Census - Request to Stop Calling and Visiting

Complaint from a member of the public alleging Census workers have called and visited excessively.

Referred to Federal Census Bureau.

Pending

5/28/2010 Yes

Colleague Defrauding County by Inflating Time Studies

Complaint from employee alleging co-worker is defrauding the County by inflating time spent working on projects in time studies.

6/3/2010 No

San Jose Water Company - Rate Increase Protest - Do not change the meters

Complaint from member of the public stating opposition to San Jose Water Company's plan to change the meters.

Water District was co-recipient of Whistleblower's email.

Pending

6/9/2010 Yes

Retaliation & Preferential Treatment Related to Overtime

Complaint alleging manager shows preferential treatment to friends, such as giving them overtime, and retaliates against staff members who complain about this practice.

(4)

6/11/2010 Yes

Staff Allege Illegal Campaign Activity

Complaint from staff members alleging employee is working full-time on an election campaign in a County office.

No violation of County rules.

6/21/2010 No

Violations of Confidentiality

Complaint alleging employee discusses confidential information on cell phone.

6/22/2010 No

Investigator Accused of Elder Abuse

Complaint alleging Court Investigator is physically abusive with the elderly.

Whistleblower referred to Superior Court.

Pending

6/25/2010 Yes

Improper Sharing of Confidential Information

Complaint alleging that employee was improperly sharing confidential information.

Pending

6/28/2010 Yes

Discrimination in Promotion Process

Complaint from employee claiming manager engages in discrimination in hiring process and retaliates against other employees.

(5)

6/28/2010 No

Denial of Unemployment Benefits

Member of public seeking advice after denial of unemployment benefits.

Caller advised that County is not involved in unemployment benefits matters. Caller also referred to SSA and Legal Aid for possible assistance.

7/2/2010

6/29/2010 Yes

Failure to Investigate Allegations

Complaint alleging a County department has not responded to request for assistance regarding an alleged violation of law.

Matter being re-examined by department.

Pending

6/30/2010 Yes

Inappropriate Behavior by County Employees

Complaint alleging affair between manager and staff member has created a hostile work environment for staff.

7/6/2010 Yes

Alleged Improper Actions by County Department

Complaint from member of the public alleging County employee gave away well rights and two homes on his property.

(6)

Pending

7/7/2010 Yes

Personal Card v. P-Card Use

1st complaint alleges manager is using personal credit card instead of a P-card to purchase hotel and travel for employees and keeping the free miles/points for his personal use.

2nd complaint alleges retaliation for submitting the original complaint.

1st complaint - not sustained for lack of supporting evidence.

Pending

7/11/2010 Yes

Harassment of Union Members by Supervisor

Complaint alleging harrassment and retaliation against union members by supervisor who is an officer in a different union.

Pending

7/13/2010 Yes

False Sexual Harassment Claim by County Employee

Call from employee alleging a female employee filed a frivolous and malicious sexual harassment complaint against him for the second time.

Pending

7/14/2010 Yes

Non-Lawyer Employee Accused of Practicing Law

Complaint from an attorney alleging County employee contacted her from a County phone and attempted to discuss settlement of a legal matter on behalf of a friend.

Sustained 7/29/2010

7/15/2010 Yes

Employees Smoking Too Close to Buildings

Complaint alleging two employees are violating County policy and state law by continuing to smoke too close to County buildings.

Employees were counseled on County policy and agreed to comply.

(7)

7/15/2010 Yes

Alleged Case of Insurance Fraud

Complaint alleging employee who is getting special treatment for back problems appears to have no problem with motion, lifting, or movement

and may have submitted a fraudulent medical claim. Lack of supporting evidence.

Pending

7/15/2010 Yes

Parking Officer Violation of Confidentiality

Complaint alleging a parking officer regularly showed up at an

employee's parking lot to issue parking tickets only to complainant and that the officer violated confidentiality laws.

7/16/2010 No

Complaint re Housing Fraud

Complaint alleging housing fraud.

Whistleblower referred to D.A.'s Office.

Pending

7/16/2010 Yes

Allegation of Lying

Complaint alleging that an employee lied about alleged drug use.

7/18/2010 No

Website Defrauding the Unemployed

Complaint alleging a private website is taking advantage of unemployed individuals.

Whistleblower referred to D.A.'s Office.

(8)

Sustained 7/21/2010

7/20/2010 Yes

Smoking Near Building

Complaint alleging employees ignore Board policy and continue to smoke near County buildings.

Director followed up with employees and requested additional signage.

7/21/2010 No

Zoning - Limo Business in Residential Neighborhood

Question from woman asking if a neighbor's limosine business that is run from a single family home in a residential neighborhood is a zoning

violation. Caller referred to City of SJ Code

Enforcement Division.

Pending

7/23/2010 Yes

Sick Time Not Charged to Leave Bank

Complaint alleging member of management is not charging sick time to leave bank.

Pending

7/24/2010 Yes

Improper Access and Use of Information in Client File

Complaint alleging staff member improperly accessed a file belonging to a client and used the information for harassment purposes.

7/27/2010 Yes

Matricula Consular Accepted as ID Card

Complaint from member of the public alleging County departments are improperly accepting the Mexican government's Matricula Consular as

an official form of identification. Permitted under County policy.

(9)

Pending

7/27/2010 Yes

False Overtime Claimed on Timecard

Complaint alleging an employee is falsely claiming overtime on timecard with management's knowledge.

Pending

8/3/2010 Yes

Interpreter Causing Problems

Request from employee for an investigation into inappropriate behavior on the part of an interpreter who is allegedly misinforming clients and causing problems for the department.

Pending

8/12/2010 Yes

County Employees Rude and Belligerent to Citizens

Complaint from member of the public alleging County employees behaved crudely and became belligerent when approached by citizens.

8/15/2010 No

Facebook - Request for assistance in prosecuting hate speech posted online

Request from French citizen for legal assistance in prosecuting hateful, discriminatory and violent speech posted on Facebook against French,

Arabs, and gays in France. Whistleblower advised to

contact D.A. or County Bar Association.

Pending

8/17/2010 Yes

Alleged Abuse of Overtime

Complaint alleging employees are knowingly violating County policy and abusing overtime.

(10)

Pending

8/18/2010 Yes

Improper Action by Employee

Complaint alleging that manager violated confidentiality by arranging for manager's child to visit County facilities without first obtaining permission.

Pending

8/18/2010 Yes

Alleged Mistreatment of Customer

Complaint from employee alleging conspiracy in provider services to County customer.

8/21/2010 No

County Law Library - Patron Forced to Leave

Staff at Santa Clara County Law Library allegedly discriminated and denied a patron her first amendment rights by calling police and forcing

her to leave. Whistleblower advised to follow

up with Library. Copy of complaint sent to Library management.

Pending

9/8/2010 Yes

Employee Complaint Alleging Co-worker Uses County Computer to Send Personal Emails

Complaint alleging employee does no work and spends time writing

personal emails to a manager in another department.

(11)

Pending

9/8/2010 Yes

Drug Use At Work

Complaint from employee who transfered out of department alleging that management ignores problems caused by two managers who engage in drug use during work hours.

Pending

9/12/2010 Yes

Alleged Improper Use of Union Time Off

Complaint alleging a union officer and friends are allowed to take union time off from work for improper purposes.

Pending

9/13/2010 Yes

Outside Employment During County Business Hours

Complaint alleging manager is running two personal businesses during work hours.

Pending

9/14/2010 Yes

Allegation of Insurance Fraud

Complaint alleging employee committed insurance fraud.

Pending

9/19/2010 Yes

Retaliation for Using Family Medical Leave Act Time

Complaint by employee with illness alleging she was retaliated against for taking FMLA time and for refusing to participate in the firing of her boss.

(12)

Pending

9/21/2010 No

Carcinogens in Ventilation System

Complaint by former employee alleging wrongful termination for acting as a whistleblower and exposing that a County building had

carcinogens in the ventilation system. Investigation not warranted.

Complainant has sued the County several times for this exact same reason.

Pending

9/22/2010 Yes

Employee Running Private Practice During Work Hours

Complaint alleging an employee lectures at a local university and runs a private practice during work hours.

Pending

9/28/2010 Yes

Employee Spending Time on Email and Facebook

Complaint alleging employee does no work and spends day sending personal emails and playing on Facebook.

Pending

9/28/2010 Yes

Employee Emailing Family and Friends During Work Hours

Complaint alleging employee emails family and friends instead of performing required County duties.

(13)

Pending

9/28/2010 Yes

Retroactive Increase to Price of Fix It Ticket

Complaint alleging the fees charged for a 'fix it ticket' were retroactively increased from $25 to $330.

Pending

9/29/2010 Yes

Allegations of Improper Treatment of County Customer

Complaint from a member of the public alleging that County staff treated a customer improperly.

Pending

10/4/2010 Yes

Employees Allegedly Harassing Co-workers and Not Doing Their Own Work

Complaint alleging that several employees are not doing their jobs and spend time harassing co-workers.

10/12/2010 Yes

Special Use Permit

Complaint received from member of the public alleging he was denied equal access when denied a use permit.

Pending

10/13/2010 Yes

Retaliation Based on Hispanic Heritage

Complaint alleging manager retaliates and discriminates against staff members of Hispanic heritage.

(14)

Pending

10/15/2010 Yes

Refusal to Investigate Corrupt Practices

Complaint alleging refusal to investigate an attorney regarding a fee issue.

63 Number of Whistleblower Complaints: