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AZCOPS WINS AGAIN!
AZCOPS attorneys have taken the employee's disciplinary issues before the Pinal County Merit System many times over the years. They have found the Merit Board to be fair in these hearings.
The terminations of two employees have been overturned recently;
that of Sgt. Atkins and more recently Brittanny Beauchamp.
The Board found in both cases that the punisment of terminating the employee to have been excessive and awarded their jobs back to them. Sheriff Babeu has appealed the Board's decision on Sgt. Atkins and we are waiting to hear what he will do about Ms. Beauchamp.
WARNING!!
The Employee Assistance Program may not be all it is advertised to be. Do NOT count on your records being confidential. In a recent civil case in our Superior Court the judge has ordered an employee's records from a councelor. These are now very close to becoming public information. Please take note, your privacy can not be guaranteed and any records may be made public. Check here for updates.....
This is a copy of the response from Jorgensen/Brooks Group, the Pinal County EAP servicer in reference to the above warning:
To all Pinal County Deputies:
As your Employee Assistance Program provider, we are more concerned than anyone about protecting the confidential information of the employees we serve, so I am as concerned as you are about this potential action by the Superior Court.
Our confidentiality practices are defined in our philosophy and in our contracts: Here it is –
1. All EAP services are conducted in compliance with all HIPAA federal and state confidentiality laws. Jorgensen/Brooks EAP will not divulge any information relating to services provided without the expressed consent by the client or guardian. Exceptions will only be made in emergency situations, court orders, child, adult or sexual abuse as mandated by state and federal laws.
2. In accordance to federal laws regarding electronic submission and the security of protected health information under HIPAA, Jorgensen/Brooks Group takes all necessary steps to ensure information is protected against any release of protected health information.
3. Except as otherwise noted above, the release of any confidential information to person outside Jorgensen/Brooks EAP requires a signed authorization for release of information.
We do not release records simply in response to a subpoena.
However, every medical and behavioral health provider is required by law to comply with legal court orders (which should only be approved by the court when no other source of the information is available), and whoever receives records transferred legally also has the legal obligation to comply with federal HIPAA laws to protect health information.
Thus:
EAP records are protected more carefully than your insurance or medical records.
EAP records are shared ONLY with the permission of the client, or
Only as mandated by state and federal law to protect the public safety (i.e. sexual abuse) or as mandated by a legal court order – as with any medical records.
Finally, if there is any unlawful attempt to gain access to protected EAP records, or if HIPAA violations by other parties affect disclosure of your EAP records – we will join the fight with you.
Thank you for sharing this with your members. We appreciate your work.
Sincerely,
Don Jorgensen
Donald G. Jorgensen, Ph.D., CEAP
President, Jorgensen/Brooks Group
2292 W. Magee Road, Suite 290
Tucson, AZ 85742
520-575-8623
don@jorgensenbrooks.com
SGT. AMADO MARTINEZ WINS HIS CASE IN COURT!!!
Accused of 18 counts of criminal acts, including Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices, Fraudulent Schemes and Practices, Theft, Forgery of check, Take Identity of Another Person, Computer Tampering and Unlawful Possession of an Access Device. These were reference alleged thefts of jail monies. He took his case to court and
On September 23, 2009 the Jury found Sgt Martinez NOT GUILTY of all 18 counts. Having been exhonorated in this manner we would expect Sheriff Babeu to welcome him back with open arms any time now. See attached PDF file of minute entry:
Click here to download minute entry - - - - - ->
NEWS . . .
This letter was recently sent to Sheriff Babeu. We will inform you as soon as he responds and solicit employees for their questions and concerns to be presented in these meetings.
January 2010
Sheriff Babue,
We would like to request a monthly meeting of approximately one hour with you to discuss issues of importance concerning AZCOPS, exchange of information, concerns of Sheriff’s Office employee’s, and to entertain an open forum between the PCDA and you.
Our intent is to open the lines of communication between the labor force and management in an effort to put the Agency in Harmony to better serve the communities, ease any tensions, and work together to improve morale, performance, and the overall professionalism of the Sheriff’s Office as a whole.
We would like to suggest that we schedule a one hour meeting each month, on the Thursday one week before each PCDA meeting. We would request that through GroupWise, our designated PCDA representatives would email a list of issues, questions, or topics we would like to discus or ask about, this would be sent directly to you one week prior to the scheduled meeting. This would give you and your staff an opportunity to know exactly what was on the agenda and thereby give all involved a fair opportunity to address the issue as well as streamlining the report of this meeting to the PCDA Membership at the following Thursday’s PCDA monthly meeting.
Additionally, we would welcome topics of your choosing or concern in which PCDA may be able to facilitate a resolution to assist you and your staff.
Certainly, as issues present themselves in short order, we would all need to be flexible so that we may address those issues which have recently developed and for time constraints, couldn’t be slated for a week in advance.
Ideally, we would like to have three PCDA representatives in attendance. One would be an elected official (President, Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer), one Board member or designee, and a line Deputy / Detention Officer.
We strongly feel that together, PCDA and PCSO Administration, can work together to overcome many issues and push forward to bring about the brightest future and most progressive Agency possible, for the benefit of us all.
We look forward to your response.
Respectfully,
S. G. Gillen, President
PCDA / AZCOPS
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