The Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 47, started gathering signatures for a representation election, and on February 7, 2024, the FOP notified the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office that 75% of their employees had voted “yes” for collective bargaining. The FOP also stated that it had met with Sheriff Darren Weekly, who “expressed his continued support for us and the FOP.” Following this, the FOP sent a clarifying email stating that Weekly consistently opposed collective bargaining but supported the FOP and its members.
The following week, Weekly emailed employees stating, “I want to be very clear that I oppose collective bargaining, and I feel it’s totally unnecessary. I promise you as your Sheriff I will continue to work with our commissioners to ensure our employees are fairly compensated and that we will continually look for opportunities to improve all aspects of your work environment.” However, the email also stated, “I fully support the Fraternal Order of Police to protect its members.” Weekly continued to send emails every few days regarding his opposition to the unionization effort.
The FOP filed its petition for a representation election. A captain responded to the petition with an email to certain employees about an upcoming meeting that addressed “the related disadvantages of what unionization at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office would mean.” On March 22, Weekly held an informational meeting about the collective bargaining election, encouraging employees to vote “no.” Several days later, County Commissioners George Teal, Abe Laydon, and Lora Thomas released a YouTube video speaking out against the collective bargaining effort.
Such practices continued up until late April, when the FOP, weathering further communication from management to sheriffs encouraging them to vote against unionization, submitted a Motion to Withdraw the Petition due to the County’s alleged unfair labor practices.
After conducting its investigation, the Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics found that the County and the Sheriff’s Office had violated the Collective Bargaining by County Employees Act. The Division ruled that Weekly’s actions and statements constituted unfair labor practices: “The Division finds that Weekly’s email campaign implicitly threatened reprisals against employees who joined the union, in violation of section 115(2)(a), and discouraged county employees from joining a union, in violation of section 115(2)(b). For the reasons explained below, these emails, delivered via the Sheriff Office’s work email at regular intervals and in an official tone and manner, were official and coercive in nature, taking them beyond the protection of section 115(5).” The Division further held that the captive audience meetings held by Weekly violated section 115(2)(a) and that Weekly violated 115(2)(c) by using public funds and his official position to oppose the union.
The Division also found that the undersheriff committed unfair labor practices. “The Division finds that emails threatened reprisals against county employees who supported the unions in violation of COBCA Section 115(2)(a) and discouraged unionization in violation of section 115(2)(b).”
In addition, the Division concluded that “the conduct and statements of County Commissioners George Teal, Abe Laydon, and Lora Thomas resulted in the following unfair labor practices under section 115(2)(a) and (b). In their March 25, 2024 video statement, these Commissioners (1) implied they would refuse to negotiate with the union, if it were voted to represent the Sheriff employees, in violation of section 115(1); (2) coerced, interfered with, and threatened to discriminate against county employees for forming or assisting with the forming of a union by making unsupported predictions about the effect of the union in violation of section 115(2)(a); and (3) explicitly deterred and discouraged county employees from becoming members of the FOP Union, again on the basis of unsupported predictions or implied threats of unlawfully refusing to negotiate in violation of section 115(2)(b).” The Division also concluded that the Commissioners used public funds and their official position to oppose the Union in violation of 115(2)(c).
The Division ordered the County and all its representatives to cease and desist from engaging in any unfair labor practices.
Douglas County and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, Determination and Order, ULP Complaint #0022-24 (2024).