California prison agency faces whistleblower retaliation lawsuit, filed by its own attorney

The attorney for a California state agency that provides work opportunities for incarcerated people is suing his employer, as well as the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, alleging that they retaliated against him when he came forward with complaints about the now-former general manager.

Jeff Sly, the general counsel for the California Prison Industry Authority, or CalPIA, alleges in his complaint that then-General Manager Scott Walker harassed him and attempted to coerce him into retirement.

CalPIA and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation declined to comment for this story, with the corrections department citing their policy of not commenting on ongoing litigation.

Sly, who has served as general counsel for the prison industry authority since 2006, alleges that Walker, who replaced Charles “Chuck” Pattillo as general manager in January 2019, “was prone to hostile and abusive conduct towards (Sly).”

“Walker ridiculed and insulted (Sly), turning nearly every routine discussion with the general manager into an ordeal,” the complaint alleges.

Sly said in his complaint, filed in Sacramento Superior Court by attorney David Graulich of the Wronged at Work Law Group, that Walker began pushing him into retirement beginning in early 2019.

Then, in early 2020, Sly gave an interview to investigators from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Office of Internal Affairs, where he discussed Walker. During the interview, Sly expressed concern about his comments inviting retaliation from Walker, but he was assured that the conversation was confidential, according to the complaint.

In June 2020, Walker summoned Sly to his office, and played an audio clip from the confidential interview, according to the complaint.

Sly’s “shock was so extreme that he thought he would lose consciousness. His heartbeat skyrocketed, breathing became difficult, and he thought he would suffer a heart attack. The breach of confidentiality, and Walker’s access to ‘confidential’ OIA recordings, were devastating,” according to the complaint.

Sly’s attorney, Graulich, called the situation where Walker confronted Sly “the ultimate nightmare,” in a telephone interview.

The complaint goes on to name the investigation agents from Internal Affairs, as well as former CDCR Secretary Ralph Diaz and current Secretary Kathleen Allison, alleging they allowed retaliation against Sly.

“Despite possessing actual or constructive knowledge, neither Diaz nor Allison took any action to protect (Sly) from the abuse by Walker. Neither Diaz nor Allison removed Walker from (Sly’s) work environment, thereby deliberately subjecting (Sly) to further abuse,” the complaint reads.

His attorney, Graulich, acknowledged that it is “an unusual circumstance” for CalPIA’s own lead attorney to be the plaintiff in a case against the agency.

“Somewhere along the line, there was a leak and it impacted very seriously on (Sly),” Graulich said.