Case #0819

San Joaquin County Office of the Public Defender: Conflict, Mistrust, Lawsuits
A Perfect Storm

Over the past five years, the Public Defender’s Office has the highest per capita EEO complaint rate in the County. Additionally, the Office is involved in EEO lawsuits that are the most expensive in recent County history. The complaints required costly external investigations. This distracted the department’s management and staff, and demanded significant attention from Human Resources (HR) and the County Administrator’s Office.