The former El Dorado County employees, accused of 'bizarre' behavior, are seen as threats.
By Cathy Locke -- Bee Staff Writer
A Superior Court judge issued permanent restraining orders Thursday against two former high-level El Dorado County employees who have been accused of threatening or harassing county officials and employees in recent weeks.The county earlier this month obtained temporary restraining orders against Jon Morgan, environmental management director, who was fired Dec. 13, and Thomas Soike, former assistant and interim chief administrative officer, who retired in December 2002.
The county claimed in documents filed with the court that the two men have demonstrated "bizarre" behavior and have become a threat to county officials and employees.
Judge James R. Wagoner issued the permanent injunctions following a hearing Thursday in Cameron Park. Neither Morgan, Soike nor anyone representing the two men was present. Neither could be reached for comment.
Ed Knapp, chief assistant county counsel, said in an interview following the hearing that the restraining orders reflect legal requirements that have become more stringent over the past 10 years regarding workplace safety. "Employers have a new obligation, which is to protect the workplace," he said.
Such actions against former employees are relatively rare, Knapp said, noting that restraining orders more often involve situations in which an employee in the middle of a divorce is harassed by a spouse.
Actions of the two employees were unrelated, but both came to a head in recent weeks.
Morgan, as environmental management director since 1999, served as the county's spokesman on issues ranging from naturally occurring asbestos to garbage collection problems.
Morgan, 51, had worked for the county 26 years. County officials declined to comment on reasons for his dismissal.
Soike, 58, retired as the county's assistant chief administrative officer in 2002. He twice served as interim chief administrative officer during his 14-year tenure.
In court documents filed by the county, the county said Morgan has been angry over the past five months because of his deteriorating employment situation with the county.
The documents said that Morgan's behavior included screaming and profanity, and that much of his anger appeared directed at county Supervisor Helen Baumann and Chief Administrative Officer Laura Gill.
According to court records, Morgan was detained by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department for trespassing at an oil refinery Dec. 3. He was driving a county vehicle but was not on county business, according to the court filings. When asked why he was at the refinery, the documents said Morgan replied, "I want to blow it up."
According to the court records, he was taken to Contra Costa Regional Medical Center where he was evaluated and found to be a danger to himself and others.
In subsequent meetings with two employees the day before he was fired, he allegedly said that Baumann and Gill "deserve to be blown up," according to the court documents.
Knapp said he had a telephone conversation with Morgan before Thursday's hearing and said Morgan agreed to the permanent restraining order, but asked that he be allowed to request a modification should he obtain employment that required him to deal with the county Environmental Management Department.
That could not be independently confirmed with Morgan.
Knapp said the county, with 24 hours notice, would be willing to consider changing the order to accommodate such circumstances.
The restraining order bars Morgan from county facilities, unless accompanied by a member of the Sheriff's Department, and prohibits him from contacting Gill, Baumann and Environmental Management Department employees Gerri Silva and Kerri Williams.
Soike is barred from county facilities and contact with all county employees.
He began attending county Board of Supervisors meetings in the fall, speaking on behalf of a group he called Citizens Requesting an Alternative Plan of Service, or CRAPS. He said the acronym referred to the game of chance and argued that the Board of Supervisors was gambling with the county's future.
Soike's comments often were targeted at board members and county Auditor-Controller Joe Harn.
"Recently, his behavior has become quite erratic - a far cry from the man that most of the players in this controversy once knew," the county said in the court documents.
According to the documents, Soike visited the auditor-controller's office 10 to 15 times during November and December, requesting copies of the county budget and other public documents.
"He grew increasingly agitated with each visit, and his physical appearance, demeanor, tone of voice, obscene comments and threatening references created fear in the ranks of county employees he approached," the county says in its petition for the restraining order.
At an El Dorado County Taxpayers Association meeting in early November, the petition says, Soike told Auditor-Controller Harn, "You are a corpse. You are a political corpse like me."
The document says he also approached Supervisor Baumann in the parking lot of the county government center and asked her whether she had ever been "drawn down on" by a deputy, a comment interpreted as an explicit reference to guns.
The county's petition for the injunction says that Soike's "threatening course of conduct" culminated recently when he delivered a number of gift-wrapped packages to various county departments stating that they should be scanned and sniffed by police dogs before being opened.
"Though the gifts turned out to be innocuous, the fear caused by Defendant's threat was very real," the petition says.
...
