In a scathing rebuke of the San Jose Police Department, a JAMS arbitrator dismissed all five sustained misconduct allegations against our client—including “Conduct Unbecoming an Officer”—just days before a scheduled week-long evidentiary hearing. The ruling fully reinstates our client without loss of rank or seniority and orders that he be made whole with full back pay, damages, attorney’s fees, costs, and interest.

The dismissal followed MAJS’s strategic decision to file a pre-hearing Motion to Dismiss, exposing the City’s outrageous misconduct during the disciplinary process. The motion was the result of a collaborative effort: Partners James Shore and Alex Bukac developed critical evidentiary threads, while Partner Alison Berry Wilkinson led the drafting effort after the team uncovered conduct that was not only unfair—but in some instances criminal.

The motion cited Justice Brandeis’ timeless dissent in Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928):

If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means—to declare that the government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal—would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this court should resolutely set its face.

The arbitrator embraced that principle. Her written decision found the City’s actions “improper and unfair,” citing violations of the California Penal Code by the criminal investigator, compounded by the administrative investigator’s misconduct. The ruling also identified violations of our client’s due process and Fourth Amendment rights, as well as the California Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights. These findings create a foundation for pursuing further legal remedies.

We are proud to report that our client, now fully vindicated, is eager to continue his decade-long career in law enforcement, serving and protecting the public.

If you have any questions about this alert, please contact James Shore or Alex Bukac in our San Rafael office.