LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court rejected the California Highway Patrol’s attempt to reinstate the firing of an officer who collected nearly four hours of overtime after leaving his assignment and going home, CalMatters reported.
Officer Nathaniel Partridge was working a traffic enforcement detail on Sept. 17, 2017, when the assignment ended early. CHP policy required him to return to the East Los Angeles station and remain there until the scheduled end of the shift.
Instead, Partridge returned his patrol vehicle and drove 35 miles home. He was paid $288.98 for three hours and 45 minutes he did not work, according to court records.
“I took the chance to go home and would fall on the consequence if I was called back,” Partridge told CHP investigators.
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CHP fired Partridge in 2020 for claiming unearned overtime and failing to properly complete department records. The firing also cited eight instances in which he did not document when he returned a patrol vehicle, though those violations were not connected to additional false overtime claims.
Partridge appealed his firing to the State Personnel Board. The board upheld the findings against him but reduced his discipline to a one-year suspension without pay.
CHP challenged that decision in Los Angeles County Superior Court, arguing that Partridge’s dishonesty made him unfit to remain an officer. The court sided with the personnel board, prompting CHP to appeal.
The California 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld that ruling, finding that the personnel board acted within its authority when it reduced the penalty. The court cited Partridge’s positive performance evaluations and lack of prior discipline.
“A reasonable decisionmaker could have dismissed Partridge, and a reasonable decisionmaker could have — and did — impose a one-year suspension without pay,” the court stated.
Partridge’s case stemmed from a 2019 audit of the East Los Angeles station, where dozens of officers were accused of collecting overtime after leaving traffic enforcement assignments early.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta later filed 302 criminal counts against 54 current and former officers, alleging they had collectively received more than $200,000 in unearned overtime. Fifty-two officers accepted agreements allowing the charges to be dismissed after they repaid the money, The Sacramento Bee reported.
