(Colorado Newsline) A Pueblo County Sheriff’s deputy who has led the effort to unionize the department’s staff was reassigned to clerical duties last week by Pueblo Sheriff David Lucero over a 2013 disciplinary incident, a move that labor advocates claim is retaliation for working with the union.

Brad Riccillo was elected president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 837 in January, and served as its interim president when employees voted overwhelmingly in favor of union representation late last year. Since then, the union has been involved in a protracted dispute with Lucero over its collective bargaining rights.

August 22, Riccillo was transferred from patrol duty to the county detention center, a decision that Lucero said was related to a 2013 incident in which Riccillo was involved in a fender bender in an undercover police car. At the time, Riccillo initially told his supervisor he did not know what happened to the car, but corrected his statement a day later to come clean, according to Riccillo. He was suspended from work for 30 days without pay for the incident, and said it hadn’t been brought up since he’s continued his career with the sheriff’s office.

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But following a recent request from the 10th Judicial District Attorney’s office regarding incidents of untruthfulness from officers, Lucero told Riccillo he was being reassigned to detention center duty “to prevent my credibility from being called into question while on the stand.” Though his pay and rank weren’t affected by the transfer to the county jail, Riccillo said he’s now in a clerical position processing paperwork, and is taking a financial cut because he lost overtime shifts on patrol duty he previously committed to.

“For another term of the previous sheriff, and then three years into this man’s term, this case wasn’t really a big deal, and I was able to operate as normal,” Riccillo said. “And all of a sudden, because I start this union, I’m not able to operate as normal, and the DA all of a sudden wants to see this case.”

“I’m not trying to minimize my crash, but there was no traffic citation and there were no criminal charges involved,” he added.

The move came after a separate disciplinary proceeding in January, in which Riccillo was issued a written warning for what his superiors said were violations of department policies. Lucero’s warning letter to Riccillo acknowledged that the proceeding stemmed from “union related communications.” Riccillo called it a case of being “punished for my union activity.”

A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment on claims of retaliation.

Hilary Glasgow, president of the AFL-CIO Southern Colorado Labor Council and executive director of Colorado WINS, the union that represents state employees, said proving retaliation in the workplace is difficult because “everybody messes up at work … literally every single person,” but she thinks the case against Riccillo is clearly retaliation for his union involvement.

“In my experience in the last 20 years working in unions, when you have a manager who is this opposed, there is something going on,” Glasgow said.

Other unions formed under new law

The Colorado Legislature passed a law in 2022 giving government employees in many counties the right to unionize and collectively bargain over pay, benefits and working conditions.

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment recognized IBPO Local 837 as the union for Pueblo Sheriff’s Office employees in December 2023, following a 139-2 vote among employees for representation. In February, members of the newly established IBPO Local 837 asked to begin contract negotiations with Lucero. Lucero, citing state law that prohibited unionization before the 2022 law passed, “refused to bargain,” according to the state’s decision on a subsequent unfair labor practice complaint.

The union filed its complaint with the state March 14. Lucero responded that he is “not required to enter into collective bargaining with IBPO,” arguing that the sheriff’s office is excluded from the state definition of “county” in the new law. The state ruled in the union’s favor in July.

“For a town that boasts being a union town, this is probably the most difficult time I have had organizing and beginning any type of negotiation or contract in probably my whole career, and I’ve been in law enforcement and the union for close to 30 years,” said Vince Champion, regional director for IBPO, which is the division of the National Association of Government Employees for law enforcement.

The CDLE order required that the sheriff begin negotiations with union representatives, and the first meeting for contract negotiations was held July 31. Lucero then appealed the state’s ruling August 9. Riccillo said while members of leadership have attended the bargaining meetings, they aren’t being scheduled back to back as bargaining meetings typically take place, and leadership hasn’t been prepared to discuss the topics the union brings to the table.

“That’s not the way you negotiate a contract in good faith,” Riccillo said.

Gayle Perez, public information officer for the Pueblo Sheriff’s Office, said Lucero is “not opposed to the union” and referred Newsline to two press releases the sheriff’s office previously issued on the matter. A May 1 release says Lucero wanted to wait for legal guidance before entering negotiations with the union, as he says the sheriff’s office is governed by legislation separate from other county offices.

“The bill is clear when it comes to all other county offices but there are laws on the books that specifically govern the sheriff, which I believe is done for public safety,” Lucero said in the May 1 statement. “Laws are on the books for a reason — to protect the public. I was elected to uphold and enforce the laws and I am going to continue to do so.”

Since the 2022 law went into effect last year, other county sheriff’s offices including Arapahoe, Boulder, La Plata and Las Animas have successfully unionized with the Fraternal Order of Police. Officers with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office have tried to unionize and have faced similar difficulties, resulting in a lawsuitfrom the county challenging the legality of the union.

Claims of retaliation

In May, Riccillo learned that the sheriff was required to report to District Attorney Jeff Chostner’s office all incidents of untruthfulness from officers, which could be used to discredit an officer’s testimony in court.

Perez said in a statement that the district attorney “requires notification of any officer making untruthful statements. Three employees were forwarded to the district attorney for review and the DA issued his opinion on the three employees.”

Riccillo learned on Aug. 16 that the sheriff disclosed the September 2013 incident to the district attorney’s office, and that details of what happened would be included with every criminal case he serves as a witness in. Less than a week later, in a meeting with Lucero — for which, Riccillo said, a union representative was not allowed to be present — he was given a letter formalizing his transfer to the detention center.

“I told the sheriff, ‘I don’t have a problem talking about a crash from 11 years ago, it’s not a big deal to me,’” Riccillo said. “And then he turned around and said ‘It’s a big deal to me, because that’s a stain on my agency.’”

Riccillo’s transfer followed a separate disciplinary proceeding initiated while Riccillo was interim president of IBPO Local 837, before union members voted to elect him in January.

Riccillo said he learned that he was subject to an internal affairs investigation over a conversation he had with a department staff member about connecting with a union representative. The department claimed he violated policies related to criticizing other members and prohibited off-duty conduct. He was placed on administrative leave with pay.

Riccillo argued that these violations stemmed from his communication as the union president, and he was therefore being retaliated against. He ultimately received a written warning from Lucero reprimanding him for providing “inaccurate or misleading” information during those conversations, which Lucero acknowledged were related to union business.

“As I have not had the opportunity to negotiate reasonable limits on union communications with the IBPO, rather than discipline, I believe that it will be sufficient to caution you not to go beyond communication of accurate information,” Lucero’s March 1 warning says. “Should future union related communications include clearly inaccurate information or instructions, they may be the subject of discipline.”

“If you look through that documentation, it’s pretty clear that I was punished for my union activity,” Riccillo said.

“This is my role. Everything I’ve done has been as the president of the union, not as Master Deputy Riccillo at the sheriff’s office,” he added. “And the sheriff isn’t able to discern between those two.”

Support from other unions

Champion said that in law enforcement, “we just don’t believe in coincidences.”

“You have evidence and you have signs,” he added. “Brad has been … an excellent deputy sheriff up until the time he started bringing in the union.”

Champion said that IBPO’s priority at this point is “to do everything we can to protect Brad” and that IBPO attorneys are reviewing Colorado statutes to determine the next best course of action.

“Our question is, who do we prove (retaliation) to … who makes the decision, if it is or isn’t, and what do we do from there? Can they put him back to work?” Champion said.

Riccillo said other unions in the area have been “endlessly supportive” of the IBPO Local 837’s efforts. The Southern Colorado Labor Council and other unions in Pueblo organized a solidarity picket in front of the sheriff’s office in May, and the Pueblo Police union has let the sheriff’s union use their buildings for meetings.

“I can’t begin to tell you how all of the other unions in town have rallied, literally, in the form of a picket outside the sheriff’s office,” Riccillo said. “Everybody understands how important this measure is and how important it is that us as employees have a voice in the workplace, and I’ve gotten absolutely no negative feedback from anybody in the community since this started.”

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