A Sheriff’s Department sergeant who also is head of the deputies’ union is suing Pima County and two officials he says have failed to produce documents related to a complaint he filed against Sheriff Chris Nanos more than six months ago, documents show.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Pima County Superior Court, Kevin Kubitskey says County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry and Human Resources Director Allyn Bulzomi wrongfully denied his access to public records.
On Feb. 26, Kubitskey, president of Pima County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, made a verbal complaint of bullying and workplace violence against Nanos and other members of the command staff, after a human resources employees told him that a written complaint would be delivered to Nanos. Kubitskey participated in an in-person interview a few weeks later, after which he received no additional information about his complaint, according to the suit.
On July 11, he contacted the investigator who interviewed him, asking for the status of the report. Two weeks later, he received a reply that the report was complete and sent to the chain of command for signatures.
On Aug. 24, Kubitskey sent another email inquiring about the status of his complaint. He was told that it was under review by central administration, the lawsuit says.
After another six weeks without response, Kubitskey filed a public records request with the county for the report on Oct. 11.
Kubitskey is asking the court to order that records be produced and that he be awarded attorney’s fees and reimbursed for expenses related to filing the lawsuit.
“I was kind of surprised to see the suit was even filed, but given the timing, this is clearly politically motivated,” Huckelberry said Wednesday.
Ten days prior to his complaint to human resources, Kubitskey filed an aggravated-assault complaint against Nanos with the Tucson Police Department. Huckelberry said that once a criminal investigation is opened, the county’s case is suspended until police complete its investigation.
“We only picked the complaint back up in July,” he said. “It’s suspect, given that (the human resources complaint) is identical to the one given to law enforcement that was found to be without merit.”
The criminal investigation was passed along to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which declined to prosecute in April.
Hucklberry said Kubitskey’s records request was filed only a week before the lawsuit, which didn’t allow the county time to comply.
“I filed the lawsuit after numerous attempts to obtain information regarding my complaint of workplace violence against Nanos,” Kubitskey said. “After finding out it was complete, I continued to get the runaround.
After making one final attempt to get the records on Tuesday, he went ahead with the lawsuit.
“I have reason to believe that the report contains information that’s purposely being held for release until after the election,” Kubitskey said.
Nanos, who was appointed by the county Board of Supervisors in July 2015 to complete the term of Clarence Dupnik, is seeking his first full term as sheriff. He is running against Republican Mark Napier in the Nov. 8 general election.
On Wednesday , the county provided Kubitskey with the investigative report, stipulating that the investigation is not complete.
In the report, human resources investigator Mike Tully wrote that there was enough evidence to prove that Kubitskey was the victim of workplace bullying.
On Oct. 17, Deputy County Administrator Tom Burke wrote that he did not agree with the findings, and believed Tully’s questioning to be biased. As a result, Burke said he could not forward the information to Huckelberry for review. He added that elected officials aren’t employees of the Board of Supervisors and aren’t subject to discipline or dismissal by the board.
“This is another attempt to stop the process that’s designed to protect us as employees, for their own benefit and gain,” Kubitskey said. “And in this situation, it’s to save face for appointed Sheriff Nanos going into the election.”
