Background.
Petitioner Lars Luther filed this lawsuit against Respondents the County of San Luis Obispo Civil Service Commission (the Commission) and the County of San Luis Obispo (the County1). At the time this lawsuit was filed, Petitioner was a longtime employee of the County Sheriff’s Department (the Department). With this lawsuit, Petitioner challenges his February 6, 2019 demotion for use of excessive force against an inmate.
The Subject Incident.
Petitioner was hired by the Department as a Correctional Deputy in 1990. (Administrative Record [AR] 1102.) In 1996, Petitioner was promoted to Senior Correctional Deputy. (Ibid.) In that capacity, from 1996 until the time of his demotion, Petitioner trained close to 100 deputies. (AR 1103.)
The incident leading to Petitioner’s demotion occurred on October 4, 2018. On this date, Petitioner and Correctional Deputy Rene Cadena were stationed across from the Medical Isolation Unit (MISO), where inmate Shawn Sleeth was being housed. (AR 421