Bookstore is without manager

Student Store holding steady this semester in wake of managerial theft case

[with evidence],” he said.

The Pierce College bookstore is left without a manager after the previous position holder, who was arrested and charged with embezzlement last year, was officially dismissed from her position by the district’s board of trustees last week.

Because of the current hiring freeze at Pierce, which was announced last March, it is still unclear whether or not the administration will replace the managerial position left by Kim Saunders, 50.

“I have no idea what’s going on,”

Vice President of Administrative Services Larry Kraus said.

Pierce College President Kathleen Burke-Kelly, who is instrumental in the decision to replace Saunders, could not be reached to comment on the issue.

“Some positions have to be replaced, freeze or no freeze,” said

Interim Senior Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Michael Shanahan.

Efforts to reach Saunders through the district’s human resources department were unsuccessful because personal details of a former employee are private.

Additionally, the Roundup tried to contact her through information listed online, as well as a social networking site; however, the numbers listed under her name were all found to be disconnected.

Saunders has been on paid administrative leave since her arrest, but the bookstore staff has been able to function relatively well, despite the lack of a manager, according to Textbook Buyer Holly Hagan.

“We work together pretty well, so we’re able to pick up the pieces that have been missing for a while,” she said. Saunders was recommended for dismissal based on five causes of action: incompetence; inattention to or dereliction of duty; willful misconduct, willful and persistent violation of the provisions of the educational code, public policy, or of policies, rules, regulations, or procedures adopted by the board of trustees or the Personnel Commission; and dishonesty, according to the agenda of the Sept. 12 board of trustees meeting.

Efforts to reach Saunders through the district’s human resources department and contact information listed online were unsuccessful, as personal details of a former employee is private, and the phone numbers associated with her online were all found to be discontinued.

Specific details about Saunders’ case cannot be shared due to its private nature, according to Shanahan.

The disciplinary action comes six months after Saunders’ court case was dismissed by the trial’s presiding judge. A lack of district resources partially caused the delay in administrative action, according to Shanahan.

“In many cases, it takes us some time to receive the completed investigation [of the employee] and to build our case,” he said. “The district has no investigators, so we rely on college personnel but they already have their own jobs. We’re having issues.”

Additional factors for the sixmonth wait are how complicated a case is, and how long it takes to complete investigation of the employee, according to Shanahan.

“If we get challenged [by either an employee or his representative], we have to be able to defend ourselves

Shanahan also said that the decision in the court case has very little to do with the trustees’ decision to dismiss Saunders.

“The trustees just look at the proposed action and penalty,” he said. “The trial’s not necessarily the end of the conversation in regards to administrative action.”

Instead of using reasonable doubt—the standard of proof used to convict someone in a criminal case— the district uses the preponderance of evidence, or “51 percent,” standard for all administrative action.

It involves comparing the evidence of one side of the issue to its opposition; whichever side is more likely correct than not is considered the truth.

“If you’re 51 percent convincing, you win,” Shanahan said. “Criminal proceedings don’t necessarily dictate [the board’s decision].”

Saunders, like any other district employee faced with administrative action, has the option of appealing the board’s decision within 14 days after receiving the written charges.

“It will be like a mini trial,” Shanahan said.

The district’s Personnel Committee makes the final call in appeal circumstances.

According to Christine Field, Saunders’ lawyer during her criminal case, if she decides to appeal her dismissal, she will have to hire a different lawyer to represent her.

“I’m not an employment lawyer,” Fields said.

Saunders was arrested Aug. 25, 2011 for allegedly embezzling $2,000 from the Pierce bookstore after then Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Nohles found the money in her desk.

She was dismissed of the charges March 20 after postponing her preliminary hearing six times.