A Los Angeles County supervisor who oversaw the social worker involved in the case of Gabriel Fernandez, allegedly tortured and abused while under the guidance of the county child welfare system, may get his job back after having been fired.
The LA County Civil Service Commission, which rules on county employee cases, decided Gregory Merritt receive a 30-day suspension with no back pay at a hearing last week.
Jeffrey E. Hauptman, the hearing officer overseeing the appeal said: "In the final analysis the appellant bears some culpability for lax supervision but not to the extent to justify his discharge after nearly 24 years of unblemished service," according to documents obtained by NBC4.
Merritt was dismissed in September 2013, according to documents.
Roshin Mathew, a spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union Local 721, the union that represents Merritt, could not comment on the case, but said social workers "will continue to work with our community partners, DCFS management and the Board of Supervisors to ensure we strengthen our system so that we can better protect the most vulnerable in LA County."
Philip Browning, the director of the County's Department of Children and Family Services, was disappointed and surprised by the decision.
The case stems from the death of 8-year old Gabriel Fernandez. He was allegedly tortured and abused by his mother and her boyfriend for months while under the guidance of the county child welfare system.
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Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre have pleaded not guilty to murder charges with special allegations of torture. Prosecutors haven’t decided whether to seek the death penalty. A plea deal remains on the table.
Gabriel died in May 2013 days after he was hospitalized with injuries that included a cracked skull, broken ribs and burns.
Relatives have sued the county for failing to remove the boy from the home.
After months of investigating, four DCFS employees were dismissed.
Merritt and his representatives questioned what they called a "rushed" investigation, adding Merritt was overloaded with cases. He was supervising 14 people, more than double what is deemed proper.
Testimony also showed he relied on the experienced case worker assigned to Gabriel's family for information. Following a 30-minute meeting, Merritt took the word of the social worker who did not give all the facts of what was happening in Gabriels' home.
Merritt's representative in the case, V. Jesse Smith, wrote in a closing brief that if he was negligent, it wasn't because he was lazy or disinterested but "because he was overworked, understaffed and underappreciated."
Smith called the supervisor a "scapegoat" for the department to cover its own "incompetence."
Browning disagreed.
"I do think that the media attention ensured that we had a very accurate process because we knew if there was something that we did that was later determined to be inaccurate then there would be consequences," Browning said.
Attorneys for the DCFS argued Merritt's past performance reviews of the social worker in Gabriel's case describe her as a "competent social worker" saying she "continues to fall below DCFS standards regarding documenting her contacts" and in some cases no individual interviews with children were recorded.
Supporters of Gabriel reacted on a Facebook page created in the boy's' honor.
"When will you allow justice to begin for Gabriel?" the page said. "When? Why would you reverse the good that has taken place? Gabriel died before he could even really enjoy life fully. Why are we now rewarding one of those social workers for helping to torture and kill Gabriel?"
The Civil Service Commision's decisions are upheld in 80 percent of the cases.
But the county can appeal the decision in court, Browning said.
