Appeal hearing held for terminated CSC planner Leo Espia

The status call hearing lasted less than three minutes this afternoon with the Civil Service Commission regarding the termination appeal of Leo Espia. As KUAM News reported, Espia, a longtime planner with Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense, filed a letter of appeal with the CSC on April 27, stating that adverse action was taken without cause when Homeland Security Advisor Samantha Brennan terminated him in April of this year for an unauthorized breach of GovGuam's network by installing a privately owned server without prior authorization by the agency.

OCD Administrator Charles Esteves sent a letter to the CSC on May 11 requesting to revoke Espia's notice of final adverse action noting it was "unlawfully initiated by Brennan" and that she does not have the authority. In his letter, he stated that he has had the opportunity to work with Espia and that he has a respectable reputation in the emergency management community and has a clean record.

Esteves also said in his letter that after reviewing documents and timeline, that Brennan's actions appear retaliatory and sites multiple complaints related to her toxic leadership style has created a hostile work environment.

Today's status call went much smoother than the previous hearing  on May 18, with both Robert Koss, Espia's lay representative and management's representative Assistant Attorney General Donna Lawrence agreeing to schedule a continued status call for June 8 to allow time for Lawrence to review documents from the CSC and prepare a case management statement and Koss to review discovery.