Douglas County officials violated state labor practices by allegedly attempting to influence votes during a unionization campaign earlier this year, the Colorado’s labor department said.  

The county may face daily fines if it doesn’t comply with state orders, the department said.

In a news release, the county said it has appealed the labor agency’s determination and requested for a stay of enforcement until the case is resolved.

On Tuesday, officials from the FOP called the labor department’s decision “a significant win for all public employees who deserve a fair and lawful workplace.”

“The FOP remains steadfast in its commitment to defending members’ rights. We are ready to engage in transparent, constructive, and cooperative bargaining to secure the protections our members deserve while serving and protecting our communities,” FOP President Michael Deedon said in a statement.

The county denied any wrongdoing and said the labor agency’s findings are not supported by state or federal law or the facts, and that it “grossly skewed the facts and ruled on allegations not asserted in the FOP’s complaint to support a predetermined outcome.”

“As the Sheriff, I stand firm that we did not violate the law. We did not threaten or coerce our staff. We simply shared accurate information so they could make an informed decision. I also believe the investigation by CDLE, and the results, were not impartial and the outcome was pre-determined,” Douglas Sheriff Darren Weekly said in a news release.

In May, the Colorado State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police accused Douglas County of violating employee practices during its attempt to unionize the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

The group claimed that Weekly, Undersheriff David Walcher, County Commissioners George Teal, Abe Laydon and Lora Thomas all violated the Collective Bargaining by County Employees Act (COBCA) by speaking against workplace issues to employees during the election process.

Back in February, the union began collecting signatures to demonstrate interest required by the law to hold an election to unionize.

During the process, both the sheriff and commissioners “presented negative characterization of the FOP union as facts,” suggesting “unionization would result in worsened workplace conditions, and discouraged county employees from supporting the FOP unionization effort,” the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said.

The labor agency’s Nov. 1 determination claimed that Douglas County disobeyed state law prohibiting county representatives from interfering, coercing, intimidating or influencing workplace issues.

The election, originally slated for April, was withdrawn due to the FOP filing an unfair labor practice complaint against Douglas County and its sheriff’s office on May 10.

The labor department said Douglas County’s sheriff sent a series of emails urging against collective bargaining.

The labor department said that on Feb. 14, for example, Weekly sent an email to all employees expressing opposition to collective bargaining, in which he said, “I feel it’s totally unnecessary … In my opinion, adding another layer of bureaucracy by introducing collective bargaining between me, our employees and our Commissioners is completely unnecessary.”

And on March 22, Weekly held an employee meeting, in which he urged people to vote no on unionization, the labor department said, adding the sheriff’s department also used posters to urge against unionizing.

Three days after that meeting, all three county commissioners released a YouTube video, calling the unionization push an “unwelcomed” effort, the labor department said. 

In that joint statement, Laydon, Thomas and Teal accused the FOP of “tricking many employees to sign their names in support of a union because they were falsely led to believe Sheriff Weekly supported it.”

The FOP initially sent an email saying Weekly “expressed his continued support for us and the FOP” but later clarified that the sheriff’s support for the FOP “does not equate to supporting collective bargaining.”