The "L.A. Times" reported that "Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley waged an illegal anti-union campaign in which he and his staff harassed and unfairly disciplined union officers." Thomas S. Kerrigan, an L.A. County hearing officer for the Employee Relations Commission heard months of testimony and found that veteran deputy district attorneys and prosecutors under Cooley, with outstanding evaluations, were retaliated against. Kerrigan claimed that Cooley had conducted a "deliberate and thinly disguised campaign" aimed at destroying the union. The "Metropolitan News-Enterprise" reported that Kerrigan exchanged emails with an ERCOM executive showing biased ex-parte communications and the removal of emails from materials provided in discovery.