*MEDIA STATEMENT*
CCOF has a zero-tolerance policy regarding violence or threats of violence. We unequivocally do not condone any threat of violence to any person at any time under any circumstances.
We were contacted on February 20, 2025 by the local police and informed that Gabe Ramirez, a CCOF employee at the time, had allegedly made threats to Mark Kastel. We immediately placed the employee on administrative leave and conducted an internal investigation in accordance with California law. We concluded our investigation and terminated the employee on February 25, 2025.
We are providing the following excerpt from our employee handbook to demonstrate our commitment to a violence-free workplace:
“As the safety and security of our employees, clients, vendors, contractors, and the general public is in the best interests of CCOF, we are committed to working with our employees to provide a work environment free from violence, intimidation, and other disruptive behavior. In this regard, CCOF has a zero-tolerance policy regarding workplace violence. CCOF strictly prohibits employees, clients, vendors, visitors, or anyone else on CCOF premises or engaging in a CCOF-related activity from behaving in a violent or threatening manner and will not tolerate acts or threats of violence, harassment, intimidation, and other disruptive behavior, either physical or verbal that occurs in the workplace or other areas. Moreover, as part of this policy, CCOF seeks to prevent workplace violence before it begins and reserves the right to deal with behavior that suggests a propensity towards violence even prior to any violent behavior occurring.
This policy applies to management, co-workers, employees, and non-employees such as contractors, customers, and visitors.”