HELENA — Wednesday marks one year since Montana Highway Patrol trooper Alicia Bragg was put on leave by the Department of Justice for sharing a workplace climate survey with union staff. An arbitrator has ordered her reinstated with back pay.
"I wasn't going to let them win," she said.
Bragg was the union president, and a few weeks after being put on leave, she was fired from her position.
The survey results, which were first reported by the Daily Montanan, reflected poorly on management with 45% of respondents saying they were not optimistic about leadership or the direction the agency was going.
Now, with the order of her reinstatement, Bragg says her fight was worth it.
"When I took the role as union president, I took that very seriously," she said, "I was going to stand up for the troopers even after being gone."
Working with the Montana Federation of Public Employees, the state's largest union, Bragg has fought the firing, and on Tuesday, arbitrator Jeffery Jacobs found that the DOJ wrongfully fired her.
He ordered Bragg to be reinstated with full benefits and back pay.
"I was elated. When they called me [Tuesday] morning, I couldn't figure out why my phone was ringing," she said. "They called and said that we won, and I didn't sleep. I was supposed to be going to sleep, but I was up the entire day."
Bragg is currently a Lewis and Clark County sheriff's deputy, and she was sworn in last August.
She says she's noticed differences in how the MHP and the sheriff's office are run.
"The communication is incredible. It's a lot of transparency. We get updates weekly from management on the meetings that they've had," Bragg said.
Bragg says she was only about 125 days away from being vested with MHP, which happens after 10 years of service and would provide retirement benefits.
She is unclear if she wants to return to MHP and says it would depend on negotiations between the DOJ and the union.
"I feel it's only gotten worse," Bragg said. "Talking to the troopers that I'm friends with throughout the state, I don't believe any conditions have improved for them at all."
Bragg still occasionally serves alongside her old coworkers, but now they wear different uniforms.
She said, "It's been difficult to see my friends and see them go one way, and I'm going another way."
Bragg's Unfair Labor Practice complaint with the Board of Personnel Appeals is expected to resume within the next few weeks, as it was paused for arbitration.
We contacted the Attorney General's Office for comment, and they said, "It's a binding decision, and we will comply."
