The Department of Justice has been ordered to reinstate a Montana Highway Patrol trooper it fired last April after the officer shared a workplace climate survey with union staff.
The survey results showed low morale and other problems.
Former Trooper Alicia Bragg, union president at the time, provided a copy of the survey results to her field consultant and was subsequently fired last April.
“The evidence showed clearly that (Bragg) was getting multiple communications from MHP officers about the survey, its security and anonymity, as well as possible retaliation,” the decision said. “This is precisely the sort of communications that falls squarely within the union’s purview whether there are active negotiations ongoing or not.”
In the April 4, 2025 decision following arbitration hearings in December, the arbitrator found Bragg was wrongfully terminated and ordered the DOJ to reinstate her with full back pay and accrued benefits, reports the Daily Montanan.
Arbitrator Jeffrey Jacobs said the union was correct in stating Bragg had rightfully acted within her role as local union president by communicating about a public survey with union staff.
“The inescapable conclusion is that (Bragg) was acting in her capacity as the union president when she sent the document to the union,” Jacobs said. “ … While the survey may have been somewhat embarrassing to the MHP, that alone did not render her action terminable.”
The decision said she is to be reinstated within 10 days, and it said there is no basis for any discipline “at all.”
“The state made much of (Bragg’s) comments that she would do this again and claimed that she showed no remorse,” the decision said. “Remorse is not the issue here. She acted within her scope as the union president.”
Tuesday, Bragg said she cried tears of joy and relief when she received a call the same morning with news the union had won her case.
She said the result made her feel supported, and it comes just days before the anniversary of the day she was fired, April 19.
Bragg is currently employed by the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
“I’ve waited nearly a year for this response,” Bragg said.
Bragg had earlier said some troopers told her they feared retaliation for their responses to the workplace climate survey, and the results reflected a lack of support for employees.
In firing Bragg, the Montana Highway Patrol argued members of a small committee that had received the survey had been ordered not to distribute it, and she disobeyed an order.
The arbitrator, though, found she acted correctly in the scope of her role with the union.
“It was clear though from her record that this directive was very different from one that she might receive in her role as a trooper,” the decision said. “There is no evidence that (Bragg) would disobey an order regarding her operational functions in the field.”
In April 2024, the Montana Federation of Public Employees filed an unfair labor practice complaint, alleging wrongful termination and retaliation by the Department of Justice and its Montana Highway Patrol division on behalf of Bragg.
In May, the Montana Federation of Public Employees filed a grievance against the Department of Justice. The grievance landed in arbitration after the DOJ denied it had merit.
In a statement, Bragg said she was terminated for doing her job “as a trooper who loves serving my state and as a union president who’s fiercely loyal to my fellow law enforcement officers.”
“Senior leaders at MHP and DOJ tried to sanitize and slow roll a public workplace climate survey that reflected poorly on their leadership, and I stood up for troopers,” Bragg said in a statement.
Bragg, who had worked at the highway patrol for a decade, said she couldn’t comment on whether she would be interested in reinstatement.
However, she said she is working with the union on figuring out restoration of back pay.
A spokesperson for the DOJ did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
The MFPE said the arbitrator’s decision reflects the Montana Constitution’s protections for the public’s right to know.
“DOJ cannot withhold or obfuscate information about the public safety services Montanans fund and rely on every day,” MFPE said.
It also said the decision upholds legal protections surrounding activities that Montana union members have fought for and continue to defend.
“I am pleased but not surprised to find the law is in fact on our side,” said MFPE President Amanda Curtis in a statement. “No employer can target or punish a union member for doing union work, and union work includes uplifting and improving our professions. Trooper Bragg’s fellow union members are proud of her leadership and service.”
The climate results included biting criticisms of the Montana Attorney General’s Office.
Participants in the survey alleged Attorney General Austin Knudsen was micromanaging the MHP, failing to communicate, and its human resources department had an outsized and negative influence on the division.
Former employees earlier told the Daily Montanan the AG’s Office tried to keep the survey results under wraps, and Knudsen became upset when he learned a media outlet had filed a records request for it.
The Daily Montanan published a story about the results in March 2024.
However, the decision from the arbitrator said it was clear that Bragg did not send the document to the press, “nor did she direct anyone at the union to do so.”
Tuesday, Bragg said she believes the climate has gotten worse at the highway patrol since the climate survey, and she knows of several officers who have left since.
“Some of my oldest friends with the highway patrol have left and taken jobs either outside of law enforcement, or in law enforcement in a different jurisdiction now, just because the working conditions haven’t improved. The morale hasn’t improved,” she said.
“They still are waiting for management to show them a reason to stay.”
The Department of Justice did not respond to a question sent late Tuesday afternoon about whether the climate had improved since the survey last year.
Bragg, though, said she feels like her termination damaged the relationship between the federation and the highway patrol, and she doesn’t believe troopers are coming forward with concerns having seen the agency fire a union president.
She said the decision the Montana Highway Patrol made to fire her forced her to change her lifestyle, and it brought her character into question.
“There hasn’t been a day that has passed this past year that I haven’t thought about the decision that they made that changed the trajectory of my life and the trajectory of my career,” Bragg said.
She said the outcome backs her decision to stand up for troopers, and she said she hopes the agency can learn to work well with troopers and union members.
“It’s important for DOJ and MHP leadership to recognize and value their team by addressing the hard truths and choices openly,” Bragg said.
Collaborating with union members can lead to meaningful improvements in both working conditions and public safety, she said.
“Embracing challenges with transparency can foster a more positive and productive environment for everyone involved and will greatly improve morale and retention,” Bragg said.
In June 2024, an investigator found “probable merit” exists to support the allegation the DOJ committed an unfair labor practice, but the complaint had been on hold at the Department of Labor and Industry pending the outcome of the grievance.
An MFPE spokesperson said the union asked Tuesday to resume that process.
