Model letter for lawyers representing RIAA victims

White House staffers bypass security tools to circumvent subpoenas? (click this link)

Or this Daily Kos link

Or this Think Progress link

Or go back to the Muckraker's story of WH email subversion

Which finally brings it to its original starting point at US News

People who work (worked) at CA Dept. of Corrections have their own blog

Blogs are everywhere; the horse has left the barn, you can't un-ring a bell, etc. People want their information fast; sometime blogs are updated dozens of times a day.Those who work for the CA Dept. of Corrections have their own blog, and it's quite an interesting read. It's also a great way to consolidate information that wants to be shared.

From what I can gather, the CDC bosses appear to read it, but they're not taking action to bring that blog down, which is in stark contrast to the bosses at DLSE. The DLSE Chief Desk Donkey Acting Labor Commissioner Robert Jones insists upon not doing the job he's paid to do, so he digresses from the true mission of the DLSE so that he can try and terminate the blogger's employment. DIR staff attorney Richard Munoz as well as DLSE Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz are also conspiring to not further the mission of the DLSE by attempting to make progress on this blogger witch-hunt.

It seems that they could give a sh*t about CMS costs, they could give a sh*t about improper civil service exams, they could give a sh*t about compiling much-needed standard operating procedures, they could give a sh*t about safety barriers for their employees, and they could give a sh*t about the taxpayers because taxpayers are not making the DIR/DLSE promotion decisions. Political appointees promote the upper-end desk jockeys, and those desk jockeys promote the middle managers. The Noobs at DLSE only care about serving their interests-not the People's; otherwise, sh*t like CMS would not exist, acting Labor Commissioners would not be fearful of the senate confirmation process, and offices like Santa Ana would have safety glass without bitching about it first...but the Noobs only know how to react (no initiative in Noob-ville).

Blogger in Egypt sentenced to 4-years in prison; at DLSE (in the USA), they only want to fire the blogger & deprive the blogger of earning a living

In other countries, people who blog and upset the powers-that-be go to prison. At the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, they only want to terminate the blogger's employment and subsequently deprive the blogger of earning a living and providing for the blogger's family. See how much better the DLSE is, compared to other countries like Egypt?

Will DLSE Asst. Chief Greg Rupp abandon minimum wage investigations if no one complains?

According to his memo, DLSE's Public Works Reduction In Force (RIF) employee shift was a result of decreased complaints. Will his same "I'm Da Boss" policy transfer to minimum wage, overtime, and garment? Is a lack of complaints all it takes to gut an arm of BOFE? Who authorized him to gut Public Works like this?

Screwing over the taxpayer, one memo at a time.

The difference between a BLOG and a WEBSITE

In computerland, there's a big difference between a blog and a website. Websites can upload pictures, text, graphics, movies, misc. files (spreadsheets, word processing, powerpoint, etc.) and all sorts of other goodies. Both blogs and websites are accesible via the internet (www address), and that's probably why DLSE command has confusion with this. With a blog, I'm limited to text and pictures. If the DLSE command staff had a better grasp of these concepts, then less time would be wasted trying to explain it. But then again, these same DLSE command types find it difficult to process an Entertainment Work Permit (DLSE Form 275).

I'm known as a Blogger, not as a Webmaster.

What I do is called Blogging, not Webcasting.

DIR Staff Attorney Little Dickie Richard Munoz

Well, it seems that he's either giving the middle finger to the Canons & Ethics of the State Bar, he's giving the middle finger to the courts, or he's giving the middle finger to both. In any event, Dick Munoz is playing games with the Discovery Act.

As an officer of the court, it would behoove Dick not to waste the court's and the judge's time. In my world, judges tolerate attorneys who play by the rules.

DIR employee tries to take leave while incarcerated in LA County Jail

Leave it to another agency to find the DIR's problem children. Like I've always said, the DIR will not investigate anything that causes self-inflicted wounds. BSA's investigations and findings right here; DIR plays mop-up and suspends the jail bird for 5 days.

Acting Labor Commissioner Robert Jones boasts of $2M lawsuit against Wal-Mart, but doesn't boast about the almost $100M Wal-Mart saved by...

shortening the meal period statute from three years to one year. In a recent lawsuit up in Nor Cal (Alameda, perhaps?), Wal-Mart's dealing with the courts about meal periods. With Robert Jones politicizing the meal period laws, instead of a $150 million lawsuit, Wal-Mart is now only looking at +/-$50 million dollar lawsuit. By my math, Acting Labor Commissioner Robert Jones gave them a +/-$100 million dollar savings! Hell yes they can pay the DLSE's $2 million lawsuit! Jones probably saved them $98 million dollars! BRAVO, Robert Jones! Way to hook-up just one employer!

How else are you making things better for the working Californian, the public? We clearly see how just one company benefits from you.

Jones wants confirmation? What kind of deal will Bradshaw make with the Senate?

Rumor has it that at the latest DLSE atty. meeting, Acting Labor Commissioner is now making decisions that will (or will not) affect his upcoming Senate confirmation.

Someone who whisper into the blunt instrument's ear that trampling upon the 1st Amendment is not the best way to obtain confirmation. Maybe the tool can explain why he issued a "no speak" memo, only to rescind it after legal proceedings were initiated. Didn't the blunt instrument have faith in his trampling of the 1st Amendment?

Someone should also whisper into the blunt instrument's other ear that wrongfully terminating a DLSE attorney was a way to pander to Victoria Bradshaw's republican party, but really doesn't demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities that Californians need in a Labor Commissioner. Blunt instruments don't have ears; blunt instruments are merely tools.

Soldiers wounded receive sub-standard care while White House terminates unfriendly US Attorneys

"I have been called a patriot, and treated like a criminal. I have been called a Soldier and treated as the enemy." This was a quote from a soldier hospitalized at Walter Reed. Blogging about the conditions at Walter Reed has caused another black eye for the republican White House. The White House response? Send some suits to ask some stoopid questions, maybe it will go away and maybe the press will cover something else, like how we're winning the war on terror.

Currently, the White House is busy trying to spin its version of events that led to the terminations of the US Attorneys that failed to conduct White House bidding and placed justice above politics. If the remaining US Attorneys have not yet figured it out, they serve their master-the US President-and not the people.

How does this connect to Labor Standards? The Dept. of Industrial Retaliation has the same concept: serve the masters and not the people. When we serve the people and fail to serve our masters, then civil servants like Miles Locker are fired. People like Victor Jurado were well-trained by their master: upset the master and you'll find yourself transferred or targeted.

Senior Deputy Lauro Cons and Regional Manager Susan Nakagama are perfect DLSE examples: they serve their master, DLSE Assistant Chief Greg Rupp. Greg Rupp serves his master, Acting Labor Commissioner Robert Jones. Robert Jones serves his master, Acting Director John Rea. John Rea serves his master, LWDA Secretary Victoria Bradshaw. Vicky Bradshaw serves her master, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Currently, the Governator's Board of Chiropractic snafu...just another shining example of special interests & special appointments serving the master. Please don't ask about the Governator's fiasco at the Dept. of Corrections; people are still trying to figure out the mess. At the end of these decisions made by the politically-appointed special bureaucrats, it is the Californian, the taxpayer, the public that receives the screwing.

How did this happen, and who is accountable for DLSE Assistant Chief Greg Rupp's actions?

Labor Code Section 132(a): It is the declared policy of this state that there should not be discrimination against workers who are injured in the course and scope of their employment. (1) Any employer who discharges, or threatens to discharge, or in any manner discriminates against any employee because he or she has filed or made known his or her intention to file a claim for compensation with his or her employer or an application for adjudication, or because the employee has received a rating, award,or settlement, is guilty of a misdemeanor and the employee's compensation shall be increased by one-half, but in no event more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), together with costs and expenses not in excess of two hundred fifty dollars ($250). Any such employee shall also be entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits caused by the acts of the employer....The appeals board may refer and any worker may complain of suspected violations of the criminal misdemeanor provisions of this section to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, or directly to the office of the public prosecutor.

Why did the DLSE squander taxpayer dollars by fighting Rowene's workers compensation insurance claim?

Why did Greg Rupp immediately transfer Rowene from Santa Ana to Los Angeles and banish her to answering phones all day?

Why is he violating the very same laws that he is charged with enforcing?

Why is this sworn, California, gun-toting peace officer-whose very actions are held to a higher standard than those who do not carry guns-not under investigation himself?

Why is it that Labor Standards has no Labor Standards?

Assistant Chief Greg Rupp, by virute of him being a sworn California peace officer, must be held to the highest of standards and conduct.

Is it true that a former employee filed a Workers Comp-retaliation claim against Greg Rupp?

Anonymous posted, "Just to clarify a situation that occurred a few years ago. Rowene was promoted from a Office Tech to a MST position in the Santa Ana Office. After being promoted, she had a nasty fall in the office which was observed by several employees. Due to her injury, she filed a worker's comp. claim. This was challenged by Greg Rupp, who eventually lost the action and Rowene received her monies from her W.C. claim. This totally pissed off Greg Rupp who decided the only nice thing to do would be to transfer Rowene from her job in the Santa Ana Office to answering telephones in downtown LA. The only problem with this transfer was that Rowene was not planning on going along with his plan. The day she was to report to LA she failed to show up as well as resigning that same day from the state. The second problem was that Rupp did not know that Rowene was married to a W.C. attorney. Of course her husband immediately filed a retaliation complaint against the division and settled for a good sum of money. Rowene laughed all the way to the bank and Greg suddenly came down with a twitch. Like they say, what goes around comes around. Greg definitely needs to put out to pasture. Just make sure they take his gun away so he doesn't shoot any other cows."

It seems to me that this is something that Greg Rupp could readily recall, and hopefully soon. Is it true that Greg Rupp took the kind of action that provoked a worker's comp retaliation lawsuit? Hopefully Greg Rupp will not twitch, convulse, and lie when asked under oath; it would be unfortunate for him to demonstrate otherwise. Let's start refreshing his memory now:

Q1. How many people have sued you for workers comp. retaliation?

Q2. How many women did you know named Rowene?

Q3. How many Rowenes did you try to transfer from Santa Ana to Los Angeles?

Q4. Do you remember the result of Rowene's lawsuit?

Q5. Did this whole event (getting beat by a woman) emasculate you, as a moustached, gun-toting cop?

Think about this...how much taxpayer dollars were spent dealing with losing Rowene's workers compensation case, then losing/settling Rowene's workers compensation retaliation case? You think this came out of Greg Rupp's pocket? Hell no...this came out of the taxpayer's pocket, and maybe the taxpayers have a right to know how much Greg Rupp cost them. You think the DLSE disciplined Greg Rupp for such a costly mistake/decision?

Sworn to uphold the law, a California peace officer like Greg Rupp can do whatever he feels like doing...who's there to investigate his actions?

What a coincidence that the last four people to make Greg Rupp's sh*t list also got sent to answer phones in Los Angeles:

1. Rowene (she didn't last long...not even a day: she sued & settled)
2. Jose Hernandez (retired)
3. Naomi Rodriguez (left, went to another agency)
4. Christopher Lotts (now works in Santa Ana)

What a coincidence that all four people (at the time) worked under Greg Rupp.

What a coincidence that all four people were not liked by Greg Rupp.

What a coincidence that Greg Rupp uses phone duty as a way to motivate employees to leave/resign.

None of those employees asked for phone duty; all of them placed there by Greg Rupp. What else has Greg Rupp done that we do not know? Are there other unknown abuses of authority? Is information out there, waiting to be disclosed?

What happens when people do the right thing...

1984. Bob Geldof, music journalist turned punk rock frontman, was inspired by a news report about Africa's famine epidemic and began his fight against world hunger. Geldof organized the world's first global charity concert: LIVE AID. Performances by 100 artists around the world were viewed by 1.8 billion people. Live Aid raised $150 million british pounds in one day.

1976. Betty Williams, a receptionist and mother of two, witnessed three children killed during the political turmoil in Northern Ireland. Within two days of the tragic event, Williams obtained 6,000 signatures petitioning for peace. She then led 10,000 people on a peace march to the children's graves. The peaceful march was disrupted by protesters. One week later, Williams organized another march. This time the march was 35,000 strong. Betty Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976.

1961. Two students in Portugal raised their glasses in a toast to freedom. They were imprisoned for seven years. British lawyer Peter Benenson was shocked by the events. To rally support for the students, he wrote a letter to his local paper. The response was so overwhelming that a committee was formed to organize the campaign. It quickly grew into a world-wide movement known today as Amnesty International.

1920s. A boy from a small African village dreamt of a day when equality would prevail over his country. After years of activism, he was charged with "political treason" and sentenced to life in prison. His dream of equality never died. In 1990, after 27 years in prison, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was finally released. Mandela then led South Africa to its first ever democratic presidential election. Nearly 19 million people voted. Nelson Mandela won the election, ending the racist apartheid regime that divided South Africa for 46 years.

"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has"-Margaret Mead

DLSE leadership and its cause & effect upon public service: it's not efficient, it's not resourceful, it's not funny & worst of all-it's not changing

The powers-that-be set the tone for those that do the work. What's that old phrase, fish stink from the head?

Rigged promotional exam scores

Livadas v. Bradshaw tried to stick it to the worker

Unwarranted investigations

No investigation of protected employees

No standard operating procedures

Policies obsolete and/or non-existant

Labor Commissioner using DIR Staff Attorneys for blog

Multi-million dollar CMS contractor/software waste

All of this adds up to public service that could be better but isn't. The best managers are not selected, only the ones that give the power structure no problems (i.e., no change). Then, those decision makers in power act in a manner that cost the taxpayers millions of wasted/inefficient dollars.

Eventually, management's excuses grow old, the employees are only motivated just enough to not get fired, and the public suffers & bears the brunt of this end result. The end result is always the public impact: how long does it take for a wage claim to be heard (beginning to end), how long does it take an entertainment work permit to be processed, how long does a member of the public wait for their phone call to be answered, and how long does a member of the public wait at the front counter in order to be heard?

A brief history of DLSE Asst. Chief Greg Rupp and his seemingly lifelong ability to hold grudges...

1) almost ten years ago, Greg Rupp wanted to fire an employee for not listing that he was a mayor serving as the opposite political affiliation as Mr. Rupp. The employee got wind of Mr. Rupp's intent and sought legal counsel. Greg was too cowardly to act on his desires, so the employee stayed. Since then, both the employee and Greg remain at DLSE, but the employee has never been promoted. Despite the employee's high rate of success at settling wage claims, it seems that Greg Rupp insists on giving this employee the middle finger for the remainder of the employee's career.

2) as soon as Gov. Davis left office, DIR/DLSE management heads Steve Smith and Chuck Cake left, too. No sooner had they left than Greg Rupp marches into a supervisor's office and belts out that he (Greg) is now the boss again and this supervisor had better run everything thru official channels. Previously, the supervisor was in charge of the now-defunct Low Wage Industries Task Force, and he had authorization to go directly to Chuck and Steve. It seems that Greg's fragile little ego was shattered because he was shut out. If there's one thing that Greg loves, it's his chance for payback...

3) Greg discovers that someone talked at one of his meetings, and that information landed on the blog. He prints out the blog, barges into offices and demands to know who leaked the information. By all acounts, Greg was pissed off, yelling, and very upset.

4) back in the day when he was in charge of Wage Claims, there was an employee by the name of Rowein (sp?). Greg had targeted her (for whatever reason...he can pontificate under oath at a later time) and she was to be involuntarily transferred from the Santa Ana office to the Los Angeles office, assuming that the horrible commute would make her resign. Instead, she files a lawsuit and the matter is confidentially settled. This is what Greg does should anyone make the mistake of not doing what Greg wants them to do. It's too bad that Greg didn't have the grapes to see the lawsuit to the end, but then again, maybe he didn't want to suffer such a high-profile, public and brutal loss.

Greg's best days are behind him, and those days have passed long ago. After having been passed over for a promotion that Lupe Almaraz received, he refuses to retire or transfer. Any of those options make him less than what he is now; it's not about needing the paycheck, it's about the power he'd give up. At Labor Standards, he's a SOMEBODY: staff must obey him. He cannot retire because what is he gonna retire to, some endless honey-do list? Out in the world, he's not a SOMEBODY. I'm sure he's got problems coming to that realization, but let's face it, most people on this planet do it everyday. At the end of the day, Greg Rupp needs to stop acting like a big baby everytime things don't go his way. The guy's approaching sixty, and he's still throwing temper tantrums? By allowing Greg to collect a paycheck at DLSE, Robert Jones and Lupe Almaraz are only giving him the chance to worsen DLSE (Greg hasn't done anything relevant at DLSE for several years).

Performance Appraisal Summary for DLSE Management...since they're in the mood to evaluate others...

1) DLSE has the budget for their management, yet claims no budget for a safety barrier.

2) EEEC task force productivity statistics? Total joke...given the amount of money thrown at it.

3) CMS? Total joke, given the amount of money thrown at it.

4) Lauro and/or Susan retaliation against one of their own? The victim escaped, but no adverse action against those who retaliated.

5) Diana Chen hiring a smaller version of herself for Santa Ana? I thought the Bureau of Field Enforcement needed Spanish speakers in Santa Ana.

6) Hearing Officer Vicki Tamoush hookin' up her translater friend while simultaneously & untimely delaying wage claim hearings.

7) DLSE management rigging the DLC III exam and thus undermining the very core of state civil service exams.

8) DLSE management delaying the DLC IV exam because they don't like anyone who adhered to the first application deadline...once again, rigging the system and undermining the very core of the state civil service exam process.

9) DLSE refusing to enact policies that the division needs while simultaneously drafting useless policies that are never used.

10) DIR's Civil Right's Office outsourcing their lame-ass, no-evidence-required investigation to a DLSE wage claim supervisor, then cowardly retreating back into their cave without so much as an apology to the one who was publicly accused of such allegations.

11) Acting Commissioner Robert Jones and the assorted other jackasses who are failing to earn their paychecks and failing to serve the people of California by not furthering the mission of the DLSE with their pursuit of an off-duty blog/blogger. The more taxpayer-paid state time they spend with the blogger, the less time they have to fulfill the mission of the DLSE. This alone should be an adverse action offense.

The DLSE refuse to install the very minimum of protection for their staff in Santa Ana...a $5 safety catch for the swinging door?

At what point does DLSE management's actions go from negligence to gross negligence? Must somebody actually be harmed for those in DLSE management, who had an obligation, who had knowledge, and who had the opportunity to fix it...and failed to take appropriate action to be charged?

It seems that management would rather have female staff fearing for their safety than to acknowledge and fix the problem.

That's the ongoing joke within DLSE. We are the California agency that enforces such standards, and the bosses take care of themselves first and the workers...whenever they effing feel like it...check it out! www.labor.ca.gov

CMS = multi-million dollar taxpayer paid waste/fraud/abuse? (click link to read comment)

On February 10, 2007 at 12:34PM, anonymous commented:
"As a computer analyst, I could see major problems before singing of the multi million dollars contract to use Hanson COTS for DLSE CMS project. Any technical staff would have known that COTS are designed to automate simple and routine works and are not suitable for complex and unique DLSE diverse tasks. For CMS to be successful, it required extensive if not impossible modifications to the Hanson COTS core structure. The DIR IS Unit under direction of Jim Culbeaux and Leslie Clement were instrumental in pushing for this COTS Hanson and therefore the consequent CMS failure and wasteful taxpayer expenditure on this project.

The DIR and IS Unit are at it again pushing another COTS program for the DWC Division System. At this point, this project is projected to cost over $44 million dollars!! I hope there will be real oversight on awarding and implementing this project. Another failure with the DWC COTS project will make the DLSE CMS fiasco like a small potato.

Ps. See more technical issues with the CMS product and will post them accordingly."

BLOGGER'S NOTE: the taxpayers are not 'shills' or 'marks' to be used in some horrific ponzi scheme; they deserve better than this.

Who set up Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz to take the fall on June 4th? Was it Greg Rupp, Anthony Mischel, or Robert Jones?

Greg Rupp got passed over for promotion & Lupe Almaraz got the job that Greg (probably) felt that he deserved. Did he secretly blame Lupe? Maybe. Was Greg upset that he was to remain an Asst. Chief until he put in his retirement papers? Probably. Was Greg frustrated that all of his years as the loyal DLSE disciplinarian (still) didn't get him the promotion? Perhaps.

If Lupe did not properly gaurd himself against such a subordinate's possible sabotage, then Lupe has much to learn about state service and those who master such games. Does Lupe not understand the Jose & David connection, the Susan and Roger connection, the Bill & Greg connection, the Abby & Greg connection, the Greg & Anthony connection, the Susan & Art connection, the Jose & Vicky connection, and the numerous other DLSE connections? These connections are called the SOCIAL NETWORK ORGANIZATION CHARTS.

Robert Jones enters the DLSE-not knowing the players, so who does he rely upon? Probably Anthony Mischel, who is the legal arm of the do-nothings. Who does Anthony Mischel pal around with? You guessed it, the enforcement arm of the do-nothings: Greg Rupp. Lupe Almaraz, having just been promoted from a DLC III, needs help. Who helps him? Greg Rupp, the DLSE disciplinarian. Since Lupe now has Greg's promotion, I'm sure that Greg didn't harbor any grudges! Greg doesn't hold grudges, does he?

Here's my theory: Greg Rupp's still licking his wounds from being passed over for promotion because they gave it to Lupe Almaraz. Robert Jones needs advice, so he turns to Anthony Mischel. Rupp does his bit on Almaraz while Mischel works on Jones. By the time Jones and Almaraz compare notes, the both of them are corroborating the same info spun by the experienced DLSE spin doctors. They have Jones & Almaraz believing that the blogger must be eliminated---at all costs! By the time the blogger's appeals are heard, Rupp & Mischel are retired & damage control remains for the lawyers who now must defend the DLSE's actions. Rupp & Mischel make the mess, and someone else cleans it up. Hopefully Jones and Almaraz were smart enough not to have been played like that.

Lupe Almaraz signs the memo that caused the current lawsuit naming him as the Defendant, but who really wrote the memo? Greg Rupp likes to imagine himself as someone important. To be considered "important," one must do more than take naps and stare blankly at a computer screen.

1. Why are Acting Commissioner Jones and Deputy Chief Almaraz using their investigative powers against an off-duty blog and not CMS?

2. Why can't Acting Commissioner Jones and Deputy Chief Almaraz appropriate funds to a Santa Ana safety barrier, but they have funds for multiple-day supervisor meetings in Irvine and for Hearing Officer training in Burbank?

3. Why have Acting Commissioner Jones and Deputy Chief Almaraz diverted state resources towards investigating a blogger, but have done nothing to a known Hearing Officer who unreasonably delays Spanish-speaking wage claims so her buddy can reap a financial benefit?

Piece of crap employers eventually have their stories told...

1 The Insider (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140352/) This is one of the best whistle-blowing movies about Big Tobacco trying to squash one of their former employees. As if that wasn't bad enough, Big Tobacco then threatens CBS (60 Minutes) with 'tortious interference,' and CBS yanks the 60 Minutes-Dr. Jeffrey Wiegand interview. Eventually the piece airs, but not without casualties. Lowell Bergman left 60 Minutes and went to PBS' Frontline. Ever since CBS lawyers attempted to control journalistic content, 60 Minutes has never been the same. Frontline is now the leader in investigative reporting

2 Silkwood (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086312/) The story of Karen Silkwood, a metallurgy worker at a plutonium processing plant who was purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing blatant worker safety violations at the plant. On November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, an employee of a nuclear facility, left to meet with a reporter from the New York Times. She never got there.

3. Damaged Care (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317310/) Dr. Linda Peeno worked as a medical reviewer for Humana Inc and medical director at Blue Cross/Blue Shields Health Plans. Her job was to make life-or-death decisions about which patients would be approved or denied the care they needed. She quickly saw that her most critical job was to deny patients the care they required. The more denials, the bigger the profits her employer reaped. Dr. Linda Peeno is a physician and lecturer in Louisville Kentucky, and a renowned critic of the way US health maintenance organizations boost profits by depriving patients of care. She has provided evidence for American patients suing HMOs and testified to the US congress.

***************************************

Assistant Chief Greg Rupp, Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz, Acting Labor Commissioner Robert Jones (no Senate confirmation needed), Acting Director John Rea (no Senate confirmation needed), and Agency Secretary Victoria Bradshaw have secrets: some known and quite possibly-unknown.

Howard Hernandez was Jose Millan's boy back in the day. Once Howard was arrested, Jose had to go bye-bye and Marcy Saunders became the Labor Commissioner. Vicky Bradshaw was in charge back then, and she survived Howard's corruption case. But Howard's not alone. Jose Millan's other favorite homie was David Dorame, and Jose is Godfather to David's kid! Greg Rupp had a few choice words about David Dorame's background investigation concerning his becoming a peace officer within DLSE, but since Dorame had suction with Jose MiIllan, there was nothing Rupp could do but watch Dorame holster a gun...it's not like Rupp was going to snitch off Jose Millan...Rupp had a career to look after since he left ABC (the state's Alcohol Beverage Control).

When the current Governator recycled Pete Wilson's flunkies, he brought back Victoria Bradshaw, and she brought back Jose Millan. Well, no one had enough time to fart until the administration was in trouble again. Greg Rupp files emergency legislation requests with the meal & rest periods, and Jose's making bad videos. Soon enough, Vicky survives "Lunchgate" but Jose Millan had to go away (again!). He's now taking up space elsewhere and continues to feed from the public trough at $100,000+ a year.

This is the same administration that is trying to justify the multi-million dollar CMS expenditure. From what I hear, Hansen wanted to return $1,000,000 just to rid themselves of the DLSE. It's a total nightmare. If the state's going to suspend someone 30 days for stealing a roll of paper towels, should they (at least) sh*tcan and terminate ALL of the collective desk-monkeys that had their fingerprints on the CMS fiscal appropriations? Where is the transparent accountability from this taxpayer-funded agency?

The DLSE's at it again...protecting their favorites and witch-hunting their unfavorites

Assistant Chief Greg Rupp had better review his 2006 arbitration testimony very, very carefully. That testimony was taken under oath, where he describes the internal investigation process...being that he's the DLSE's Spanker. He can discuss how he failed to act in the DLSE Hearing Officer Vicki Tamoush translater allegations, he can explain what happened to the DLSE Hearing Officer Jim Jackson investigation, he can explain the ongoing "let's terminate the blogger" investigation, and he can explain why his peace officer subordinate (Senior Special Investigator) Lee Pearson conducts the supervisor Diana Chen performance appraisal summaries and how his buddy Bill Egan (coincidentally!) got the only Diana Chen evaluation re-write! Greg Rupp "selects" who to investigate and "selects" which evidence to inspect. A word like 'exculpatory' isn't part of Rupp's investigation. Labor Standards has no Labor Standards.

Greg Rupp does whatever he wants because he's accountable to no one...maybe sworn testimony and a court of law will help straighten things out.

DLSE supervisors chill for a few days in Irvine for supervisors meeting at the Atrium while there's no money for important stuff...so they say

Out of the whole lot of them, there are a few DLSE supervisors who are worth their weight in gold. Sadly, most of them don't have the backbone to ask the hard questions and pose them to the ones mandating the bureaucrat convention. For the next supervisor's meeting, they can start with some of these questions:

1) Can you itemize the costs attributed to the supervisors' meeting in Irvine while the busiest wage claim office in California goes without a safety barrier?

2) In this age of technology, why are we wasting the taxpayer's money in airline fees, per diem expenses, and lodging fees with these boring, face-to-face snore fests?

3) Why is it that the DLSE brass can do whatever they want with the taxpayer's money, but the minute something might bite them in the ass, they sing the "there's no money in the budget" song?

4) Will there ever be any fiscal tranparency with the costs associated with the CMS project that is half-ass (at best), and a complete fraud/waste of the taxpayer's money (at worst)?

So what was management's response to 2 DLSE women alone with a guy who wouldn't leave the office?

In a way-I can't believe it, but then I think: it's the DLSE. Robert Jones is in charge, and then it all becomes clear.

On Monday, two women were closing up the DLSE office in Santa Ana at 5pm. A guy is there and not leaving. He finally leaves, after one of them pretends to talk to security on the phone.

How did management respond? By Thursday (yesterday), they had the supervisor ask the employees their weekly work schedules...the bosses only wanted to know who should have been there working after 5pm! That's right! It looks like they only wanted to jam up those employees who should have been working beyond 5pm; the order came from upstairs. Either Abigael Calva ( DLSE Regional Manager of Santa Ana WCA) or Headquarters in San Francisco ordered the supervisor to ask around. It would have taken less time to say, "women in DLSE, potentially assualted because of no safety barrier because no one important works there? So what, we need to know who left work early!" Labor Standards at DLSE; welcome to the suck, and you might want to know some karate...just in case there's no safety barrier.

Greg Rupp hangs for thirty minutes with Jorge Gomez at Santa Ana office. Why, since Greg is not part of Jorge's chain of command?

Greg-in his ever "I'm the division's daddy & I do the spankings around here," emerged from his usual Los Angeles digs & spoke with Santa Ana office supervisor Jorge Gomez. Whatever was discussed had to be done face-to-face: not over the email and not over the phone...very much like Tony Soprano.

Greg Rupp comes nowhere near Jorge Gomez's chain of command. Jorge's boss is Abby Calva, and her boss is Lupe Almaraz. From there, Lupe takes his orders from Robert Jones. Why Greg is ordering Jorge and why Jorge is obeying Greg's order remains a mystery: neither of them are talking. Greg will probably spew forth some "official state investigation blah blah blah" if prodded. This is what Greg does best (second only to napping at his desk): find a way to jackpot someone he dislikes and tries his best to make the charges stick. Although, it seems quite suspicious that Greg Rupp must inform Jorge that there's an investigation against one of Jorge's own...if didn't Jorge know about it, how bad could it be?

Maybe it's just Greg Rupp, looking for some payback.

This is how smart DLSE lawyer Richard Munoz is (or isn't?)

A motion for summary judgment is a motion that contends there are no undisputed material facts and one side should win on the law. They have to be heard at least 30 days before the trial and require 75 days notice. Since the trial is June 4, the time has expired. Munoz cannot add 30+75 and count backwards from June 4th? And the State of California says he can practice law? Someone buy that guy a calculator and help him out: he's gonna need it.

Munoz wanted to file a motion for summary judgment & thus waste more of the court's time, but the brainiac blew the deadline! I should have given him another opportunity to piss off the judge with his weak arguments, but I don't want to waste the court's time...it's too bad they couldn't settle this by promising not to harass me (they agreed to paying my legal fees).

There are undisputed material facts, like them saying that protected speech isn't protected or them saying that there is an office disruption, except for the fact that Rupp-Jones-Almaraz-Rea-Bradshaw or whoever ordered peace officer Lee Pearson on the blogger snipe hunt and halted DLSE operations by soliciting complaints (except for Diana Chen, she complains...a lot). That's fine: Vicky Bradshaw's agency has a history of losing in a real court, this should be no different.

Despite the emails to upper management, despite their knowledge of staff concerns, upper management ignores the staff of the Santa Ana DLSE office

There were only two responses to these emails: 1) Lupe Almaraz wanted to know if this was the first step to a bona fide union grievance, and 2) Robert Jones gave someone the DLSE favorite, "we're working on it" handjob.

After these email communicados, the incident with two DLSE females (at closing) with the guy refusing to leave happened.

Management's message could not be any more clear: "We don't give a sh*t about you, grind through your paperwork, do what you're told, and don't give us any problems. If we feel like fixing something, then you'll be the last to know."

How soon will Robert Jones, Lupe Almaraz, Greg Rupp, John Rea, and Vickie Bradshaw start wearing this t-shirt?

This is exactly the shirt that Richard Munoz needs to wear while representing the DLSE in court on June 4th. Before he loses on behalf of the DLSE, he might want to check out the Electronic Frontier Foundations's website about blogging...I think their lawyers have just (a bit) more brain power, experience, and success than the Staff Counsel who's required to jump through Robert Jones' hoops:

http://www.eff.org/bloggers/