If Bradstreet's going to outsource CMS finalization to EDD, then shouldn't she, at the very least, take a big dump on Jim Culbeaux's career?

Just when I think that sanity & reality may return to this division, I read Angela Bradstreet's memo (go to the 'thank-you' paragraph), and I go insane all over again [click this link to read text & pic {click pic to enlarge}]. She thanks some personnel that were/are completely useless, and it looks like she didn't thank the true mastermind of CMS: Jim Culbeaux. Why was his name not in her memo?

What I really love about this blog is that people from Nor Cal are reading it, and if they are really smart, they're passing this link for others to read. It seems that Jim Culbeaux rents out space in Oakland to recently ejected Acting Director John Rea, and there are those that insist that he's the mastermind behind the CMS failure. If that's true, then what's happening to his career? For those that are in the know, please spell it out for us not in the know. How did he get his start? Who protects him and why? What education & specialization does he possess?

If you read Angela's memo carefully, you'll notice how she failed to articulate the total cost, both in dollars and man/woman hours spent on this abortion. If she wants credibility and street cred, then she'll need to earn it. She'll need to get rid of those that cannot do their job or hinder other personnel from doing their jobs. Greg Rupp needs to go, because any action he takes (other than sleeping at his desk) only screws the division. Lupe Almaraz needs something more than an official reprimand for 3 judges having decided that he violated a co-worker's constitutional rights, those OD-Legal retards attorneys need big-time demotions (Steve McGinty & Richard Munoz), Vaness Holton & Anthony Mischel need to do a "Jose Millan" and join another agency, and last but not least:

Robert Jones, the windbag that couldn't get confirmed. Are there any amount of adjectives that don't encompass this ass-clown's persona? He fired Miles Locker, threatened his own legal staff & tried to destroy free speech, and threatened the blogger with termination. Who is protecting this butt-monkey? Is it Vicky Bradshaw, is she the one that's protecting his job? Where does this douchebag get his juice? Who's fingerprints are on his careeer ascension? How did he go from idiot civilian attorney to DLSE Acting Labor Commissioner & Chief Counsel to Deputy Blah Blah Blah at LWDA? Angela Bradstreet should use every ounce of her connection with Susan Kennedy and have the Governator separate him from public service. Vicky Bradshaw will try and pull rank if this happens, but a decent cat fight just might be what this agency needs to right itself.

2 years ago today, the DLSE marched Miles Locker off the job

Things move very slow in state service; things move faster in superior court. Two years ago, the DLSE marched California's best labor law attorney, Miles Locker, off the job. In his place, we received retard Robert Jones, who seems to have been promoted for having screwed over Californians by the meal & rest period cluster fcuk (see Murphy and Corrales) as well as having fired Miles Locker himself. Only in state service can such a dolt be promoted to Big Vick's (Victoria Bradshaw) Number Two (know what I mean...#2?).Two years and he still isn't back. That snail of an Administrative Law Judge (still) hasn't written the decision.

Here's what I think: The ALJ doesn't want to write it, because Miles will be coming back. There's nothing Miles did that warranted a termination: he had almost 20 years of dedicated service, much more dedication than those ass-clowns Robert Jones and Victoria Bradshaw, but the Governor wanted meal & rest periods to conform to his special interest lobbyists/campaign contributors. DLSE got rid of the one lawyer that got it right, as confirmed by the California Supreme Court.

Vicky Bradshaw needs to retire and go to her little villa in Europe, but it's hard when you have the Governor singing Happy Birthday to her...she gets off on that egoism. She's doing the public no favors by collecting a state paycheck. Maybe if she leaves, then that other idiot Robert Jones will follow in her elephant-like footsteps. Political Appointees are like a business owner's dufus nephew that made Vice-President; it's not earned, it's favoritism, they don't know the job, and all they do is suck up to the idiot that got them the free paycheck. Y U C K,: when will Miles come back and steer this agency back on its course and make the morons walk the plank?

CMS, the multi-million dollar disaster is (now) Angela Bradstreet's soup du jour

Can anyone believe that our esteemed, big-brain Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet thinks CMS is a great product. I must admit, CMS is better than Chinese toothpaste & Chinese dog food; CMS lacks the toxins & poisons of those exports.

For a complete picture of her "observations," please click the picture below this post, although she forgot to thank Greg Rupp for violating the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, and she forgot the thank Lupe Almaraz for violating the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution. Labor Standards: screwing the taxpayer, one CMS invoice at a time.

DLSE cannot stop wasting taxpayer dollars, and then have the gall to wonder why they are called retarded wasteful...idiots

At the Los Angeles DLSE Bureau of Field Enforcement office, Frank Capetillo works under Asst. Chief Greg Rupp. Someone ordered Frank to drive down to Santa Ana to deliver a document to an employee that works for DLSE Wage Claim supervisor Jorge Gomez. The DLSE wasted Frank's time, they wasted resources (Frank could have been doing real DLSE work), and the DLSE wasted taxpayer money (gas, maintenance on state car, Frank's paycheck, etc.).

Why couldn't the DLSE retards-in-charge just fax/email the document to Jorge Gomez, so Mr. Gomez could deliver the document to his employee? While DLSE continues to demonstrate that they routinely violate an employee's privacy, they should (at least) try to keep costs down. Try to keep the appearance of not being entirely wasteful.

New puppet Labor Commish Angela Bradstreet will never get a handle on this division because she only listens to the entrenched bureaucrats that pursue only their self-serving agenda.

DLSE loses fight against the blogger (third judge to say so), pages are below to click, print and/or download

The DLSE's mission is not to dismantle the First Amendment.

In a case that will eventually cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, these public servants (Victoria Bradshaw, Vanessa Holtom, John Rea, Robert Jones, Steve McGinty, Richard Munoz, Anthony Mischel, Greg Rupp, and Lupe Almaraz) have failed their obligatory duty.

The DLSE's GAS republican agenda current mission seems to politicize wages and devise ways for employers to circumvent those nasty little things called labor laws. Lawful employers have no problem with the laws on the books; only the law breakers are pissed off about meal and rest periods, overtime, minimum wage, and mandatory workers compensation insurance.

Here we have a division that fought a free speech case and lost, but they didn't lose their money. They lost the public's money: ergo, they lost your money. They don't care about losing your money because it's not their money. These public officers are incompetent, inefficient, and deserve to have their jobs taken away from them. They do not deserve to serve the public anymore, as they have demonstrated that they have zero fiduciary duty to the taxpayer. Let me repeat their names for the purpose of a Google search:Victoria Bradshaw, Vanessa Holtom, John Rea, Robert Jones, Steve McGinty, Richard Munoz, Anthony Mischel, Greg Rupp, and Lupe Almaraz.

These people are probably arrogant enough to keep fighting; I welcome the opportunity to beat them again and again. Let them appeal, spend more of the public's money and lose. I welcome the chance to show these documents at Angela Bradstreet's and Robert Jones' senate confirmation hearings. Who's the new DIR Director-Duncan, is it? He can join this party, too.

By the way, Steve McGinty and Richard Munoz are some of the best tools OD-Legal attorneys in state service. They rank (right up there with) OD-Legal attorneys Anthony Mischel and Vanessa Holton. I think all four of them are a total joke, and their legal failures prove it. They'll keep losing and I'll keep broadcasting...they ought to stop using the public's money in pursuing a non-mission DLSE legal battle. Save the money for CMS lawsuits. What really burns my ass is the Governator, he actually has the stones to post on his website that he's "The People's Governor." He should have titled it "The Special Interest's Governor," or "The Guy Who Appoints Morons & Invites Lawsuits' Governor"

DLSE loses: violates Blogger's constitutional rights, page 1 of 4 (click pic to enlarge)

DLSE loses: violates Blogger's constitutional rights, page 2 of 4 (click pic to enlarge)

DLSE loses: violates Blogger's constitutional rights, page 3 of 4 (click pic to enlarge)

DLSE loses: violates Blogger's constitutional rights, page 4 of 4 (click pic to enlarge)

CMS deception in DIR (www.dir.ca.gov) is like saying there's heat in the sun

Wanna know why DIR isn't saying sh*t about the true taxpayer cost in trying to bring CMS to life? Because why would the DIR knowingly punch themselves in the face and cause a black eye? They wouldn't; their history has been to cover sh*t up and sweep it under the rug.

Who knows if CMS costs $6 million dollars or $60 million. Who knows who got rich from CMS, and who knows how bad the taxpayer got screwed on CMS.

The California Taxpayer's Assn. might need to know about this multi-million dollar, taxpayer-paid abortion. CMS is a waste and the taxpayers shouldn't be paying this bill. Let people know: print a couple pages of this blog or send them an email.

Mail CMS info to:
California Taxpayer's Association,
Attn: Karl Hirai
1215 K Street, Suite 1250
Sacramento, CA95814
www.caltax.org
916-441-0490
karl@caltax.org

It seems that the only time that the public isn't getting screwed by DLSE is during weekends/holidays, when the state's desk donkies aren't working

Why would Angela Bradstreet go from big-shot lawyer working at big-shot law firm to mid-level political appointee, and probably making half of what she was making at big-shot law firm? I don't want to hear any of that crap about public service, either. Wasn't she (in effect) already serving her public at the law firm, representing corporate management? If her current stint is being used as some bullsh*t resume builder, well she had better start building her resume and start doing the job in front of her.

DLSE staff rec'd some lame Public Records Act (PRA) info/memo where Angela Bradstreet writes that the PRA database will be a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. What kind of horsesh*t is that? It seems that Angela Bradstreet has absolutely ZERO confidence in our multi-million dollar, taxpayer-paid, yet-to-function CMS: the mother fcuker of information collection.

Well, I want to put child work permits on an excel spreadsheet. Can I start issuing DLSE work permits with my excel database? It won't cost a gazillion dollars and work permits will go back to taking 90 seconds to issue instead of ten minutes. Every day that Angela Bradstreet collects her DLSE paycheck is another day where the DLSE gets worse. When she starts doing good for the people of California, you'll start reading about it.

Newly-installed puppet Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet is beginning to look like a joke of a leader manager

Problems are not being solved, priorities are not being shifted, personnel are still screwing the system, the DLSE culture is (still) all about ass kissing, and the public is (still) suffering as a result of Angela Bradstreet just keeping things the way they are.

It should have been clear that someone appointed by the republican GAS administration will always possess the mentality of a pro-employer, screw-the-employee, and enact policies that violate the law and the US Constitution. In this case, it doesn't matter whether or not Angela Bradstreet is a registered democrat; that's just window dressing. We have a very wealthy democratic (I'm fairly certain she's not renting in Saulsalito) whose background was in a prestigious law firm that represented employers & management.

Employers hold the bags of gold, not the employees. There's no money in representing employees, but if Exxon, Halliburton, or Wal Mart needs outside legal representation...there's that cha-ching sound. It makes sense that a republican administration would install a democrat who supports a republican agenda. In this case, it's not a stretch to assume that a pro-employer/anti-employee attorney would support the governor's pro-employer/anti-employee agenda. Livadas, Cuadra, Murphy, & Corrales only show me that republican agendas lose big in court. Angela should have no problem fitting in with John Rea, Vicky Bradshaw, Robert Jones, Greg Rupp, Jose Millan, and Abigael Calva

If Commissioner Bradstreet wants to improve the Corrales beat-down, then why are child entertainment work permits still the #1 DLSE priority?

In almost every DLSE office, there are DLC 1s and DLC 2s that cannot do their job becuase they must halt their DLSE mission and issue child entertainment work permits. Her Number Two (know what I mean...number #2?) Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz is totally happy with the status quo, because that means he continues to have the golden bear crap into his bank account every month; after all, what does he care if we're issuing work permits on that jack-ass CMS system instead of complying with Corrales?

Why don't they have some real DLC 1s and DLC 2s (who actually do the work) speak with senators and assembly members in explaining how dysfunctional our division continues to be, even though the DLSE has a new puppet head Labor Commissioner. Those at the top are clueless as to what's going on in the trenches, and they can't solve something they can't comprehend.

If Bradstreet wants Corrales dealt with, then why are Almaraz, Calva, and Gomez looking the other way at Hearing Officer Maria Valdez?

An anonymous source told me that Hearing Officer Maria Valdez is way behind on her wage claim hearing write ups, but in the Santa Ana DLSE office...girls are treated better than guys, or is Valdez being protected by Almaraz, Calva, and Gomez? If Bradstreet truly wants to make headway into that Corrales beat-down, then she should start with Hearing Officers who cannot write their wage claim decision in the specified time frame. Why isn't Angela Bradstreet on top of Lupe Almaraz, who should be on top Abigael Calva, who should be on top of Jorge Gomez, who should be on top of Maria Valdez? Why are they keeping this information from the Labor Commissioner?

Almaraz-Calva-Gomez-Valdez. Do you see a common denominator here?

Could it be that Almaraz, Calva, and Gomez are protecting Valdez? What if the surname was O'Malley or Hussein? Would an O'Malley or a Hussein be protected like Almaraz, Calva, and Gomez are protecting Valdez?

Supervisor Jorge Gomez made sure that Hearing Officer Maria Valdez wrapped up yesterday's wage claim hearing [summary: Defendant had Claimant arrested by INS before settlement conference, then filed a restraining order against Claimant, then had INS arrest Claimant again after the hearing, but there was no translator available because Maria's pissed off all except Patty (her favorite translator), case was eventually settled, then INS took the Claimant away].

Unfortunately, the problem is still there: no one wants to translate for Maria Valdez because she's treated them with disrespect & with discourtesy. If anyone, she should know the pride of La Raza. Jorge is an enabler: he enables Maria to do what she does, which is to piss off translators. Jorge's solution is to order Lenora to use different translators. Jorge should either order Maria to find her own translators or counsel Maria on the benefits of getting along with others; he won't do either one, so the problem festers, and the Californians get screwed in the process. Had this situation involved a male (or possibly, an O'Malley), then Greg Rupp would have come out of his toilet office to investigate & discipline.

Someone should call La Opinion, Univision, or Telemundo and tell them that the Santa Ana DLSE office is allowing the INS to arrest Mexican wage claim victims and that it's okay for employers to shirk their obligation to pay legitimate wages owed, although this GAS republican administration might use it as a press release.

DLSE press release: division bends over forassists Wal-Mart by having them pay a petty fine, then is dumb enough to broadcast it

Someone commented that Wal-Mart got their very own Wal-Mart discount at DLSE. Who says that this administration is in bed with corporate interests? By my math, 50,000 victims equals a $5,000,000 citation (under the Labor Code). Would $198,000 citation be considered a bargain, as compared to $5,000,000? That's (not even) 4 cents on the dollar! Here's the Labor Commissioner's press release: I'd say she's doing exactly what Robert Jones was doing (click bluelink to jump to press release).

Here's some more of that press release:“On behalf of the 50,000 workers who were inadvertently underpaid overtime and other wages, we are pleased with this settlement,” said California Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet. (Blogger's note: "inadvertantly"?? WTF? Officer, I didn't rob the bank, I inadvertantly received a withdrawal. Funny how these financial accounting "accidents" always benefit the employer...what a fcuking coincidence).

“We are ensuring that the workers are completely compensated what is owed to them in overtime and interest, and that penalties are provided for.” "As always, our goal is to encourage voluntary compliance with California labor laws," Bradstreet added. "By its actions in this case, Wal-Mart has set a positive example for other employers who may be out of compliance because it illustrates how they can work with us to properly compensate workers as well as meet legal requirements." Blogger's note: "...and that penalties are provided for"? WTF does that mean? That the DLSE is providing Wal-Mart with penalties, or that the DLSE is ensuring that penalties are provided for Wal-Mart? I don't get it, but then again, I'm no dipshit lawyer that states a confusing sentence, then ends it with a preposition.

DLSE employee asks manager for help: told no (click pic to enlarge). How does this better serve the public?

In the real world, the strong are advanced and promoted while the weak are eliminated. In reinforcing the stereotype of your typical state worker at DLSE, the weak are advanced (given less responsibility while making the same money) and the strong and competent are eliminated (given more work). The only thing Mr. Broadwater failed to mention that this started as a way for DLSE to improve their Corrales statistics. The document speaks for its itself as to its competency and efficiency to public service. They take a big dump on the deputies that do the work and another deputy skates...that's the DLSE"s "shove the problem into the corner" solution, although with Santa Ana being so ass-backwards, they shoved the problem right into the public's face, probably in hopes of increasing citizen complaints.

DLSE and their dishonesty is compared to LAPD and their Rampart (click this link to view comment)

"Corrales is going to be waved in a judge's face every time these guys are dumb enough to go into a court room. It is sort of like the "Ramparts" debacle for the Los Angeles Police Department. When a Los Angeles Police Officer testifies under oath in a court room that he once worked in the Ramparts [sic] Division his testimony becomes instantly worthless. Corrales has made our management's testimony worthless. The world now knows they are dishonest."

Corrales was not decided by some janitor; it was decided by the California Supreme Court.

What can be done to a taxpayer-paid division that intentionally violates the US Constitution?

What can be done to a taxpayer-paid division that intentionally spend millions of dollars on some worthless piece-of-crap computer software that holds no one accountable?

What can be done to a taxpayer-paid division that intentionally screws the California worker?

Apparantly, Bradshaw's doing nothing to those that exposed the DLSE to such incompetence, inefficiency, and waste. Holding dipshit "I'm konfoosed about meal & rest peeriud" conferences only reinforces that the fact that no action is being taken, and any action that will be taken will lack conviction & strength, just bullshit serve-the-master politics as usual in the DLSE.

Is there a class action lawsuit in DLSE's future?

After looking at Corrales, it seems that there were a lot of workers victimized by the actions of Jose Millan and Greg Rupp; it's as if those two should be personally named as Defendants by those workers who suffered damages as a result of DLSE intentionally delaying their wage claims. Their actions were intentional and in my view, criminally negligent; this was not gross negligence. Jose Millan & Greg Rupp hatched a plan, executed the plan, and should be held accoutable for their actions. Don't expect the current administration to fix it, as they were the one who put them to work.

Santa Ana's deep tradition of trickery, deceit, and evasiveness...and is it true that Greg Rupp wears a helmet & mouthpiece when he drives?

A long time ago, one of Hearing Officer Jim Jackson's friend made a goofy remark that happened to be within earshot of Jim's eternal enemy, Vicki Tamoush. Days later, the friend that made the goofy remark was ordered downstairs and into a dark room to be interrogated. Eventually, the Nazis Stormtroopers figured out that the comment was made as a goof, and the douchebags slithered back under the rock from whence they came.

The powers at DLSE at the time: Jorge Gomez (DLC III), Abigael Calva (DLC IV). Somehow, a remark made in passing was passed onto the powers at DLSE and those powers not only decided to conduct a negligent investigation, but they also never bothered to exonerate Jim Jackson. They never told him that he was under investigation, they never told him that he had rights while under investigation, and they never told him that their finished investigation concluded that he did nothing wrong.

The remark that was made? Jim's co-worker and friend commented that he receives a monetary kickback from the guy who owns the Spanish translation company. Vicki, because she hates Jackson & knowing that it's not true-complains anyway. 99% of her complaints go to Jorge Gomez, so one can safely assume that it was he that bumped it up into a secret investigation. Only recently did Jorge Gomez figure out that the entire office knew what Vicki did to Jim Jackson and Jorge's involvement in it.

To this day, neither Jorge nor Vicki are coming clean with their level of involvement into the super secret investigation into Jim Jackson. This is one small slice of the DLSE's dysfunction, and yes-it does affect service to the public. The public disruption is caused by those in DLSE who bring dishonor and discredit against the very agency they serve.

Vicki Tamoush stops a formal hearing and states that the Plaintiff cannot understand the Spanish translator, even though the Defendant's attorney, one fluent in Spanish, states otherwise. What kind of investigation does the supervisor conduct? None: the word of Vicki Tamoush must be true, since it's been proven that she never gets it right anyway. Tax dollars, state time, and state resources are wasted because now the entire hearing needs to be re-scheduled. If Jorge Gomez plays the tape and discovers that Vicki's accusation is untrue, then you know what happens to Vicki? Nothing: she's one of Jorge's protected tattle-tales, and in the end, the public receives their royal screwing.

And yet another Santa Ana Hearing Officer problem; oh yeah, the DLSE shut off blogger's email system - Dept. of Industrial Retaliation strikes again!

An anonymous source tells me that Hearing Officer Vicki Tamoush stopped midway through a hearing on August 14th because the Plaintiff could not understand the translator; the language was Spanish. The Defendant's attorney, who also spoke Spanish, commented on how professional the translator was, wanted to hire the translator for future projects, and offered his business card to the translator.

Also, Santa Ana's Wage Claim supervisor tried talking to another Santa Ana Hearing Officer in hopes of un-pissing off the translators that refuse to work for her. It was no good, she came up with some lame-ass blah blah blah to Don, and he told her to apologize directly to the translators she offended. She wouldn't; so now Don, the owner of the translator business, is no longer sending any translators to Hearing Officer Maria Valdez.

In other Santa Ana news, the DLSE locked out its internal email system to the blogger since August 3rd, so now the blogger can neither send nor receive DLSE email. The DLSE Deputy Chief has ignored the blogger's request for assistance, so it looks like Lupe's (again) giving the middle finger to the blogger..."shut off his email, that will show the blogger who's the boss." Intentional or Stoopid: who really cares?

Can you imagine what DLSE would do to me if I stole a $500 printer that the taxpayers paid for? But the CMS culprits remain at-large

The DLSE would terminate me for stealing, and rightly so. Stealing, the last time I checked, is bad. The assholes involved with this multi-million dollar, taxpayer paid computer software abortion called CMS remain at-large...probably got some promotions out of it; that's how fcuked up this division is.

I tried reaching out to newly-installed puppet/Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet. You know what she did? She sent DLSE Deputy Chief/Blog Defendant Lupe Almaraz to tell me to not contact her and to go thru the chain of command. She took a big ol' dump on that olive branch.

CMS is a money pit that the taxpayers keeping funding. Lose a little now, or a lot more later. Well, we're at the "lot more later" stage, because the assholes in power continue to fcuk the taxpayers. Stop fcuking the taxpayers; they deserve a rest.

The longer the DLSE takes in throwing out the trash, the easier they are proving the blogger's arguments

Bringing in new desk donkeys is the traditional revolving-door DLSE approach to solving problems; the equivalent of a band-aid on an amputation. So John Rea leaves: that's a good thing. So Robert Jones leaves: that's a good thing. Every day that Angela Bradstreet fails to use her juice with Susan Kennedy (so she can buzz in GAS' ear) is another day that the DLSE fails to improve.

There's a Hearing Officer who has systematically pissed off almost every translator sent to her hearings. There's another Hearing Officer where labor & employment attorneys like Mr. Afgani* REFUSE to have their client(s) go before Vicki Tamoush. Regional Manager Abigael Calva knows about it and keeps secrets like these buried (like a child molesting uncle no one wants to talk about) in hopes that if the problem stays ignored long enough...it might just go away on its own. Regional Manager Calva's the one that instructs the supervisor to listen to the wage claim hearing tapes and to bury the complaints. Calva's the one that does absolutely nothing unless instructed by (previously) DLSE Assistant Chief Nance Steffen and recently, DLSE Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz.

Hell's bells, Lupe can directly call supervisors on his Blackberry and bark out orders, so why doesn't the DLSE shitcan Abby Calva and save the taxpayers about $100K/Yr? The taxpayers would also get an almost-new Impala (low commute mileage from Pasadena to LA) if they showed Abby Calva the door.

*-It's real easy to prove up this one: look up Mr. Afgani on the State Bar website, then make contact & ask him how many times that he's gone before Hearing Officer Vicki Tamoush since filing his complaints against her conduct. Then, ask the DLSE, specifically that retard DLSE Wage Claim Regional Manager Abigael Calva as to what's been done to Vicki Tamoush. If the "problem" has been corrected, then there's no reason why Mr. Afgani cannot go before Vicki Tamoush. But if they buried Afgani's complaints, then the problem is not fixed (Vicki Tamoush is still doing it her way because Abigael Calva doesn't give a shit about this division) , which means that Tamoush does whatever she wants.

Photo of (public officers) Angela Bradstreet & Lupe Almaraz at the Northridge Meal & Rest Period Dog & Pony Show

Click here to view photo. labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet and Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz look very confused concerned in the photo. For more details, you can advance search on Google with "Northridge" and "Angela Bradstreet" or just click this link.

The Governator's idea of freshness: regurgitate another Pete Wilson crony. John Duncan named as Director of DIR

Click on this link to read GAS press release. Let me sum it up: blah, blah, blah, he worked for Pete Wilson. Needs to advance opportunities for businesses to engage in profitable employment.

DLSE management & DLSE lawyers should conduct themselves as if a camera was recording their decisions & actions affecting the taxpayers

Bill Maher was the host of ABC's Politically Incorrect until they cancelled his show for being politically incorrect. Among the reasons, advertisers like Sears and FedEx bailed, and Disney (who owns ABC) gotzta have their money. Now, he has a weekly show on HBO, and thank goodness HBO picked it up.

Criticism is the highest form of democracy...think about it. What happens when a Chinese national criticizes China? What happened when an Iranian criticized the Shaw of Iran? To bring it back to this decade, what do you think happened when an Iraqi criticized Saddam Hussein? Democracy is a proponent of criticism because: 1) it stirs debate, and 2) people who care to say what's on their minds usually want to make things better for the whole, and 3) people have the freedom to say what they are thinking. DLSE management cannot take the necessary steps & make the necessary decisions to improve this agency so as to better serve those who need DLSE's help. They, the decision makers, deserve a proportionate level of criticism that's indicative of their duty of care to the public until they either eliminate the stupidity or fix the problem.

Greg Rupp? His resume speaks for itself...an Assistant Chief do-nothing, carry-a-gun-collect-a-paycheck and run out the clock to his retirement. Robert Jones? He's a blunt instrument/tool for his bosses who also had to have the California Supreme Court tell him how to interpret meal & rest periods; he also fired the one attorney that made the correct interpretation of meal & rest periods. Is Robert Jones jealous of Miles Locker? More than likely. Emasculated? Perhaps. Smarter? Not at all, just politically-connected because Jones couldn't get a job in state service on his own. Lupe Almaraz? Just another tool/cheerleader for a multi-million dollar computer software system , and he can't say no to his bosses, those very same bosses that got him promoted.

The last time I checked, this was neither China nor Iran...this is America, where we have this document called the US Constitution and the freedom to believe that if somebody is an incompetent *sshole, then we have the freedom to speak and write such beliefs.

Gus Alfaro might take DLC 2 position in Los Angeles, Supervisor Diana Chen might have violated employee's right to privacy

1) Gus Alfaro is a hearing officer (Deputy Labor Commissioner 2) for DLSE. Ever since the DLSE had their hearing officer training, Gus has been making major moves on Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz to acquire a hearing officer position in Los Angeles. An anonymous source tells me that he's gone so far as to write Lupe Almaraz some bleeding heart letter so as to convince Lupe to give him the title. With Gus throwing his application into the Los Angeles hearing officer pool, this might tilt the axis of Gus Alfaro receiving the hearing officer position in Los Angeles. If this is true, then Lupe Almaraz should have never entertained such discussions with Gus, as that tainted the promotion process.

2) Diana Chen caught a couple of DLSE staff doing some hanky panky! Who does she go to for advice? Word on the street is that she went to DLSE peace officer Bill Egan! Now, in the world of supervisors, describing the hanky panky incident to someone like Bill Egan violates the employees' right to privacy, not that the DLSE cares about violating privacy.

Labor Standards has no labor standards. Lupe Almaraz will let anyone schmooze him for a promotion/transfer, and Diana Chen has no idea how to handle a minor personnel action, and violates privacy rights by talking about it.

"She [Bradstreet] called the state's current regulations "confusing and conflicting" and has scheduled a second forum Thursday in Northridge"

Sacramento Article dated 08/03/07, Work rule for meals on front burner, by Dale Kasler.

It seems that our new political appointee Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet calls our current regulations "confusing and conflicting." Being penalized for violating state law isn't "confusing and conflicting;" it's breaking the law. Look at who's been doing the crying: big-business lobbyists. Yeah, let's make it easier for employers to jam up their employees.

Employers cannot regulate themselves on their own, which is why the Labor Commissioner's office is charged with enforcing such laws. When you have a Labor Commissioner who's a Republican appointee, it seems that she's already serving those who got her the appointment. GAS has/wants/needs the California Restaruant Lobby in his back pocket; they have mucho dinero for his future campaigns. It seems perfectly logical that Labor Commissioner Bradstreet will serve big money; she's right, our current regulations are a joke. That's why the California Supreme Court told her how to interpret her own regulations.

It's surprising that she's quoted in the Sac Bee article as calling these regulations "confusing and conflicting" It's sad that she wasn't quoted saying this: "the courts have spoken, and my agency will vigorously enforce against anyone who violates these laws. Those who obey the law have nothing to worry about; those who do-we're coming."

She wants a second forum in Northridge; you gotta be kidding me. I hope she's not some typical lawyer that just dances around the topic and does nothing...Miles wouldn't do that.

Re-cap of current DLSE failures and management's impotence inability to overcome such failures

1. Taxpayer-paid, multi-million dollar CMS software implentation

2. DLC III exam results: fraud, cronyism, or both?

3. DLC IV exam results: fraud, cronyism, or both?

4. Regional Manager Abigael Calva's taxpayer-paid state vehicle, state gas, state parking, and paid commute from Pasadena to Los Angeles

5. DLSE's lack of Performance Standards for all of its employees

6. DLSE peace officer designation despite drunk driving & wrecked state vehicle(s)

7. DLSE peace officer taxpayer-paid benefits yet no (or very very little) criminal prosecutions/filings

8. DLSE retaliation against those who have filed workers compensation insurance claims (Rowene Diaz, Susanna Lopez, Armida Corral)

9. DLSE Assistant Chief Greg Rupp's discourteous treatment, incompetence, and inefficient state service to all of those claimants victimized by Rupp's Meal & Rest period constitutional violations

10. Former "Acting" labor Commissioner Robert Jones' lack of fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayer in his vindictictive quest to terminate a respectable DLSE attorney and a Deputy Labor Commissioner through the office of OD Legal

11. Cuadra v. Millan

12. Livadas v. Bradshaw

13. The Murphy Decision

14. The Corrales Decision

15. No policies & procedures manual for Settlement Conference Officers

16. No Commission, Overtime, Vacation attachments on DLSE website to augment wage claims filed by the public

17. No safety barrier for the busiest DLSE wage claim office in the state

18. No policies & procedures for complaints filed by members of the public against those serving in DLSE

19. DLSE's taxpayer-paid waste of money into their retaliatory molehunt into the blogger's sources, courtesy of Greg Rupp, Lupe Almaraz, and Robert Jones

20. Improper & discriminatory handling of complaints (involving Spanish translators and discourteous treatment during 98a hearings) made against DLSE Hearing Officers who have provided a disservice to those they serve

The replacement for DLSE Los Angeles AB633 DLC II Hearing Officer Mike Medrano is rumored to be rigged!

People are already hearing the rumors that the selection has been made, despite state civil service exam process mandates. Who's the responsible person in charge of that area? DLSE Regional Manager Abigael Calva! The person has already been selected for promotion, which means that the interviewing is just for show! Labor Standards Has No Labor Standards! I can already tell, newly-installed Labor Comissioner Angela Bradstreet has no handle on DLSE's malfeasance; it's just business as usual at the Los Angeles DLSE Wage Claims office! A special thanks to Abigael Calva, who keeps doing it her way!

If the DLSE dolts cannot ask the right question, then the right answer will remain elusive

So Corrales kicks Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet, then she kicks Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz, who then kicks Regional Manager Abigael Calva. In a sincere effort to please her masters, Abby starts asking questions (in hopes of fixing this Corrales problem).

Abby wants to know: how far out are the wage deputies scheduled? Well, that prompts another question from Abby: how many wage claims are not yet scheduled? Not only do these questions fail to idenitfy the solution to Corrales, but they also fail to identify the problem. Abigael Calva didn't promote to Regional Manager because she was the smartest person in the room. Now, let's take a look at what we can really sink our teeth into: statistics. DLSE has a real hardon for statistics, as that's why DLSE's taxpayer-paid, multi-million dollar CMS software fiasco will not be abandoned.

Abby doesn't want to look at certain statistics in solving Corrales because that would show two ugly things: a shining star that is still being blackballed by DLSE, and the number of "OPEN" wage claim cases is the real statistic that should be reviewed, as this number represents the best indicator of service to the public, and the best way to solve Corrales.

Number of open wage claims in the Santa Ana office:

Bruce Broadwater, 243

Nita Chopra, 398

Chris Lotts, 369

Mary Tokar, 581

Kimchi Vu, 320

Now, let's look at the biggest number (581) and the smallest number (243). Someone knows how to keep their file cabinet small and clean, while someone else isn't. Let's focus on the winner who knows how to move cases, Bruce Broadwater. This should be a huge concern to Angela Bradstreet, as no amount of DLSE spin will mitigate DLC Broadwater's success in moving through his cases. Why should we look at just this number? Because all of his other statistics, like money collected, number of days to 98a hearing, cases settled, cases heard, etc., will reflect the same level of service to the public.

Lupe and Abby are looking at the wrong number, and what they need to do is to ask DLC Broadwater and figure out what makes him so successful in keeping his caseload to an absolute minimum. Instead, it seems that Lupe and Abby are sandbagging the new Labor Commissioner in hopes that she'll just go away in a year: they do this by having the Labor Commissioner fail, and they have the Labor Commissioner fail by not fixing the problem, and they do this by focusing on the wrong questions. If DLSE managers are too stoopid to identify the problem, then how do they expect the non-managers to succesfully execute the solution?