Santa Ana Deputy Labor Commissioner refused business cards; so far, no one charged, arrested, or disciplined for taxpayer-paid CMS millions-$ thievery

These are the official fecal matters of DIR, DLSE, and LWDA: Richard Munoz, Anthony Mischel, Vanessa Holton, Steve McGinty, Angela Bradstreet, John Rea, John Duncan, Robert Roginson, Robert Jones, Victoria Bradshaw: otherwise known as the Feces 10.  Most are lackey lawyers or political appointees, thus adding to their stink.

They do nothing to the guilty parties of CMS, the taxpayer-paid, multi-million dollar abortion that's officially listed as junk.  Not one *sshole has been charged/disciplined with that fiasco, but some DLC cannot order business cards because there's no money to pay for them.  No oversight, no accountability, and certainly no responsibility taken for CMS.  Not one of Feces 10 will provide any real numbers as to the true cost of CMS to the taxpayer.  The Feces 10 will continue to do what they do best, collect their paychecks, stink up the joint, and provide a disservice to the taxpayers of California

All these fecal matters do is wait for the Golden Bear to crap into their direct deposit accounts once a month; that pretty much sums up their usefulness to the taxpayers of California.

03/22/08 Sunday-Los Angeles Times story on car wash workers: their plight, who investigates the car washes, and what-if any-aftermath?

The LA Times has the front-page story (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-carwash23mar23,0,3592975.story) on car wash workers and their lower-than minimum wage plight; the lack of success concerning the "inspectors" among DLSE, and the overall grim picture of how the rich stay richer and the poor stay poorer. Los Angeles Times reporters Sonia Nazario (sonia.nazario@latimes.com) and Doug Smith (doug.smith@latimes.com) need to dig a little deeper. Some items that Ms. Nazario and Mr. Smith should request in their Public Records Act request to DIRt:
1) How many times California peace officer/EEEC Dir. David Dorame DDorame@dir.ca.gov has been arrested/convicted for driving under their influence, how many of those occasions involved state vehicles, and how he was able to pass his peace officer background investigation (hint: talk to Los Angeles DLSE Asst. Chief Greg Rupp GRupp@dir.ca.gov).
2) Out of all the citations issued against car wash businesses, how many citations have been paid, how many have been appealed, how many have upheld/lost their appeal, and how much money has been collected....versus what citation amounts were issued. How many car wash licenses have been revoked? How many bad car washes have been put out of business because they broke state law(s)?
3) How many "inspectors" assigned to car wash inspections receive bi-lingual (Spanish) pay by the state for speaking Spanish? How many have been trained by the state to study Spanish? It's pretty hard to ascertain violations if there's no one able to elicit/solicit labor law violations by those whose main/only language is Spanish.
4) After DLSE Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz was found guilty (and liable) to have violated an employee's First Amendment rights, why was he immediately promoted to chair the Agricultural Labor Relations Board?
5) Why won't three DIR attorneys (John Duncan JDuncan@dir.ca.gov, Robert Roginson RRoginson@dir.ca.gov, Angela Bradstreet ABradstreet@dir.ca.gov), and one LWDA Secretary Victoria Bradshaw Victoria.Bradshaw@labor.ca.gov ) provide details on the taxpayer-paid, multi-million dollar computer software disaster known as CMS, contracted out to Hansen/Unisys? If they don't care about the millions of taxpayer dollars (supposedly held in their fiduciary trust), then what makes anyone think that these Schwarzenegger political appointees care about a bunch of workers who cannot contribute to those in political power?

Here's the rumor heard around the water cooler: historically, there's always big investigations in DLSE Public Works/Prevailing Wage in a Democratic administration and the exact opposite in a Republican adminsitration. This current Republican government (Gov. Schwarzenegger, LWDA Secretary Victoria Bradshaw (Victoria.Bradshaw@labor.ca.gov), Deputy Secretary Robert Jones (Robert.Jones@labor.ca.gov), former Jose Millan, DIR Director John Duncan (JDuncan@dir.ca.gov), et al) has "inspectors," who aren't fluent in Spanish, attempting to interview to Spanish workers. Sometimes such cases are closed due to no violations found.

Until Mr. Smith and Ms. Nazario have a complete understanding of the dysfunction of the DIR and DLSE, then the total picture is incomplete.

C.Lotts email asks LWDA, DIR, DLSE leaders to account for CMS. Will they bury their heads in the sand or not?

CLICK PIC TO ENLARGE.

THIS IS THE EMAIL:
I challenge all four of you GAS political appointees to completely answer the following questions:

1. How many millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on CMS, the software program seemingly designed to only waste money in a GAS budget crunch?

2. Will any entity ever be held accountable, either administratively or in civil court, for the current and ongoing 3-year CMS failure?

3. Why is it that Mr. Roginson can send staff a recent email articulating DLSE's courtroom failures regarding meal & rest periods & ODAs as illegal precedent decisions, but our Chief Counsel cannot provide DLSE wage claim staff with a simple policy & procedures manual?

4. How many more taxpayer-paid courtroom failures must the DIR/DLSE endure until they actually issue a decision that stands up in court, or is the real DIR/DLSE tactic just to implement incompetent & inefficent regulations that have no hope of legal success?

I'm fairly certain that your response, or lack thereof, will find its way to:http://www.nolaborstandards.blogspot.com/

With the exception of Bradshaw, all of you hold law degrees, so consider this email as an official whistleblower communication. I want those that approved of such wasteful CMS funding identified and disciplined, or you can immediately make CMS work. I don't care which comes first, but try halting the excuses, the delays, and the disinformation; this will go towards credibility.

I would also suggect that Mr. Roginson begin with small victories, like developing a policy & procedures manual for DLSE wage claim staff, before Commissioner Bradstreet loses another & subsequent Corrales-type failure.

C. Lotts sends this email to the big-brain lawyers and to Vick Bradshaw, asking them to explain the money thrown at CMS and why no one has been held accountable.

The email was cc'd to Molly Selvin at the Los Angeles Times, who did that piece on the janitor's private watchdog agency, something that the DLSE should have been doing on it their own.

3 lawyers and Bradshaw; they still won't provide an ethical answer to a taxpayer, and nothing will happen to any of them. lABOR STANDARDS HAS NO LABOR STANDARDS.

By the way, I just programmed a software application that doesn't work. Where do I go to collect my DLSE cash & contract this software into DLSE kickbacks? Do I sleep with Clements or Culbeaux? I'll go either way if it speeds up my money!

DLSE Chief Counsel Robert Roginson and his whacky employer defense theories! [click this link to print and read]

An anonymous source commented:

"Before taking his latest gig as DLSE's chief counsel, Robby Roginson cut his chops as a wage and hour class action litigator - on behalf of corporate employers. And you gotta give credit where credit is due, Robby was (is?) one hell of a creative hard fighting litigator for his employer clients. He was always coming up with creative, if not bizarre. legal theories to defeat (screw over) employees seeking to recover their unpaid wages. Like this one - the defense that if the employees bringing a lawsuit don't state the exact amount of money they claim they are owed in the complaint, the court must dismiss the complaint for "uncertainty" before the workers even get a chance to do any discovery to determine how much is owed. Never mind that the employer is supposed to have all of the records the workers need to get this information through discovery -- the whole idea, for these cheating employers, is to prevent the workers from getting through the courthouse door.

In a closely watched case in which Robby defended a public works contractor (cheater) by trying to throw out the employees' class action complaint on the ground of "uncertainty," the Second District Court of Appeal issued a decision last week in Gonzalez v. Western Pacific Roofing Corp, holding that Robby's defense is a bunch of crapola. The court reinstated that lawsuit that had been thrown out by the lower court. The appellate court explained, "Plaintiffs are only required to set forth the essential facts of their case with reasonable precision and with particularity sufficient to acquaint a defendant with the nature, source and extent of his cause of action. Plainitiffs are not required to plead the specific amount of damages."

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/B196373.PDF [Blogger: I don't know how long this link will breathe, so click/print/read ASAP]

Within the employer community, Robby's defense was seen as the silver bullet that would kill off the vast majority of wage and hour class action complaints - cases in which it is impossible to determine the specific amount owed until plaintiffs complete their discovery.
So much for that employer (wet) dream.

Let's hope Robby learns some lessons from this appellate court smack down."

BLOGGER'S NOTE: This kinda crap is exatly why America hates lawyers; it's butt-licks like Roginson that give attorneys a bad name. It's bad enough that the employer screws over the employee, but the asshole lawyers hired by the employer don't do right by the law; they just try to slime their way through court with their never-ending bullshit. The only thing Roginson needs to put on his resume is, "all I ever wanted to be was a whore for a corporate law firm...momma woulda been proud." AND THEN, THOU SHALT BE POLITICALLY APPOINTED AT DIRt BY CAWLIFAWNIA GOVUHNAH TUHMINATAH. The Great State of California does not need douchebags as DLSE Chief Counsel; we have enough douchebags already. To make California stronger, we don't need assholes who have a vested interest in the outcome of private trials, given the likes of Angela Bradstreet and Robert Roginson; we need people who understand and can (correctly) apply their ethics training to the public they serve. For the record, I think that DLSE Chief Counsel Robert Roginson is a douchebag attorney who does not serve Californians, but serves his master, GAS (Governor Arnold Scwarzenegger). Just goes to show, having a big IQ and being a douchebag are not mutually exclusive.

Updated DIRt chain of command and their emails

At the very top of this horse manure pile is Labor Workforce Development Agency Victoria Bradshaw (Victoria.Bradshaw@labor.ca.gov), the next DIRt Director John Duncan (JDuncan@dir.ca.gov). After that, you have DLSE Chief Counsel Rob Roginson (RRoginson@dir.ca.gov) and Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet (ABradstreet@dir.ca.gov). Below Badstreet is Deputy Chief Denise Padres (DPadres@dir.ca.gov). It's my understanding that these public servants want to hear from the taxpayers of California, so send them as many emails expressing your voice. They don't listen to their own staff, as our emails are ignored, so maybe you'll have better luck.

Our latest Chief Counsel puppet is a pro-employer/class action guy, so don't believe for a minute that he has any bias towards working stiffs! The people that paid his bills in private practice were the same people that paid Angela Bradstreet's bills...employers.