August 23, 2003

Chuck Cake, Acting Director
Department of Industrial Relations
455 Golden Gate Avenue, 10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102

Dear Mr. Cake:

You are certainly familiar with our stories in WHAT NOW?! about the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), particularly the Division of Labor Statistics and Research (DLSR).

In late May 2002, and in response to my letter (published in our June 2002 issue) to the then Director of DIR, Stephen Smith, about DLSR, you sent me a letter denying --albeit without going into any specifics-- the facts in our story, and you asked that I meet with you in order to “inform [me] about the real problems”. I immediately accepted your invitation. Unfortunately, you decided to not follow through and honor your expressed intention to meet with me. Today, I am addressing an open letter to you which will be published in WHAT NOW?!

Since June 2002 we have posted on our website a number of stories, many of them accompanied with original documentation, about DIR and in particular DLSR. We have written about the incredible story of the Chief of DLSR, David Aroner, his misdeeds, and the complicity of DIR in trying to cover these misdeeds. We have also written about the Deputy Chief of that same Division, Maria Robbins, and her even more incredible and insidious role in the degradation of DLSR. Notwithstanding our efforts, neither you nor anyone else from DIR or DLSR bothered even to utter a word, let alone answer our writings. This was despite our repeated requests for a response.

We have learned that at the end of this past June Mr. David Aroner was fired and State employees packed his personal belongings in boxes for him to pick up. Considering our publications about DLSR that included exposes on Mr. Aroner, among others, how does this long-overdue firing of Mr. Aroner reconcile with your denials of problems in DLSR, and your unwillingness or inability to deal with the root of the problems in that Division?

As late as October 2002, in a meeting with the DLSR employees, you tried to downplay and dismiss the egregious behavior of Mr. Aroner and you advised DLSR employees that, if they don’t like it, then they should leave. So, what happened now? Why this late change in heart, if there is one? Of course, we don’t know whether you are the one who recommended the firing of Mr. Aroner to the Governor or the decision was initiated at a higher lever –perhaps even by the Governor himself.

There are those in DLSR and DIR who believe that the firing of Mr. Aroner was an attempt at damage control during this pre-election time and not the first step in an attempt to improve DLSR. Unfortunately, events after the firing of Mr. Aroner tend to support this theory. To date, and well over a month after Mr. Aroner’s firing, there has not been an announcement of any kind informing the employees of DLSR and DIR, as well as the public, that Mr. Aroner is no longer the Chief of DLSR. The Deputy Chief of DLSR, Maria Robbins, pretending she doesn’t know anything about Mr. Aroner’s no longer being employed by DIR, refuses to sign anything in lieu of him. Also, she has advised the DLSR employees to keep sending correspondence to the public as ostensibly originating from Mr. Aroner. So, the DLSR employees send letters to the public bearing the electronic signature of Mr. Aroner.

This circus in DLSR would be unacceptable in even a third world country. The DLSR’s employees know very well what Mr. Aroner and Maria Robbins have done or not done, and what is going on in the Division. What is the purpose of the contemptuous neglect in officially informing them about the status of Mr. Aroner? Do you think that this disregard toward the employees engenders respect on their part for the leadership of DIR?

We think that DIR and your office should come clean. Not only there should be an announcement about the status of Mr. Aroner, but a full disclosure of his doings during his tenure at DIR should be made public. Who first hired Mr. Aroner at DIR? What were Mr. Aroner’s duties before his appointment as a Chief, as well as afterwards? Has there been an investigation into how Mr. Aroner was spending his time in DLSR? Has there been an investigation into Mr. Aroner’s e-mails? What did this investigation discover? Has there been an inappropriate use by Mr. Aroner of State time and resources? What have been the ramifications of Mr. Aroner’s actions (or inactions) to DLSR and to employees in DLSR? Has there been injury to the interests of the State and to employees? A firing of Mr. Aroner at this time in order to just sweep the dirt under the carpet will not wash in the context of a responsible public agency.

We have also learned that Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, who has been charitably described by DLSR employees as the butler of the Deputy Chief of DLSR, Maria Robbins, has been granted a leave of absence from DIR, although he left the Division at the end of this past June and moved to Jamaica where he accepted a full time job. This leave is illegal. A leave of absence is granted to an employee who is expected to return to work after a set period of time (usually up to a year) and who has clearly declared this to be his or her intention. But this is not the case with Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi.

Although the person behind this leave is Maria Robbins, that leave could have only been implemented with the knowledge and collusion of the DIR Personnel and your office. One of the objectives of this illegal leave is to circumvent the statutory requirement that a vacant position must be eliminated if not filled within six months. We assume that part of your duties as Acting Director of DIR is to uphold the law. We would like to know how this duty of yours squares with the deliberate violation of State law by DLSR and DIR.

In these times, it is quite possible that the rule of law and ethical contact are not in vogue in State service and in DIR. It is also possible that intricacies and backroom dealings designed to serve interests other than those envisioned in DIR’s statement of purpose are the norm. And it is further possible that you have all the good intentions, but are prevented from taking the appropriate actions by others from above. But if the later is the case, then our suggestion to you is to do the right thing: resign from your position and expose any corruption you now experience. To do otherwise is equivalent to your being an accomplice to all the wrongdoings in DIR and DLSR.

I would welcome any response of yours to this letter or any of our postings, and promise to publish it in What Now?!

Sincerely,

Yaya Fanusie, Ph.D. Publisher of What Now?!

cc: Joe Elwell-Scardino
Legislative Advocate for What Now?!

PS. Although it has been close to two months since the firing of Mr. Aroner and his belongings being boxed, Mr. Aroner has yet to pick up his stuff from his former office. Since Mr. Aroner had made into his office the conference room previously used by many Divisions of DIR, this prevents DLSR from reverting the room to its former use. Many employees are asking why Mr. Aroner’s stuff is not stored in order to free the room and wonder why Mr. Aroner is treated differently than other employees. The employees recall the cases of several of their colleagues who were fired during Mr. Aroner’s tenure and who were ordered to clear their work areas of their belongings immediately.