August 11, 2003

Gray Davis
Governor
State of California
1st Floor State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

Subject: Undermining and sabotage of the public policy of the State of California: fitness for office of William Ahern, Executive Director of California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

Dear Governor Davis:

I am writing to your on behalf of The Concerned Staff Committee of the California Public Utilities Commission requesting your prompt intervention to remedy an appalling set of activities, acts and decisions surrounding the interviewing and hiring of William Ahern as Executive Director of CPUC.

On late January, 2003, it was announced to the Commission staff that Michael Peevey, President of the Commission, and the other Commissioners selected William Ahern to replace Wes Franklin who was then Executive Director of CPUC.

We believe that the appointment of William Ahern is not in the public interest and it is a deliberate conspiracy to undermine the stated Public Policy of the State of California on Employment Rights.

Statement of Facts

On March 17, 1993, in a jury trial in United States District Court, Northern District of California, found William Ahern violated FEHA STATE LAW BY aiding, abetting, inciting, compelling, and coercing acts forbidden by the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA STATE LAW).

The jury found Ahern conspired to fail to promote Maurice Crommie and Arthur Mangold in violation of public policy. The fundamental public policy Ahern violated was age discrimination and retaliation. The court also found William Ahern violated the Age Discrimination Employment Act, a Federal Law. Twenty five additional employees whom Ahern failed to promote and also subjected to acts of retaliation settled for over 2 million dollars through Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) litigation.

The California Public Utilities Commission, as a result of William Ahern’s violation of state and federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination and retaliation, paid damages of over three hundred thousand dollars (Taxpayers Money) to Maurice Crommie and Arthur Mangold.

In addition, and through an EEOC brokered settlement, the CPUC paid several thousand dollars ( out of court settlement) to about 25 other employees whose rights under FEHA State Law and ADEA Federal Law were violated by Mr. Ahern.

Maurice Crommie and Arthur Mangold were awarded additional damages under California Law for Wrongful Employment Action in Violation of public Policy.

In January, 2003, your designated President of the Commission Michael Peevey together with the other commissioners appointed William Ahern as the new Executive Director of the Commission.

It was reported that the Commission spent over fifty million dollars(Taxpayers’ Fund) resolving William Ahern’s violation of Federal Law and State Law prohibiting Employment Discrimination and Retaliation.

I sent an email message to President Michael Peevey on January 31, 2003 indicating many employees were very angry about the Ahern’s appointment and the employees were certain that President Peevey and Commissioners did not have knowledge that Mr. Ahern was found to have violated both Federal and Stale Laws prohibiting employment discrimination and retaliation.

I did not receive a response from President Peevey. I sent a follow up email on February 4, 2003. Again, I did not get a response from Mr. Peevey, but I received a request from Wes Franklin who just stepped down as Executive Director (it was alleged Wes was pressured by Peevey to step down) to meet with them on February 5, 2003 to discuss my emails sent to President Peevey. The emails are attached.

On February 5, 2003 around 3.30pm, I met with Wes Franklin, Gary Cohen, Chief Counsel, Peter Arth, Chief of Staff for President Peevey, Diana Lee, attorney of Legal Division, and Patrick McDermott, Labor Relations Officer for CPUC. I told them many employees in the Commission wanted to know if President Peevey knew that the US Federal Court and the EEOC had found Ahern responsible for violation of Federal and California State Laws forbidding employment discrimination and retaliation. I was told Peevey knew those facts but he decided to appoint William Ahern as the new Executive Director of CPUC. I told them I would like it in writing.

Governor Gray Davis, the appointment of William Ahern is a promotion for him; when he left the Commission he was just a division director; not an executive director.

We see this action as giving the Green Light to managers and supervisors. The message is clear: “you can go ahead and discriminate and retaliate. The State of California will be grateful and will promote you to a more powerful position. The State of California does not care about its own publicly declared public policy.”

The sordid joke going around the Commission is that the appointment of Mr. Ahern as Executive Director of the CPUC is analogous to a child care center’s employee found guilty of sexually molesting 30 children of the center and then 10yrs later appointed director of the center.

The taxpayers paid for Ahern’s violations of federal and state laws. Between 25 and 30 million dollars was expended from state funds. This is unacceptable to many within the Commission and outside.


His appointment undermines the public policy of the State of California.

The State’s Office of Civil Rights states:

It is the policy of the State of California to provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified job applicants based on merit, and to prohibit illegal discrimination in every aspect of personnel policies and employment including recruitment, examining, hiring, promotion, training, work assignments, work environment, and other privileges of employment.

Agencies and departments shall ensure that this policy is fully implemented and or retaliatory actions are not taken against applicants or employees for exercising their civil rights under this policy.

The appointment of William Ahern as Executive Director of the PUC without the usual employment/personnel practice of publicly announcing the vacancy is unfair and discriminatory, because it deprived many qualified applicants from the opportunity to apply and thus allowed Mr. Ahern an undeserved advantage.

We are appealing to you to redress this blatant circumvention of the public policy of the state by rescinding the appointment of Ahern as Executive Director of CPUC.


You are responsible for what President Peevey does because according to CPUC CODE # 305, you appointed the President of the Commission and the President of the Commission is accountable to you.


Yours truly,


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

Attachments
cc. Speaker of the Assembly
John Burton
Willie Brown
Maxine Waters
Joe Elwell-Scardino
Richard Rogers