California Secret Policy Allows Governor to Veto Employment Discrimination Cases

If promises are meant to be broken, then secrets on the other hand are meant to be revealed.

In a report released by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes, secret policy long kept in California was revealed.

Under the said secret policy, the California governor is allowed to veto employment discrimination cases against public agencies without the need of providing explanation or disclosure. The policy goes by automatically sidetracking all public employees’ claims to an early settlement procedure regardless of its official status, according to reports. 

The said policy was adopted during the leadership of the former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and continues to take effect under the administration of the current governor, Jerry Brown. 

“The policy constitutes unequal treatment for public employees, creates a potential for abuse, and compromises the independence of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing,” according to the state legislative report.

“Taken to its extreme, it allows a California governor, in effect, to exempt public agencies from the state’s anti-discrimination law,” the report further said.

The report stressed out that before the secret policy took effect in 2008, 15 percent of enforcement actions were taken by the labor agency involving employment discrimination. Last year, that proportion remarkably dropped to one percent.

Meanwhile, in a response statement released to media sources by Gov. Brown’s spokesperson, Evan Westrup, he said:

“Contrary to this report’s deeply flawed claims, our focus is on protecting the rights of Californians while resolving disputes in the most fair and sensible manner. The people of California expect and deserve effective management of departments in the Executive Branch, which is precisely what we are doing.”

So far, state officials are not yet providing senate researchers regarding the number of employment discrimination claims denied by the Schwarzenegger administration. However, officials have already confirmed that the current administration has already denied one complaint while the fair labor agency affirmed that there have been more cases dropped by Brown’s administration.

In previous years, California have been religiously implementing extensive labor laws, making it one of the most employee-friendly states. Thus, who would have thought that the said state likewise houses such secret-policy that allows its governor to blatantly reject an employment discrimination claim against public agencies and its officials? I think no one has even foreseen that.