A whistleblower complaint charging the Department of Industrial Relations with misuse of state and federal funds designated for Cal/OSHA, the state workplace health and safety agency, was filed with the California State Auditor on Tuesday, April 1st by a 20-year veteran of the agency – me -- who retired in January 2014.
I spent my last 2½ years working as the Special Assistant to the Chief of the Division in Cal/OSHA headquarters in Oakland. In my complaint I said “an investigation by the State Auditor is needed because only trained accountants familiar with state operations and procedures will be able to penetrate what has been an opaque ‘black box’ of DIR’s handling of funds designated for Cal/OSHA, depriving the agency of millions of dollars needed to protect workers in California.”