Discussing California’s OSHA program (Cal/OSHA) tend to be a game of “Best of times, worst of times.”
The state’s OSHA program is often praised for its issuance of OSHA standards that federal OSHA has failed to issue. These include standards covering airborne infectious diseases, ergonomics, heat, workplace violence and an improved Process Safety Management standard for refineries.
But the actual funding of the program has been inadequate, and the operation of the program is rife with scandal. The Sacramento Bee newspaper has run a series of investigative articles since August documenting shocking instances of management failure at Cal/OSHA. The series details the misuse of state funds to investigate selected employees, while turning a blind eye to a District Manager who has generated multiple formal complaints and lawsuits for bullying and creating a hostile work environment, run a side business using state resources, hired and promoted unqualified people as compliance officers, and ordered citations downgraded and approved “no violation” findings where workers have been injured and disabled.
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the Bee’s investigative series is that none of Cal/OSHA’s senior managers – Regional Managers, Deputy Chiefs, or Chief – has been held accountable for this string of human resource management scandals. These failures, which have a serious demoralizing impact inside and outside the agency, are in addition to the adverse effect of years-long understaffing and underfunding of Cal/OSHA’s enforcement offices that have seriously undermined the agency’s ability to protect California’s 19 million workers.
The major findings of the articles written by investigative reporter Joe Rubin and published in August and October include:
- Cal/OSHA spent $80,000 investigating District Manager Michael Loupe over seven allegations, including one that Loupe shot a toy bow-and-arow at a photograph of Governor Gavin Newsom. Loupe was cleared of all accusations 18 months after the February 2023 charges were made.
- The $80,000 Loupe investigation was part of a $500,000 no-bid contract given to the Shaw Law Group paid for by funds diverted by the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) from the Worker Compensation Administration Revolving Fund. State law prohibits the use of the worker comp funds for this type of expense, and DIR has failed to publicly report whether the worker comp funds have been repaid.
- Between 2020 and 2026, DIR has raided the Revolving Fund for $30 million to pay for pet projects, employee investigations, and other activities prohibited by state law for this fund.
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the Bee’s investigative series is that none of Cal/OSHA’s senior managers – Regional Managers, Deputy Chiefs, or Chief – has been held accountable for this string of human resource management scandals.
- No action has been taken by DOSH leadership regarding Santa Ana District Manager AJ Perera whom the Bee reported had:
- Been the target of multiple formal complaints and lawsuits related to bullying, verbal abuse, and a hostile work environment, including one lawsuit that resulted in a $40,000 settlement paid by DIR, and referrals to the California State Auditor;
- Run a personal side business – purchasing, remodeling and reselling homes – while being a District Manager and using state resources such as email; failing to provide legally-required safety equipment such as fall protection for roofers; and failing to pull required permits from local agencies for the construction work;
- Hired and promoted to inspector positions individuals (one of which was his wife) who did not have the training or experience to be inspectors, but whose resumes were “puffed” to meet the “minimum qualifications” for the jobs; and
- Ordered compliance officers to downgrade citations issued to employers found to be in violation of state law, or to issue no citations even in cases where workers were injured and disabled.
It should be noted that in 2021 the District Manager of the Santa Ana District Office, Richard Fazlollahi, plead guilty to 14 felonies in a bribery scheme involving receiving cash in return for reduced fines to employers who were found to be in violation of state law and who had injured employees. The Santa Ana District Office is in the same building as the office of the Region III Manager (who oversees the District Office) and the office of the current Chief of Cal/OSHA.
No one has been held accountable
As of this writing, DIR has not publicly confirmed that the workers comp funds used to pay for the Shaw Law Group’s investigations has been repaid by DIR. District Manager AJ Perera is still working for Cal/OSHA. No senior Cal/OSHA manager responsible for investigating Michael Loupe, or supervising Perera, or responding to multiple complaints of misuse of state resources, illegal hires and promotions, and downgrading worker protections in Perera’s office, has been held accountable.
This impunity for top Cal/OSHA managers has a corrosive and dispiriting impact on the ranks of DOSH employees who are trying to meet the mandate and mission of protecting workers in California.
This impunity for top Cal/OSHA managers has a corrosive and dispiriting impact on the ranks of DOSH employees who are trying to meet the mandate and mission of protecting workers in California. Field enforcement offices and inspectors are already suffering from years-long understaffing – more than ten field offices have had inspector vacancies greater than 50% over the last three years. Official statistics indicate that less than half of worker complaints and accident reports result in on-site inspections, and the number of citations issued after the rushed and perfunctory inspections that do occur has dropped over the last several years.
Media oversight goes dark
Unfortunately, there will not be Sacramento Bee follow-up articles on the investigative series because in September the hedge fund – Chatham Asset Management – that owns the Bee as part of the McClatchy newspaper chain, laid off Joe Rubin and more than 90 journalists and media workers at 17 publications in California and nationally.
At the Bee, in addition to Joe Rubin (the paper’s only investigative reporter), 15% of journalists were let go, including the entire sports department and the newspaper’s opinion desk.
Rubin’s last day at work was October 9th, so it is unlikely that any of the promises made by DIR to provide additional information about the repayment of workers comp funds, or about accountability for the management of the Santa Ana District Office, will ever see the light of day.
New Governor, New Cal/OSHA?
Another state official asleep at the wheel is Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom has been eager to portray himself as Donald Trump’s nemesis, but Newsom has followed Trump’s lead when it comes to worker health and safety.
Newsom has allowed and encouraged Cal/OSHA’ s budget problems to fester. I wrote about this problem earlier this year.
More than a third of the field inspector positions have been vacant during Newsom’s second term, and Newsom has proposed cuts to Cal/OSHA’s enforcement budget in each of the last three state fiscal years. These cuts come even though Cal/OSHA funding does not come out of taxes, but from a fund generated by fees on employers which has been running annual surpluses between $130 and $200 million during the same period.
It appears that presidential candidate Newsom is anxious to show his corporate campaign contributors that they have nothing to fear from him, that he is willing to throw worker health and safety under the bus along with the best of them, including Trump.
It appears that presidential candidate Newsom is anxious to show his corporate campaign contributors that they have nothing to fear from him, that he is willing to throw worker health and safety under the bus along with the best of them, including Trump.
In three months, California will have a new Governor. It is unknown what the new governor’s approach will be to protecting California workers’ health and safety in 2027, and whether the DOSH leadership responsible for the management failures revealed by the Sacramento Bee series will be held to account.
The change in administration in Sacramento is an opportunity to deal with the years-long crisis in inspector understaffing, underfunding of enforcement activities, and under-performance in meeting Cal/OSHA’s mandate and mission. The health, safety, and welfare of California workers depends on accountability, transparency, and a change of leadership at Cal/OSHA in the new year.
The four Sacramento Bee articles are attached, as well as a recent article on Cal/OSHA’s understaffing, underfunding, and performance declines:
How as CA whistleblower was probed and cleared by his agency _ Sacramento Bee, August 24, 2026
CA agency tapped workers’ comp fund to investigate its staff _ Sacramento Bee, August 24, 2026
Cal-OSHA official has record of abuse, workplace violations _ Sacramento Bee, October 8, 2026
Why does Cal-OSHA keep district manager accused of misconduct_ _ Sacramento Bee, October 8, 2026
Newsom follows Trump’s lead – Against the Current – Sept-Oct 2026