WHISTLE-BLOWER SETTLES FOR $250,000 AS RETALIATION VICTIM.Byline: TROY ANDERSON Staff Writer Gamil Youssef, a journalist who emigrated from Egypt two decades ago, was hired in 1998 as an eligibility worker at the Department of Public Social Services' office in Rancho Park, where he always received outstanding performance evaluations. But after notifying his supervisor in 2001 that an applicant had tried to get food stamps using a fake Social Security number and expired driver's license Noun 1. driver's license - a license authorizing the bearer to drive a motor vehicle driver's licence, driving licence, driving license license, permit, licence - a legal document giving official permission to do something , his supervisors' treatment of him changed, Youssef said. He eventually filed suit claiming he was retaliated against for blowing the whistle on the fraud. Youssef's managers and supervisors called him a ``terrorist,'' his suit said, and told him they were keeping a secret file on him. When Youssef protested his treatment, he was transferred to a different office, assigned no duties and instructed to sit at his desk, not to move, open any windows or talk to anyone, the suit said. He also was excluded from important meetings. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five member governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district, the current members as of April 2006 are:
Before the settlement was approved, however, Youssef had complained to Supervisors Gloria Molina Gloria Molina is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and the current chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.[1] Molina grew up as one of ten children in the Los Angeles suburb of Pico Rivera, California, U.S. and Zev Yaroslavsky Zev Yaroslavsky (born December 21, 1948) is a Los Angeles County politician. He served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1975 until 1994, when he was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He was preceded in both offices by Edmund D. Edelman. about welfare fraud and ``abuse of power'' at DPSS DPSS Diode-Pumped Solid-State (laser) DPSS Department of Public Social Services DPSS Distributed-Parallel Storage System DPSS Datapath Synthesis System DPSS Data Processing Subsystem DPSS Digital Precision Strike Suite , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. records. ``These issues concerned corruption, abuse of power, mismanagement mis·man·age tr.v. mis·man·aged, mis·man·ag·ing, mis·man·ag·es To manage badly or carelessly. mis·man  age·ment n. , the main reasons for high rates of food stamp error and the pressure applied on the workers to issue benefits,'' Youssef wrote in a letter to Molina. ``In addition, I gave them 11 additional cases to investigate.'' Molina referred the issue to the county auditor for investigation, according to letters Yaroslavsky and Molina wrote Youssef. Shirley Christensen, special assistant to the director of DPSS, said the auditor found no merit in Youssef's allegations of fraud. Youssef filed a grievance, and Office of Affirmative Action affirmative action, in the United States, programs to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women. Compliance Director Dennis A. Tafoya wrote in a letter that an investigation found Youssef had been the victim of retaliation. ``The county regrets that this incident occurred and can assure you that the department has implemented the required corrective action,'' Tafoya wrote. However, according to Youssef's attorney, none of his client's co- workers or supervisors has been disciplined. County officials refused to comment, saying disciplinary actions are confidential. troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com (213) 974-8985 |
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