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Copyright 2009 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Sacramento Bee (California)

June 18, 2009 Thursday
METRO FINAL EDITION

SECTION: MAIN NEWS; Pg. A3

LENGTH: 437 words

HEADLINE: Ex-analyst now fights furloughs

BYLINE: Jon Ortiz jortiz@sacbee.com

BODY:
Pat Whalen thought his life would go like this: Day shift as a Department of
Justice analyst. Law school at night. Degree. Fulfilling state career. Secure
retirement.
But champion of state workers? Leading legal wrench in Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's furlough machine?
He never saw it coming.
"I worked for DOJ for 19 years and intended to devote my career to criminal
prosecution," Whalen said. " I truly enjoyed public service."
But now the 43-year-old McGeorge School of Law grad works for Ellison Wilson
Advocacy LLC. The Sacramento lobbying/law firm's clients include the union that
covers the state's adjudicating law judges and attorneys -- Whalen's former
crowd.
He left reluctantly, pushed by trends he thinks have eroded the state's legal
corps.
State attorney wages lag behind those of counterparts at the local level by
up to 50 percent. And California's adjudicating law judges -- the folks who set-
tle disputes over workplace grievances, unemployment claims and such -- have
similar complaints when they look at what federal ALJs earn.
Whalen said his state pay wasn't even keeping up with inflation. His mort-
gage, school loans and other bills stayed constant, while his salary was shrink-
ing in real terms. So he left last year for more money. "I had to put the needs
of my family first," Whalen said.
Then the governor went into furlough mode, and Whalen got really busy.
In April a San Francisco Superior Court judge agreed with with him that fur-
loughing the employees at the quasi-public State Compensation Insurance Fund is
illegal. It was the first time the governor's contract lawyers, who had billed
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Ex-analyst now fights furloughs Sacramento Bee (California) June 18, 2009
Thursday
about $190,000 through mid-April for fighting various furlough lawsuits, lost a
challenge to the policy.
The decision, now on appeal, affects about only 500 of State Fund's 8,000
staff, but many state employees following the case hailed Whalen.
"I was getting calls from state workers for three weeks after the decision,"
he said.
Whalen's firm also sued Schwarzenegger over pay parity for state attorneys,
arguing that the low wages have turned the state into an employer of last resort
and a taxpayer-subsidized training ground for firms and public agencies that pay
more.
Sacramento's 3rd District Court of Appeal disagreed. Last month it told the
union to take its argument back to the bargaining table. Lower pay doesn't al-
ways equal poorer performance, the court said, and it didn't see any "compelling
evidence of a catastrophic brain drain."
In other words, if you're unhappy, do what Whalen did: Fire your employer.
Call The Bee's Jon Ortiz, (916)321-1043. Read his blog, The State Worker, at
sacbee.com/blogs.

NOTES: THE STATE WORKER

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