What do you do?
I’m a Department of Labor attorney. In my part of in the Department of Labor, we are basically civil prosecutors, or trial attorneys for any violations of regulations that the Department of Labor oversees. We have client agencies that do investigations and pass any cases that get contested to us. We then go and litigate the cases. Some of our client agencies include OSHA, MSHA, WHD, OWCP, BLS, and ERISA. Litigation includes things like civil discovery, depositions, subpoenaing witnesses, going to trial, and settling cases if possible.
Most of our work is before administrative Article II courts, though sometimes the work falls into Article III federal district court.
How did you find your way into civil service?
I knew I wanted to be do something public interest-related for a long time. I am from the South, and I always wanted to give back to the region, I wanted to try to make it better and get people what they are owed and deserve in a place that is mostly left behind, and exploited by capital or political leaders.
I went to law school thinking I might get directly into politics, but I got disillusioned pretty quickly. Since I knew I was going to have to be a lawyer, and most lawyers end up working for big corporate firms that do grunt work for big capital, I decided I wanted to either work for a public interest firm, or for the government, in the South if I could. Ultimately, that lead me to DOL.
What is important about this work to you, personally?
I am proud to do it because I think, in some way, I am helping to make working in America safer and more just. Winning a case, or settling on good terms for us, means that workers get money their bosses stole from them, it means companies that exploit child labor have to pay for it, and it means contractors who put employees in dangerous positions, or hurt them, or even kill them will have to pay. We can also help people recover lost retirement funds, or make sure they get worker’s compensation they are owed.
Criminal law often will simply not hold people to account for the abuses we deal with, which may be a failing of the system, but we get to at least push back on it, and rectify real dangers and injustices in American labor. So, I am very proud of that, it makes me feel good to know that I have one of the few jobs in law that helps the law work for people without resources. I can say that I have helped recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen overtime and wages, which is what I would be proudest of.
What should be important about this work to Americans? Why does it matter?
It matters because without us, and this is especially true for our clients, there is nothing standing between a worker and their boss. When they withhold your paycheck, or injure you, or deny you what you have worked for, we are the people that can get it back. We make sure America is a safe and secure place to work, as much as we’re allowed to by federal law.
What does all of this chaos and dysfunction mean to you? Do you have a sense of how it’s all going to impact your work and your mission?
It has been absolutely awful. One thing that I think is missing in a lot of media coverage is how, especially for those of us not in Washington, none of DOGE’s actions or requirements are communicated to us or our supervisors. We often find out about things when an email arrives in our inboxes, or when we read about it on the news. Thus, the chain of command is unclear as to the legal effect or authority for things. The chaos is a massive security risk for case details or information, since we are often asked by anonymous unsigned emails to reply or provide information without prewarning.
My office has also spent weeks wondering if we will come in and suddenly be fired without warning due to the lack of communication. Multiple employees, good and productive employees, have been functionally terminated due to the return to office policy. I have never, ever, been more furious in my life at these people, who are ruining good things they do not understand without even pretending to learn about the necessary work we all do. I have had to delay buying a house, and possibly starting a family, because I simply do not know if my job will exist in 3 months.
The biggest effect will be increased workload for us all, as we were already a bit understaffed. Obviously, that will lead to decreased attention on each individual thing and will more corner-cutting. I expect that the way that gets dealt with is that we just end up taking fewer cases, prioritizing the worst abuses, meaning a lot of stuff will fall through the cracks or be settled at the client level on more favorable terms for the violators.
People should understand that this is not about efficiency or saving the government money. My department makes the government money through penalties, and returns money to people that earned it. This is a chaotic, vague process that is being done randomly and without guidance or forethought. The result of that is knocking over trees they do not even know exist, hurting good people who forewent much higher paying jobs because they wanted to help people and serve their country. I can tell you that just about everyone I work with is proud to work for the American public and earnestly believes that service means something. We’re not leeches, we want to work for the everyone.
The worst part is that when they get us, there will be more people being exploited by their bosses whose calls go unanswered and never see the paycheck that was stolen from them.
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