Minimum wage violations are on the rise

Good Morning, I’m Emilyn Mohebbi, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, May 16th.

>>>>

A new study finds minimum wage violations are on the rise. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

######

A dozen businesses in the Gaslamp Quarter are suing the city of San Diego, Mayor Todd Gloria and the city council for what they say is inadequate enforcement of the city’s sidewalk vending ordinance.

Our partner 10-News reports that in the lawsuit, the businesses say unlicensed vendors have stolen and driven away their customers.

The lawsuit seeks 12-million-dollars in damages, and aims to force the city to address the issue of illegal vendors.

Even if licensed, street vending is banned year-round in the Gaslamp Quarter.

########

The county this week confirmed a third case of measles this year.

A 13-month-old is believed to have contracted the virus overseas.

The infant was not vaccinated against the measles.

County health officials are warning that people may have been exposed last Sunday at Children’s Primary Care Medical Group El Cajon.

Or at the Rady Children’s Emergency Department on Monday.

Measles symptoms develop one to three weeks after exposure and include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a red rash.

Before this year, the last confirmed measles case in the county was in 20-19.

########

Some San Diego Unified School district high school graduates, will now have a guaranteed spot at Cal State San Marcos.

The new partnership was approved by the SD-U-S-D Board of Education earlier this week.

Graduating students will have to meet certain criteria to qualify… including meeting minimum C-S-U eligibility requirements, being enrolled in schools in the district from at least ninth grade and having a cumulative G-P-A of 3-point-OH or higher.

The new program will also include college prep services for students and families, starting in middle school.

#########

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

##########

A new study says that as the minimum wage rose in the state… so did minimum wage violations.

And Reporter Tania Thorne says, that impacted workers in San Diego.

A study conducted by Rutgers University found minimum wage theft violations more than doubled over a decade… affecting as many as 1-point-five million workers in four major cities in California, including San Diego. Jake Barnes is with the Workplace Justice Lab at Rutgers University. -We estimate between 2.3 and 4.6 billion dollars is being stolen from workers annually just in terms of minimum wage, theft meaning being paid underneath the statutory minimum wage that they're owed. He says the study found workers who were paid less than minimum wage - lost on average about $4000 or 20 percent of their total paycheck per year. Barnes said some of the workers - more likely to fall victim to wage theft are private household domestic workers - such as groundskeepers, childcare providers, and cleaners. He adds these are jobs often filled by people of color, women, or people who have less than a college education. TT KPBS News.

##########

The Pentagon continues to struggle with implementing new regulations and reforms on how it handles sexual assault and harassment.

That’s according to a pair of recent reports from its inspector general.

Military reporter Andrew Dyer spoke to one advocate about why the problem persists.

Rules requiring the military to to quickly transfer sexual assault victims to new units and for the Navy and Marines to closely document harassment are among several reforms meant to address these issues. two recent inspector general reports found these regulations aren’t always followed. Josh Connolly is the vice president of protect our defenders, a non-profit human rights organization focused on military justice. “it's stories like this and and and these two reports that highlight, the lack of seriousness and rigor that the various services are are handling this issue. The acting undersecretary of defense wrote in response that circumstances around each transfer are different and there are legitimate reasons for some delays. In their responses, the Navy and Marine corps say all of their harassment and assault procedures are currently being overhauled. ANDREW DYER, KPBS NEWS.

##########

Two former professors are suing Southwestern College for retaliation after reporting racial discrimination.

Reporter Katie Hyson spoke with alumni who say accountability is long overdue.

Southwestern is a mostly Latino community college in Chula Vista. Lowreen Azin enrolled in its dental hygiene program in 2016. It was her dream. It sounds a bit weird, but I thoroughly enjoy watching the calcified plaque break away from the enamel. But the first day, she says her professor, Kesa Waddell, said something odd. She said, ‘You know, 10, 15 years ago . . . you just see so many blondes. And now I look around the program, there's just so many brunettes. It's just so funny.’ Azin, who is Middle Eastern, says it was the first of many racially-tinged comments made by Waddell, who is white. Like she'll say it, but with a joke, you know? To where you would have to question yourself like, Wait, did she really just say that? Waddell – and college leadership – declined to comment on the claims in this story. Another day, Azin says -– She was saying, ‘Hey, if you guys see a big black man that's fixing the AC, don't be afraid. That is the dean's assistant. I thought that was just wild . . . Some of us looked at each other like, What is this lady saying? What is she trying to say more so? The indirectness made Azin question herself. Is this just me? Is it in my head? . . So I googled and I found a whole slew of . . .  complaints. Rate My Professors dot com is full of complaints against Waddell, including racism. Azin says she tried to talk to the program director, Jean Honny. She didn't even let me get a word in. She said, Listen, I know what this is about, and I'm going to tell you this right now. If you are going to be successful in private practice, gossip is only going to get you fired. Honny also declined to comment for this story. After hearing that with Honny, I was scared. Azin felt like she was up against a power structure that could break her dream. This is, you know, your livelihood. You've gone through so many years of school . . . You're at the mercy of these people. She failed out of her first year. She says Waddell kept losing her assignments and not totaling her points correctly. It costed me a year. I had to wait a whole nother year to reapply. And it was embarrassing. She says that time in her life has become a blur. There's a lot of things that I kind of just buried because I've never experienced something like that. Her classmate, Nelly Ramirez, says she’s buried it, too. But one incident with Waddell remains fresh in Ramirez’s mind years later. She and Azin were preparing to educate Chula Vista schoolchildren about how sugary drinks and candy affect dental health. She made a comment, ‘Don't you think you should be talking to them about eating tacos and burritos instead?’ . . . How do you process that? But students could confide, Azin says, in two professors. Linda Lukacs and Karen Kubischta. They heard with an open heart and treated you like a human being . . . All of the other students can attest to that. Students were afraid if they reported racist treatment, they would fail the program. So Lukacs and Kubischta brought a Title IX complaint on their behalf, with anonymous letters from nearly a dozen students. It names several faculty and staff, including Waddell and Honny. It describes professors speaking to students who have accents, quote, painfully slow and loud. A U.S.-born student copying an immigrant student’s work and receiving much higher scores. Students unable to sleep or concentrate in class because of racist treatment. And includes their own testimony, like Honny warning them to quote “be careful” when dealing with quote, “those people” – referring to African American and Muslim students. In the complaint, Lukacs and Kubischta also voiced fear that they would be retaliated against. And according to their recent lawsuit, that’s exactly what happened. Their lawyer, Arash Sadat. They start changing their hours. The school starts fabricating alleged violations against them. He says the school pulled Lukacs off a class she had taught for a decade. They denied both professors remote teaching during the pandemic. And then put them both on leave. The reason they're doing this is to get rid of these two professors who they believe to be a problem. If so, it ultimately worked. Both quit. Waddell retired recently. Sadat says before that, she received multiple promotions, taking Kubsichta’s old position. Honny took a position at a college in Riverside. Even today, former students like Azin say they’re still nervous to speak. But they must. For all the other students, we have to say something. This has been going on for so many years. In 2018, a USC report found a quote, “climate of anti-blackness” at Southwestern. Tomorrow, we’ll hear from college leadership about what they’ve done since to change that. And from current Black students. Katie Hyson, KPBS News.

##########

Coming up.... The San Diego International Fringe Festival kicks off tonight.

“We like to say it's eleven days of eyeball busting theatrical experiences, which pretty much is actually fairly accurate.”

We have a preview of the festival, just after the break.

##########

The San Diego International Fringe Festival kicks off tonight (Thursday).

Arts reporter Beth Accomando previews what’s new, with festival director of operations Shaun Davis, and award-winning fringe artist Kata [Kaw-tuh] Pierce-Morgan.

BETH ACCOMANDO We are on the eve of the new San Diego International Fringe Festival, and I can't really think of a better place to do an interview than the fringe of the Fringe in the private room of Les Girls Theater. So, Shaun, talk about what the spirit of Fringe is for people who maybe have never been. SHAUN DAVIS Well, we like to say it's eleven days of eyeball busting theatrical experiences, which pretty much is actually fairly accurate. The Fringe brings in acts from across the city, across the county, across the state, across the nation, across the country, and across the world. And it's an opportunity for people in San Diego to get to see theatrical performances that unless you are really well-traveled, you will never get a chance to see. And that's one of the best things about the Fringe, is that we really do bring the world to your doorstep, kind of with, with shows. BETH ACCOMANDO And, Kata, you have been performing at Fringe for a number of years, and you are part of what's called BYOV, which is bring your own venue. So explain what the stage of Les Girls will be having this year. KATA PIERCE-MORGAN Well, this year we're doing No Regrets, which is a story, a true story, that actually happened when the corrupt cops raided…the startled strippers. And what's so exciting about this is that when you get to be part of Fringe, which I've been part of it for years, and, you know, I used to do standalone theater here, but I discovered that the very best place to perform and to do the kind of things that we want to do that aren't boring, that aren't traditional is through the San Diego International Fringe Festival. So we're totally committed. BETH ACCOMANDO And this year you are also so excited about Fringe that you have offered them an additional venue at Lincoln park. KATA PIERCE-MORGAN Yes. Well, you know, when I first communicated with Shawn that I wanted to donate my church complex, my 21,000ft building with an acre of parking, easily enough for 60 cars, you know, to come to the family friendly fringe, which is on May 18 us, and also on May 25. I am so thrilled to be part of fringe in this way this year, and I hope we do it next year as well. BETH ACCOMANDO And what does this mean to you, Shaun, to have additional venues? SHAUN DAVIS Coming out of COVID We had pretty much stuck to just the two venues in Balboa park. And this year, we really. I wanted us to regain our title of the largest international performing arts festival in San Diego county. And I think we've done that since we've got over 300 performances and 60 groups and eleven venues. And Kata adding her two venues to that, as well as, Les Girls, that really helped out a lot, and it helped get. It helped give us space for all of these people who are coming in to do performances. And like she said, we've got Family Fringe there. This year, for two days, we're doing four days of Family Fringe, which normally we only do one. So we've bumped up that. We've bumped up how many shows we're doing. BETH ACCOMANDO Now, you mentioned that you don't know quite what's going to be there till it gets there. Explain to people what is unique about fringe in terms of this kind of uncensored, unjuried approach. SHAUN DAVIS Well, being part of both CAF and USAFF, which is the Canadian association of Fringe Festivals and the US association of Fringe Festivals, we are not allowed to jury, so we cannot say, okay, well, send us a tape, send us a script, we'll read it, and if we like you, we'll bring you. Everybody can apply,, whatever it is, as long as you fit our criteria, which is less than an hour or less, you can apply. And so when we get down to actually picking people, what happens is the first 50% of each category automatically get in. So it's kind of the same thing. It's sort of the luck of the draw when you go and pick your shows. BETH ACCOMANDO All right, well, I want to thank you both very much for giving us a just tiny preview of this year's fringe festival. SHAUN DAVIS Oh, you're welcome. Thank you so much. KATA PIERCE-MORGAN And thank you, Beth.

TAG: The San Diego International Fringe Festival runs through May 26th at multiple venues.

##########

That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top stories. I’m Emilyn Mohebbi. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.