Government officials, representatives of the adult industry, STD specialists, and HIV policy advocates will testify tomorrow at a public hearing on the health and safety of workers in the adult industry that will likely be the first real shot fired in the state government’s attempt to regulate the adult industry. Sources within the California State Labor Department say that the state feels that they have a strong case for requiring mandatory condoms using existing California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) regulations.
The hearing, called for by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), who chairs the Assembly Labor Committee, will consist of four panels, each covering a different aspect of health and safety standards within the adult industry and the pros or cons of regulation, depending on the panelists opinion. There will be a public response period after all of the panels are finished.
Representing the adult industry on a panel discussing the adult industry’s reaction to regulation will be: Kat Sunlove and Jeffrey Douglas, the executive director and chairman of the board, respectively, of the Free Speech Coalition; AIM Healthcare Foundation’s executive director Dr. Sharon Mitchell, PhD.; Gill Sperlein, general counsel for gay production company Titan Media; and AVN Hall of Fame performer Nina Hartley, who is also a registered nurse.
The state and local government agencies will have their views presented on the first panel of the morning, which will include Cal/OSHA’s Deputy Chief for Enforcement Vicky Heza, who is expected to endorse government regulation of the adult industry on the basis of laws protecting employees from blood born pathogens. Cal/OSHA’s jurisdictional claims hinge on the classification of adult performers as employees, rather than contract workers, the classification of workers that adult industry lawyers are likely to argue talent falls into.
If adult performers are found to be employees, Cal/OSHA health and safety standards will have to be adhered to or production companies will face citations that could result in fines or even the possibility of being shut down.
The definition of a “employer” and “employee” varies from government program to program, but if the state Labor Department’s stance that adult performers are employees is ascertained to be correct, then blood borne pathogen regulations will require not only condoms, but other personal protective equipment including dental dams and possibly even goggles.
In fact, Cal/OSHA has already received an official complaint about the safety and health conditions that adult performers work under, something the state’s workplace safety oversight agency has repeatedly claimed they needed before getting involved in safety issues pertinent to the adult industry. They have six months to complete their investigation once it begins, which should be sometime this month.
Cal/OSHA must first find the employer, which could be difficult in the adult industry where small companies sometimes produce videos that are then sold to bigger companies, who then release the video through yet another company. Yet the labor department feels confident that their enforcement agents are up to the task – they have been successful in past experiences in other industries they feel are comparable in organizational structure, such as construction.
If the employer is identified, then Cal/OSHA will inform the employer why they are investigating, though they will not identify the employee who has filed a complaint unless the employee authorizes that information. Cal/OSHA will then explain why the complaint falls under their jurisdiction, and then inspect the company’s injury and illness program.
In the case of the adult industry, videos may be used as evidence of failure to comply with Cal/OSHA regulations.
The labor department expects that after Cal/OSHA begins issuing citations, and can issue fees up to six-figure amounts depending on intent and criminality of the violation in question, many companies will begin to voluntarily abide by the Cal/OSHA standards, and eventually will begin turning in those companies who have gone underground so that they can compete on a level playing field.
Dr. Jonathan Fielding, M.D., the Director of Public Health for Los Angeles County, and Dr. Gail Bolan, M.D., who heads the STD control branch of the state health department, will round out the panel regarding the state and local government’s role in protecting those who work in the adult industry from work related hazards.
Fielding has previously expressed his belief that condoms should be mandatory; an opinion shared by most public health officials and Cal/OSHA according to the source within the labor department.
Fielding was charged by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors with the task of working with Cal/OSHA to ensure the safety of workers in the adult industry on April 20, in a motion introduced by Supervisor Yvonne Burke, the same board member that sought to ban strip clubs last year.
Dr. Robert Bolan, M.D., the medical director of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, and Dr. Thomas J. Coates, Ph.D., a professor of infectious diseases at UCLA, will appear on a third panel to give a third party risk assessment and solutions that might make working conditions safer for adult performers and crews.
Martha Matthews, a staff attorney for the ACLU, and Michael Weinstein, chairman of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an AIDS activist group that frequently weighs in on issue pertinent to HIV or AIDS, will appear on the final panel of the day to present their concerns about the constitutionality of mandating condoms.
In April, the ACLU threatened to sue the Los Angeles County Health Department for privacy violations after they seized the records of 51 quarantined performers during the HIV outbreak.
Assembly Bill 2798, a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Tim Leslie (R- Lake Tahoe) that sought to require the adult industry to abide by whatever standards health officials deemed appropriate, isn't expected to be a major part of the meeting, and is now considered unlikely to be revived next year. “The most we could say is that the bill prompted this meeting,” Brian O’Neel, press secretary for Assemblyman Leslie, told AVN.com. “But the bill is pretty much a non-factor at this point.”
The broader issue of whether or not to enact other laws to ensure the safety of performers in the adult industry is expected to be touched upon throughout the day. Assemblyman Koretz will likely be the only member of the state legislature present, though his role as chair of the Assembly Labor Committee makes him a pivotal player in what ever may come from the meeting.
The public meeting will be held at the Van Nuys State Office Building, located at 6150 Van Nuys Blvd. from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
