Here at our firm, we constantly deal with significant misinformation presented by the Bureau of Automotive Repair and the Office of Attorney General.
We’ve discussed both the Bureau’s and Attorney General’s attempt to mislead in the past. As you know, this of course is intentional.
Today, we are specifically talking about instances where the Bureau or the Attorney General (who represents the Bureau in Accusations, License Denials, Interim Suspension Orders, etc.) tells a licensed facility or technician:
“If you just sign this, it’ll be like a one-year suspension and you can reapply one year from now. So it’s just like a one-year suspension. If you fight this, you may lose your ability to have a license forever.”
Well, that sounds reasonable.
In light of possibly losing your ability to have an ARD, Smog Station, or Advanced Emission Specialist for eternity, a one-year suspension sounds considerably better than a potential lifetime ban.
What neither the Bureau or the Attorney General will tell you is that this is a lie. The Bureau will use this stipulation to deny you a license for as long as they see fit.
Essentially, you are granting the Bureau every excuse to deny you a license solely based on your previous discipline.
In fact, in every disciplinary order is an admission that you in fact did exactly what is listed in the Accusation, Statement of Issues, etc., stating you are admitting you did the most awful heinous thing that was alleged.
What this does is create a slam-dunk case for the Bureau to keep you out of the profession for a very long time. This, of course, is their goal. They now have a signed admission, which in a sense is undeniable proof that you are a threat to the public.
The dirty little secret is you can always reapply after one year of any form of license denial, revocation, etc. You do not need to sign something in order to be able to reapply after one year.
Do not give up your right to contest these charges at hearing because someone told you that you would be able to reapply in one year if you sign something. You have this right no matter what route you choose. If you do not defeat this action at hearing, it will become a permanent part of your record, thereby limiting your options in the future.
Of course they tell you that you can reapply in a year – but they won’t grant you a license. They will have a signed stipulation from you telling them how awful and frightening you are to the public because of your previous actions and admissions.
So go ahead and reapply after a year of signing off on a stipulation, just don’t be surprised by the answer the Bureau of Automotive Repair is going to give you.
It will be a very long time before a license will be granted.
-William Ferreira