Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed openly gay civil rights attorney Kevin Kish to lead the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, filling a vacancy atop an agency under scrutiny for its own employment record, the Sacramento Bee.
An adjunct law professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services’ employment law project, Kish would assume leadership of an agency beset by allegations of inappropriate hiring and promotion practices. The Senate would need to confirm Kish’s appointment to the post, which carries an annual salary of $150,198.
“Kevin Kish is one of the best litigators I have ever known, and LGBT Californians are gaining a strong and passionate legal champion who will work hard to ensure everyone in California gets a fair shot on the job and a fair chance to rent or own housing,” said Tico Almeida, the Latino founder and president of the national LGBT organization Freedom to Work. “Latino Californians are also gaining a strong advocate who has already taken on and won significant victories against the unlawful traffickers in human beings, the exploiters of hard working immigrants, and all those criminals who would put corporate profit above human fairness.”
