About Tipped Workers in the Accomodation & Food Services (AFS) Sector - #Michael Ayele (a.k.a) W - #AOC

2. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 W (AACL) Michael A. Ayele P.O.Box 20438 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia E-mail : waacl13@gmail.com ; waacl1313@gmail.com ; waacl42913@gmail.com Date. : December 02nd 2022 Request for Records Hello, This is Michael A. Ayele sending this message though I now go by W. You may call me W. I am writing this letter to file a request for records with your office.i The bases for this records request are [1] the July 10th 2014 report published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) on the subject of “Why It’s Time to Give Tipped Workers the Regular Minimum Wage;”ii [2] the statements made by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on (or around) May 31st2019 “to draw attention to increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour” in the United States of America (U.S.A);iii [3] the September 11th 2017 complaint filed by Jovanna Edge, Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrerro and Matteson Hernandez in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington;iv [4] the December 13th 2022 webinar that will be hosted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S Department of Labor (DOL) Women’s Bureau (WB) on the subject of “Tipped Workers in the Restaurant Industry.” v [5] the December 07th 2022 webinar that will be hosted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights on the subject of “Embracing Diversity: Civil Rights Protections for Immigrants and Refugees.”vi I) Requested Records What I am requesting for prompt disclosure are records in your possession detailing [1] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a Latina woman, who was born October 13th 1989 in the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx in the State of New York;vii [2] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who attended Boston University, and graduated with degrees in Economics and International Relations in May 2011; [3] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who has previously performed an internship with the late Senator Edward Moore Kennedy when she was a student of Boston University; [4] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who worked as a waitress and a bartender following the financial crisis of 2008 when she was a student of Boston University;viii [5] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who worked for the Bernie Sanders W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 1

3. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 campaign during the 2016 presidential election;ix [6] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who launched her first campaign for Congress in May 2017;x [7] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who shocked the Democratic political establishment, when she defeated former Congressman Joseph Crowley in June 2018; [8] your discussions about Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who was in January 2019 sworn-in as the youngest woman and youngest Latina ever to serve in Congress;xi [9] your discussions about Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who has continued to speak about her previous employment as a waitress and a bartender even after she was elected as the youngest woman and youngest Latina to ever serve in Congress in January 2019; [10] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who doesn’t deny being harassed when she was working as a waitress in New York beginning Calendar Year 2008;xii [11] the extent of your knowledge on whether Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez ever filed a charge of discrimination pursuant to Title VII of the 1964 and 1991 Civil Rights Act with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for the harassment she endured while working as a waitress in the State of New York; [12] the extent of your knowledge on whether the EEOC reached out in good faith to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to discuss with them the harassment she endured when she was working as a waitress in the State of New York beginning Calendar Year 2008; [13] the extent of your knowledge on whether the EEOC reached out in good faith to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to inquire if she has personal knowledge of women, who were being harassed when they were employed as waitresses; [14] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who has on March 08th 2019 revealed that she was mocked for having previously worked as a waitress;xiii [15] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who has on May 11th 2019 publicly repudiated the “idea that financial struggle is due to ‘poor character;’” xiv [16] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who has on May 31st 2019 “returned to work at a bar in Jackson Heights, Queens” to “draw attention to increasing the minimum wage to $15 (fifteen dollars) per hour across the whole country;” [17] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who has on May 31st 2019 stated that it is unacceptable for the “federal tipped minimum wage to be $2.13 (two dollars and thirteen cents) an hour;” [18] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who has on May 31st2019 stated that “any job that pays $2.13 an hour is not a job” but “indentured servitude;” [19] your discussions about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a woman, who’s very much in favor of setting the federal minimum wage to $15/hour for all workers (whether or not they are in the accommodation and food services sector); [20] your discussions about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded that 89% (eighty nine percent) of Black/African American adults favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, including 73% (seventy three percent) who support the idea strongly; [21] your discussions about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded that three-quarters of Hispanics (76%) and Asian Americans (73%) favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, with 52% of Hispanics and 43% of Asians saying they strongly support the idea; [22] your discussions about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 2

4. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 that 51% (fifty one percent) of Caucasian U.S adults favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour; [23] your discussions about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded that six-in-ten U.S adults (62%) favor raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour; [24] your discussions about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded that a significant majority of the U.S public agrees with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on the subject of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour (for all workers); xv [25] your discussions about the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as a legislation that established “many of the basic labor protection workers enjoy today, such as the 40-hour workweek, overtime protection, and a national minimum wage;” [26] your discussions about the FLSA as a legislation that introduced a new “subminimum wage” for workers who customarily and regularly receive tips;xvi [27] your discussions about the July 2014 finding of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which concluded that “tipped workers would be better off if we simply eliminated the tipped minimum wage, and paid these workers the full regular minimum wage;”xvii [28] your discussions about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that the “restaurant industry is an intense user of both minimum wage and tipped wage workers, with more than 60 percent of tipped workers employed in food service;” [29] your discussions about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that “tipped workers are predominantly women (66.6 percent) and disproportionately young” with the majority being at least 25 (twenty five) and over one in four being at least 40 (forty) years of age; [30] your discussions about the finding of the EPI, which concluded that “tipped workers have a median wage (including tips) of $10.22 (ten dollars and twenty two cents), compared with $16.48 (sixteen dollars and forty eight cents) for all workers;” [31] your discussions about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that “while the poverty rate of non-tipped workers is 6.5 (six and a half) percent, tipped workers have a poverty rate of 12.8 (twelve point eight) percent;” [32] your discussions about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that “tipped workers are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty as are non-tipped workers;”[33] your discussions about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that “poverty rates are significantly lower for tipped workers in states where they receive the full regular minimum wage;” [34] your discussions about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that “workers in the accommodation and food service industry – an industry with a high concentration of tipped workers – are offered paid leave (sick, holiday, and vacation leave), health insurance, and retirement benefits at rates far below those of private sector workers overall;” xviii [35] your discussions about the September 11th 2017 complaint filed by Jovanna Edge alongside Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson Hernandez in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; [36] your discussions about Jovanna Edge as an “individual and resident of Monroe, Washington” who “owns and operates a chain of drive up coffee businesses, and specifically bikini-barista stands in Everett, Washington;” [37] your discussions about Leah Humphrey as an “individual and resident of Fall City, Washington” who “earns her living as a bikini barista in Everett, Washington;” [38] your discussions about Leah Humphrey as a woman, who believes that bikinis shouldn’t be sexualized; [39] your discussions about Leah Humphrey as a woman, who has previously stated that she wears bikinis for the purpose of accepting her body-image and W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 3

5. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 having her body image accepted by the people around her; xix [40] your discussions about Liberty Ziska as “an individual and resident of Mukilteo, Washington” who “earns her living as a bikini barista in Everett, Washington;” [41] your discussions about Liberty Ziska as a woman, who believes that women should wear what they want and what makes them comfortable; xx [42] your discussions about Amelia Powell as “an individual and resident of Seattle, Washington” who “earns her living as a bikini barista in Everett, Washington;” [43] your discussions about Amelia Powell as a woman who was attending a “prominent four year university in the Seattle area” to complete her post-secondary academic education in international relations and political science at the time she was employed in Everett, Washington; [44] your discussions about Amelia Powell as a woman, who chooses to wear bikinis to express that she is “young, fun and confident;” [45] your discussions about Natalie Bjerke as an “individual and resident of Snohomish, Washington” who “earns her living as a bikini barista in Everett, Washington;” [46] your discussions about Natalie Bjerke as a woman, who believes that “women dressed in bikinis at a bikini barista stand create messages of empowerment and approachability, and that without the bikini the customers would not receive the same messages;”xxi [47] your discussions about Brittany Giazzi as an “individual and resident of Kirkland, Washington” who “earns her living as a bikini barista in Everett, Washington;” [48] your discussions about Brittany Giazzi as a woman, who chooses to wear bikinis at work to proudly display her tattoos; xxii [49] your discussions about Juanita Castaneda Guerrero as an “individual and resident of Kirkland, Washington” who “earns her living as a bikini barista in Everett, Washington;” [50] your discussions about Matteson Hernandez as an “individual and resident of Everett, Washington” who “earns her living as a bikini barista in Everett, Washington;” [51] your discussions about Matteson Hernandez as a woman, who’s employed as a dental assistant in addition to working as a bikini barista in Everett, Washington; [52] your discussions about the decision of Jovanna Edge, Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson Hernandez to file a complaint with the U.S District Court for the Western District of Washington for the purpose of challenging the constitutionality of the City of Everett Ordinance No. 3559 –17, which “prohibits women from exposing ‘more than one-half of the part of the female breast located below the top of the areola’ and the ‘bottom one-half of the anal cleft;’” [53] your discussions about the decision of Jovanna Edge, Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson Hernandez to file a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington for the purpose of challenging the constitutionality of the City of Everett Ordinance No. 3560 –17, which requires workers “to cover completely their upper and lower body, including the pectorals, stomach, back below the shoulder blades, and the ‘top three inches of legs below the buttocks’” xxiii[54] the extent of your knowledge on whether Jovanna Edge, Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson Hernandez ever reached out to the U.S Department of Labor (DOL) Women’s Bureau (WB) to inform them that the city government of Everett, Washington was specifically targeting them to prohibit them from earning a living wage as bikini baristas; [55] the extent of your knowledge on whether Jovanna Edge, Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 4

6. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 Hernandez ever filed a complaint of discrimination with the DOL and/or the EEOC against the City of Everett, Washington; [56] the complaints filed by Jovanna Edge, Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson Hernandez with the DOL against the City of Everett, Washington; [57] the extent of your knowledge on whether the city government of Everett, Washington reached out to the DOL (WB) and/or the EEOC (before September 05th 2017) to inform them of their plans to enact City Ordinance No. 3560 – 17; [58] your discussions about the December 13th 2022 webinar that will be hosted by the DOL (WB) and the EEOC on the subject of “Tipped Workers in the Restaurant Industry: Challenges and Solutions;” [59] the name(s), the academic background(s), the professional responsibility(ies) and the annual salary(ies) of the individuals who will be discussing (i) the challenges tipped workers face in the restaurant industry, (ii) workers’ rights and protections for the purpose of the webinar hosted by the DOL (WB) and the EEOC on the subject of “Tipped Workers in the Restaurant Industry: Challenges and Solutions;” [60] the PowerPoint slides and other documents that will be provided by the DOL (WB) and the EEOC for the purpose of their December 13th2022 webinar on the subject of “Tipped Workers in the Restaurant Industry;” [61] your discussions about the December 07th 2022 webinar that will be hosted by the EEOC and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights on the subject of “Embracing Diversity: Civil Rights Protections for Immigrants and Refugees;” [62] the name(s), the academic background(s), the professional responsibility(ies) and the annual salary(ies) of the individuals who will be discussing the civil rights protections for immigrants and refugees for the purpose of the December 07th 2022 webinar that will be hosted by the EEOC and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights; [62] the PowerPoint slides and other documents that will be provided by the EEOC and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights for the purpose of their December 07th 2022 webinar on the subject of “Embracing Diversity: Civil Rights Protections for Immigrants and Refugees;” [63] the work-sharing agreement concluded between the EEOC and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights; [64] the name(s), the academic background(s), the professional responsibility(ies) and the annual salary(ies) of the individual/individuals in your local/state government employees who have corresponded with the EEOC, the DOL (WB) and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights about their webinars of December 07th 2022 as well as December 13th 2022. II) Request for a Fee Waiver and Expedited Processing The requested records do/will demonstrate that [1] Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is a Latina woman, who was born on October 13th 1989 in the State of New York; [2] Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is a woman, who attended Boston University, and graduated with degrees in Economics and International Relations in May 2011; [3] Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is a woman, who has previously performed an internship with former Senator Edward Moore Kennedy when she was a student of Boston University; [4] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who believes that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez internship with former Senator Edward Moore Kennedy may have W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 5

7. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 been registered as a Curricular Practical Training (CPT) experience on her academic transcript with Boston University; [5] Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is a woman, who began working as a waitress and a bartender following the financial crisis of 2008 when she was a student of Boston University; [6] Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is a woman, who has for the purpose of a February 01st 2022 interview (with the New Yorker) stated that she “ate shit” when she was working as a waitress and a bartender in the State of New York;xxiv [7] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has spent a lot of his time in December 2015 listening to a white supremacist shouting the hateful word “N****r” while he (this same white supremacist, whose name was James Burke) was throwing the most obscene things in the locked and confined room assigned to him by the Maryland Department of Correction (MDDOC); [8] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has performed a search for records on the Internet to find out if Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez ever filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and/or the Department of Labor (DOL) for the harassment she experienced when employed as a waitress in the State of New York; [9] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who couldn’t find any records on the Internet about any charge of discrimination filed by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez with the EEOC and/or the DOL for the harassment she endured as a waitress and a bartender in the State of New York; [10] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has performed a search on the Internet to find out if the EEOC and/or the DOL ever reached out to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to discuss the harassment she experienced as a waitress in the State of New York given the nature of webinar they say they’re going to hold on December 13th 2022; [11] Michael Ayele (a.k.a) W is Black man, who couldn’t locate any responsive records on the Internet about the conversations that took place between Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the EEOC and the DOL about the harassment she experienced as a waitress in the State of New York; [12] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who couldn’t locate any records on the Internet about the conversations that took place between Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the EEOC and the DOL about improving the working conditions of waitresses and bartenders in the U.S.A; [13] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has previously corresponded with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) about California’s Fast Food Accountability Standards and Recovery Act (FAST Recovery Act); [14] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has not appreciated the tone of the EEOC letter sent to him on November 17th 2022 on the subject of California’s FAST Recovery Act particularly in light of the December 13th 2022 webinar the EEOC and the DOL (WB) will be holding on the subject of “Tipped Workers in the Restaurant Industry: Challenges and Solutions;” [15] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has been in very bad terms with the EEOC for many years; [16] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who is in very bad terms with the EEOC because of letters such as the one they have sent him on November 17th2022 on the subject of California’s FAST Recovery Act; [17] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who will not be attending December 13th 2022 webinar the EEOC and the DOL (WB) will be holding on the subject of “Tipped Workers in the Restaurant Industry: Challenges and Solutions;” [18] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has previously held summer jobs in Ocean City, Maryland during Calendar Years 2011, 2012 and 2014; [19] W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 6

8. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has spoken to many thousands of people (the majority of whom were from Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey) when he was working summer jobs in Ocean City, Maryland during Calendar Years 2011, 2012 and 2014; [20] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has previously spoken to many waitresses working on the boardwalk of Ocean City, Maryland about their federal tipped minimum wage; [21] several waitresses working on the boardwalk of Ocean City, Maryland have informed Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W that their federal tipped minimum wage was between $3 - $4 (three to four dollars) per hour; [22] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who’s very much in favor (like most of the U.S public and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez) of raising the federal minimum wage to $15/hour; [23] Jovanna Edge, Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson Hernandez are women, who have filed a complaint with the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington challenging the constitutionality of the City of Everett Ordinance No. 3559 – 17 and 3560 – 17; [24] Jovanna Edge, Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson Hernandez are women, who have successfully challenged in a court of law the constitutionality of the City of Everett Ordinance No. 3559 – 17 and 3560 – 17;xxv [25] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who believes that women should wear what makes them feel comfortable in public settings without undue pressure exerted on them; [26] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who believes that women shouldn’t be sexually harassed for wearing a bikini whether it is at the workplace, on a beach or elsewhere; [27] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who was bothered by the police harassment Amelia Powell was subjected to for wearing a bikini while working as a barista in the City of Everett, Washington; [28] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who highly doubts that Amelia Powell work experience as a barista was registered on her academic transcript as a Curricular Practical Training (CPT) experience; [29] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has recently corresponded with the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) about the April 27th 2022 report published by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) into pattern of police misconduct in Minneapolis (Minnesota); [30] the SFAC have disclosed to Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W documents detailing the internship opportunities they had offered to college/university students in the State of California;xxvi [31] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has previously interned with the Callaway County government (in the State of Missouri); [32] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has graduated from Westminster College (Fulton, Missouri) on December 31st 2016; [33] Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W is a Black man, who has previously corresponded with the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about the rape and murder of Jeanne Ann Clery as well as how he was informed what constitutes “affirmative and effective consent;” [34] the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have informed Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W that Westminster College (Fulton, Missouri) (the college he has graduated from) had extended an invitation to William Webster on August 29th 1986 approximately 5 (five) months after the April 1986 rape and murder of Jeanne Ann Clery on the campus of Lehigh University (located in the State of Pennsylvania). xxvii W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 7

9. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 In my judgment, the facts presented in this records request are not the sort to bolster public confidence in the activities of the U.S government overall [and more particularly in the good faith of the meetings that will be hosted in part by the EEOC on December 13th 2022 as well as December 07th 2022]. Given the nature of my correspondence with the EEOC on the subject of California’s FAST Recovery Act, I (personally) will not be attending the December 13th 2022 and December 07th 2022 meetings that will be hosted in part by the EEOC (even though I am not at this point of time calling for the general public and representatives of the media to boycott them): I just don’t think anything meaningfully constructive will come out of these meetings (given the way they have been set up) and I don’t like to waste my time. As a Black man with a U.S college degree (who has previously spent a few summers working in Ocean City, Maryland), I would like to take this opportunity to [1] denounce the many unfair labor practices I was witness to; [2] denounce the EEOC handling of Charge No. 28E - 2014 – 00485C; [3] denounce all form of violence committed against women irrespective of their racial backgrounds, their sexual orientations, their national origins, their religious affiliations, their disability status and/or their employment history (as waitresses, bartenders, baristas); [4] denounce the harassment Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has been subjected to when she was previously employed as a waitress in the State of New York (and also since she’s become a member of Congress); [5] denounce the sexual harassment women are subjected to for wearing bikinis at the workplace, on the beach or elsewhere; [6] denounce the police harassment Amelia Powell has been subjected to while working as a bikini barista in the City of Everett (Washington); [7] call upon the immediate increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour for all workers (whether or not they are employed as waitresses, bartenders, baristas etc); [8] denounce wage theft; [9] call upon all employers to pay their employees working over 40 hours per week overtime; [10] call upon employees to have standards for themselves and refuse to work in settings that refuse to pay them overtime after working 40 hours per week. The core issues presented in this records request are as follows. 1) Have you had conversations about the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as a legislation that established “many of the basic labor protection workers enjoy today, such as the 40-hour workweek, overtime protection, and a national minimum wage?” Have you had conversations about the FLSA as a legislation that introduced a new “subminimum wage” for workers, who customarily and regularly receive tips? Have you had conversations about the July 2014 finding of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which concluded that “tipped workers have a median wage (including tips) of $10.22 compared to $16.48 for all workers?” Have you had conversations about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that “while the poverty of non-tipped workers is 6.5%, tipped workers have a poverty rate of 12.8 percent?” Have you had conversations about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that “poverty rates are significantly lower for tipped workers in states where they receive the full regular minimum wage?” Have you had conversations about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that “workers in the accommodation and food service industry (…) are offered paid leave (sick, holiday, and vacation leave), health insurance, and retirement benefits at rates far below those of private sectors workers overall?” Have you had conversations about the July 2014 finding of the EPI, which concluded that “tipped workers W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 8

10. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 would be better off if we simply eliminated the tipped minimum wage, and paid these workers the full regular minimum wage?” If yes, will you promptly disclose those records? 2) Have you had conversations about the creative way Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez went about to raise awareness on the subject of the urgent need to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour (on May 31st 2019)? Have you had conversations about the decision of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to label “any job that pays $2.13 an hour” as “indentured servitude?” Have you had conversations about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded that 89% of Black/African American adults favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour? Have you had conversations about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded that 76% (seventy six percent) of Hispanics favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour? Have you had conversations about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded that 73% (seventy three percent) of Asian Americans favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour? Have you had conversations about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded that 51% of Caucasian U.S adults favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour? Have you had conversations about the April 2021 finding of the Pew Research Center, which concluded that a significant majority of the U.S public agrees with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on the subject of increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour? 3) Have you had conversations about the September 11th 2017 complaint filed by Jovanna Edge alongside Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson Hernandez in the United States District Court for the Western District Court of Washington? To the extent of your knowledge, have Jovanna Edge, Leah Humphrey, Liberty Ziska, Amelia Powell, Natalie Bjerke, Brittany Giazzi, Juanita Castaneda Guerrero and Matteson Hernandez contacted the DOL (WB) to file a complaint against the City of Everett (Washington) before filing a complaint with the U.S District Court for the Western District Court of Washington? If yes, will you disclose those records? 4) Will employees of your local/state government be attending the December 13th 2022 webinar that will be hosted by the DOL (WB) and the EEOC on the subject of “Tipped Workers in the Restaurant Industry: Challenges and Solutions?” Will employees of your local/state government be attending the December 07th 2022 webinar that will be hosted by the EEOC and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights on the subject of “Embracing Diversity: Civil Rights Protections for Immigrants and Refugees?” If yes, will you disclose the name(s), the academic background(s), the professional responsibility(ies) and the annual salary(ies) of your local/state government employees, who have corresponded with the EEOC, the DOL (WB) and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights about their webinars of December 07th 2022 as well as December 13th 2022? Will you disclose the name(s), the academic background(s), the professional responsibility(ies) and the annual salary(ies) of individual/individuals, who will be hosting the December 07th 2022 and December 13th 2022 meetings of the EEOC, the DOL (WB) and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights? Will you also disclose the PowerPoint slides and other documents that will be provided by the EEOC, the DOL (WB) and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights for the purpose of their webinar of December 07th 2022 as well as December 13th 2022? W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 9

11. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 This records request should be expedited because it puts into question the government’s integrity about the way that people are treated in the U.S.A on account of their gender, their racial backgrounds, their national origins, their religious affiliations, their disability status and their employment history in the accommodation and food services (AFS) sector. My request for a fee waiver should be granted because [1] I have identified operations and activities of the federal government in concert with U.S city/county/state government as well as non-profit and for-profit organizations; [2] the issues presented are meaningfully informative about government operations or activities in order to be ‘likely to contribute’ to and increase public understanding of those operations or activities. Under penalty of perjury, I hereby declare all the statements I have made to be true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. Be well. Take care. Keep yourselves at arms distance. W (AACL) Michael A. Ayele Anti-Racist Human Rights Activist Audio-Visual Media Analyst Anti-Propaganda Journalist W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 10

12. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 Work Cited iPlease be advised that I have previously disseminated a vast number of documents obtained through records request via Archive.org, Scribd.com, Medium.com and YouTube.com. These documents have been made available to the public at no financial expense to them. As a member of the media, I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the records you disclose to me could be made available to the general public through the means I have mentioned above or other ones. On December 10th 2021, I have launched a website on Wordpress.com for the purpose of making the records previously disclosed to me by the U.S government further accessible to members of the general public interested in the activities of their elected and non- elected representatives. You can find out more about the recent publications of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Liberties (AACL) here.: https://michaelayeleaacl.wordpress.com/ iiThis report explored the history and rationale for the subminimum wage earned by workers who receive tips for their services. The federal tipped minimum wage was originally set at 50 percent of the regular minimum wage. Today, the subminimum wage for tipped workers is a mere $2.13 an hour. (…) Over that time, its value has eroded to just 29.4 percent of the regular minimum wage that applies to non-tipped workers. Still, many states have enacted tipped minimum wages above $2.13. This report shows that tipped workers receive higher total wages and have lower levels of poverty in states where the tipped minimum wage is relatively high. Often, discussion and action surrounding the minimum wage ignores or excludes tipped workers and the subminimum wage they receive. Yet this is a growing occupational sector, and effective policy could transform the low-wage, high-poverty jobs in the sector into better quality jobs. Much of tipped employment is the epitome of “just-in-time” employment—adjusting staffing levels on an immediate basis in response to customer flows. While this may be good for the employer, it is far less beneficial for workers because it can produce highly unpredictable work hours, and thus highly unpredictable pay. Wage volatility is further exacerbated by workers’ reliance on tips from customers, which also vary considerably. A tipped worker’s paycheck can vary wildly depending on the fluctuations of customer tips and assigned shifts, making it difficult for tipped workers to budget, or make investments that require more stable and predictable income levels—such as buying a home or a car, or seeking further education. In real terms, the U.S. minimum and subminimum wage floors have long been in decline, exacerbating the general stagnation or decline of wages for the vast majority of American workers, particularly low-wage workers. Even the broader world is taking notice, as the International Monetary Fund (2014) recently recommended that the U.S. minimum wage be increased, given its current low level (compared both with its historical values and international standards). The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2014) has also recommended an increase in the U.S. minimum wage as a measure to improve job quality and workers’ well-being. Reports from the Congressional Budget Office (2014) as well as research from academia (Dube 2013) conclude that raising the wage floor would lift hundreds of W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 11

13. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 thousands, if not millions, out of poverty. For all these reasons, it is perhaps no surprise that polling consistently shows that most Americans (73 percent) would like to see a minimum-wage hike (Pew Research Center 2014). To the best of our knowledge, there has not been a poll conducted specifically on changing the $2.13 tipped wage, but in all likelihood, this is simply another indication of the lack of public awareness on this issue. We cannot help but wonder whether, if more Americans knew the exceptionally low base wages being paid to tipped workers, they might prefer these employers pay tipped workers a higher base wage, and let tips once again be simply an expression of gratitude for good service. We suspect most would agree that the consumer subsidy to these employers has grown for too long. It is certainly time to raise both wage floors, but given the dramatic differences in living standards for tipped versus non-tipped workers, we question whether there should be a two- tiered wage system at all. Tipped workers in the seven “equal treatment” states appear to be noticeably better off than their counterparts in the rest of the country, receiving higher total wages and experiencing poverty at significantly lower rates. At the same time, industries that employ tipped workers in these states are thriving. Raising the tipped minimum wage up to a higher percentage of the regular minimum wage would be a step in the right direction, but perhaps we should simply eliminate the tipped minimum wage altogether, and give tipped workers the same basic protection afforded to other workers. Twenty-Three Years and Still Waiting for Change. Why It’s Time to Give Tipped Workers the Regular Minimum Wage. Economic Policy Institute.: https://www.epi.org/publication/waiting-for-change-tipped- minimum-wage/ iiiAOC is still A-OK mixing drinks, despite taking over a year off from work as a bartender. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in a little bit of political theater on Frieday as she returned to work at a bar in Jackson Heights, Queens. The appearance was part of a bid to draw attention to increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour across the whole country. Ocasio- Cortez famously tended bar and worked as a waitress in Manhattan's Union Square -- not Jackson Heights, a neighborhood she now represents in Congress -- in the time leading up to her historic primary victory over incumbent Joe Crowley on June 26, 2018. (…) The 29-year-old spoke to plenty of cameras and a few customers Friday afternoon. "The federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 an hour. That is unacceptable," Ocasio-Cortez grabbed a mic and told patrons. "Any job that pays $2.13 an hour is not a job. It's indentured servitude. All labor, all labor, has dignity and the way that we give labor dignity is by paying people the respect and the value that they are worth at minimum. We have to make one fair wage and We have to raise the national minimum wage to $15 an hour -- nothing less." The federally tipped minimum wage refers to the salary workers who receive tips must be paid. Those workers include servers and bartenders. The minimum wage is already $15 per hour in New York City, where Ocasio-Cortez was tending bar on Friday, though tipped workers make W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 12

14. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 only $10 per hour (large businesses) or $9 per hour (small businesses). New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill mandating $15 per hour for the metro area and $12.50 for the rest of the state for the 2016-17 budget. New Jersey, Illinois and Maryland have also instituted minimum wages that will gradually increase to $15 over the next few years, following in the footsteps of New York and California, the first state to enact a $15 per hour minimum wage. (…) The federal minimum wage, which has not changed since 2009, is $7.25 per hour. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goes back to work as bartender – for a day. ABC News.: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-back-work-bartender- day/story?id=63417917 ivEverett is a city of approximately 100,000 people located in Snohomish County, Washington. Everett has public places where its citizens and visitors dress in a variety of clothing. Public places in Everett include beaches, parks, and public thoroughfares. On September 5, 2017, Everett enacted two new ordinances. Ordinance No. 3559-17 is entitled “An Ordinance Relating to Lewd Conduct, Amending Ordinance No. 1145 –85 as Amended (Chapter 10.24 EMC).” Ordinance No. 3560 17 is entitled “An Ordinance concerning the regulation of Quick Service Facilities including Barista Stands.” The “Ordinances” as used in this complaint means the Citywide Ordinance and Dress-Code Ordinance together. For many years prior to the enactment of the Ordinances, the City had a lewd conduct ordinance, specifically Ordinance No. 1145 –85 as codified in Everett Municipal Code Chapter 10.24 (the “Lewd Conduct Ordinance”) which prohibits in public places: (1) An exposure of one’s genitals, anus, or any portion of the areola or nipple of the female breast; or (2) The touching, caressing or fondling of the genitals or female breasts; or (3) Masturbation; or (4) Sexual conduct. The Baristas do not challenge the Lewd-Conduct Ordinance as it existed before the Citywide Ordinance amended it. [But it is worth noting that the previous Lewd-Conduct Ordinance criminalized a woman for touching her own breasts in public, perhaps for no other purpose than to adjust the fit of a bra, which certainly raises constitutional questions.] The previous Lewd-Conduct Ordinance is sufficient to regulate the conduct that the City seeks to regulate by enacting the new Ordinances. The Citywide Ordinance amends the previous Lewd-Conduct Ordinance by adding two additional prohibitions: the display of either (1) the “bottom one-half of the anal cleft” or (2) “more than one-half of the part of the female breast located below the top of the areola.” The Citywide Ordinance is not clearly written. The Citywide Ordinance is vague and ambiguous. The City provides no guidance about how to determine what the City means by “bottom one-half of the anal cleft” and “more than one-half of the part of the female breast located below the top of the areola.” Women throughout the City of Everett must guess at what is lawful attire under the Citywide Ordinance. The Citywide Ordinance is not rationally related to preventing crime or any other state interest. To properly enforce the Citywide Ordinance, a police officer must determine the location of the “top of a woman’s areola,” which can only be seen by exposing the breast. This would subject women to humiliating and offensive searches. The Dress Code Ordinance specifically targets bikini barista stands. The Dress-Code Ordinance requires baristas to completely cover their “upper and lower body (breasts/pectorals, stomach, back W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 13

15. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 below the shoulder blades, buttocks, top three inches of legs below the buttocks, pubic area and genitals).” The Dress-Code Ordinance prohibits women in “Quick Service Facilities including Barista Stands” from wearing exactly what women typically wear in public on a warm summer day. The Dress-Code Ordinance is not clearly written. The Dress-Code Ordinance is vague and ambiguous. The City provides no guidance to determine what the City means by “upper and lower body (breast/pectorals, stomach, back below the shoulder blades, buttocks, top three inches of legs below the buttocks, pubic area and genitals).” For example, the City does not identify where pectoral end. Women cannot determine whether they may expose part of the area below the collarbone or whether that would constitute part of the pectorals requiring clothing coverage. Women cannot determine where “back below the should blades” begins. Some women do not naturally have visible shoulder blades. Women cannot determine what type of clothing is lawful under the Dress-Code Ordinance. Women cannot determine whether certain common shirt styles like tank tops, halter tops, or v-neck shirts would violate the Dress Code Ordinance. Plaintiff Natalie Bjerke will testify that “I tried to draw a diagram to figure out what the Ordinances are trying to say. Even looking up the words, I really am confused as to what the Ordinances say. I don’t know what that looks like. I don’t get it.” The City claims that the Ordinance are designed to ward against crime, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, corruption of minors, and adverse impacts upon aesthetics and property values of surrounding neighborhoods and businesses. The City’s legislative record does not support its conclusion that the Ordinances will meet these goals. The Dress-Code Ordinance prevents the Baristas from freely expressing their viewpoints and opinions through their clothing, tattoos, and scars. The Dress-Code Ordinance deprives the Baristas of their right to choose their occupation. (…) The Citywide Ordinance does not provide guidance for police about how to enforce it. To enforce the Citywide Ordinance, police officers must stop women they suspect of violating the law and require those women to undress to expose their entire anal cleft so that police can determine which part is the “bottom one-half of the anal cleft,” which would allow the police to measure if it properly covered. To enforce the Citywide Ordinance, police officers must stop women they suspect of violating the law and require those women to undress to expose their entire breasts so that police can measure from “the top of the areola” to determine whether “more than one-half of the part of the female breast located below the top of the areola” is covered. Women with larger areola or breasts are subject to different restrictions than women with smaller areola or breasts. But police cannot determine which women suspects have large areole requiring a certain length of clothing, and which women suspects have small areole requiring a different length, without requiring the suspected women to undress. The Ordinances will lead to abuse. Police have already show a propensity to harass the Baristas. Police frequently go to bikini-barista stands undercover and ask workers to remove bikinis in exchange for larger tips. Amelia Powell will testify that she has felt harassed by police at the stand and on one occasion she was followed by police from a bikini-barista stand after she left work. Police will now have cause to require women to undress and be searched, which would violate their liberty and privacy interests, and Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches. Jovanna Edge et al v City of Everett. Case 2:17 – cv – 01361 – MPJ. v Tipped Workers in the Restaurant Industry: Challenges and Solutions. Department of Labor.: W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 14

16. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 https://usdolee.webex.com/webappng/sites/usdolee/webinar/webinarSeries/register/1695425beb8 a4682b086c2f15e38c3b1?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govd elivery&utm_term= viThis program will allow members of the immigrant and refugee communities to learn about legal protections for their communities under state and federal law, have exposure to state and federal enforcement agencies that handle complaints of violations of law, and gather information and resources to share with community members. The event, which will be held virtually via Zoom, will feature a panel discussion as well as a question and answer session. EEOC & NJDCR Present Embracing Diversity: Civil Right Protections for Immigrants and Refugees Virtual Program. Zoom.: https://njoag.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_cR1_nW6uTQe6o4IdEwWNXw?utm_co ntent=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term= viiOcasio-Cortez was 11 when the Twin Towers came down and 18 when the Great Recession struck. She watched President Barack Obama bail out the banks, Occupy Wall Street fail to extract concrete wins, and college debt soar. That series of events, she said, has defined her generation. "Our whole adolescence was shaped by war, was shaped by the increased erosion of our civil liberties and privacy rights, and then was shaped as soon as we got into college by a ground-shaking recession that has haunted our economic outcomes ever since," she said. "We have never seen an America where the fruits of capitalism have actually been good for an entire generation of millennials." The Democratic Party suffered widespread losses at the local level under the Obama administration. Like many, Ocasio-Cortez found inspiration in Sanders' strident argument that wealth and income inequality represent "the great moral issue of our time." Right now young voters, particularly women, are more left-leaning than they've been in decades. Nearly 60% of voters between 18 and 25 identify as Democrats or lean left. And those under 30 went for Democrats by 31 points in the 2018 midterms. By virtue of her identity, her message, and her online medium, Ocasio-Cortez is speaking directly to young people, immigrants, and people of color, the nontraditional voters Democrats must energize. She won 80% of the votes cast in precincts in which the average voter was under 40, according to the progressive think tank Data for Progress. The Truth About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The Inside Story of how, in just one year, Sandy the bartender became a lawmaker who triggers both parties. Business Insider.: https://www.insider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-biography-2019-1 viiiOcasio-Cortez's father died of lung cancer when she was a sophomore in college. He was 48. Her Puerto Rican mother cleaned houses to support her two kids. But the money wasn't enough, and she had to fight off foreclosure.After Ocasio-Cortez graduated from college, she wanted to help, so she moved home to the Bronx and supplemented her nonprofit jobs by waiting tables and W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 15

17. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 mixing drinks at night.She made the most of the service-industry work, befriending customers and building a support network of colleagues."I got really, really, really good at listening to people, and I got really good at understanding people's needs, beyond just food and drink," she said. But she also had to grow a "really thick skin" to deal with rude customers and harassment. "You get used to people putting themselves above you all the time," she went on. "You really start to realize that a person who's treating you badly is really just expressing a problem with themselves."The Truth About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The Inside Story of how, in just one year, Sandy the bartender became a lawmaker who triggers both parties. Business Insider.: https://www.insider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-biography-2019-1 ixOcasio-Cortez hasn't always called herself a socialist. She was "honestly questioning" whether to support Sanders or Clinton as the 2016 primary heated up, said Shah, the former classmate. But soon after she launched her campaign, a college acquaintance reached out suggesting she look into the Democratic Socialists of America. So she went to a DSA meeting in a Washington Heights church basement. The theme was labor. The group brought in several undocumented Hispanic immigrants who described their experiences being exploited in the workplace. There was a translator, but Ocasio-Cortez speaks Spanish, so she listened to what the immigrants had to say without any filter. "They were talking about how they were working in these factories with no windows, and they were being made to operate heavy machinery with no training, and that they were being paid far, far below anything that resembles a living wage," she said. She was moved by their stories, and by the solidarity in the room. "I had never experienced something like that before," Ocasio-Cortez said. "You know, you read about these things, but it's not the same as being in the same room as that." DSA was not immediately sold on her. When she met with the group again during the summer of 2017, they "were not impressed," said Aaron Taube, a leader of the Queens DSA branch. Taube wasn't at the gathering but said the then 27-year-old was "still learning and growing as a candidate." The group reconsidered its support in early 2018 when the campaign reached back out. Annie Shields, a DSA member and Nation magazine editor, said Ocasio-Cortez impressed her at a series of endorsement meetings in which she showed a rare ability to command the room and appeal to an ideologically diverse and often warring coalition. "It's a charisma, and then you couple that with real radical politics," Shields said. "That's a combination I had never seen before." DSA endorsed the insurgent campaign in late April after extensive vetting. Their 103 canvassers knocked on 13,000 doors and led an aggressive get-out-the-vote effort over the next two months. With Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential bid, Trump's election, and Ocasio-Cortez's rise, DSA has seen a resurgence in national prominence. Between 2015 and 2017, a period encompassing the span of Sanders's campaign, the group grew from 8,000 dues-paying members to 25,000. During that time the average age of the group's members dropped from 64 to 30. Its membership surged the day after Trump was elected and again the day after Ocasio-Cortez won her primary. Today, it's 55,000 members strong (but still an insignificant force on the national political stage). With newly-elected Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, DSA now has two lawmakers in Congress. But the vast majority of Democrats are allergic to the group and any mention of socialism. (…) W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 16

18. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 After defining democratic socialism in vague terms, Ocasio-Cortez hasn't discussed it much in recent months. "I'm not here to fight for or defend this 'ism' or label, which is why you always just see me talk about policy," she said, adding that there are other people who are more qualified to talk about DSA's ideology. "I just don't think it's my role." These days, the new congresswoman is reluctant to align herself fully with any one group or thinker. She says she's seeking policy advice from a variety of progressive organizations and experts. (DSA leaders, including Taube and national director Maria Svart, have a weekly call on Fridays to discuss policy issues with Ocasio-Cortez's legislative adviser, Randy Abreu.) Ocasio-Cortez is also critical of the establishment advice-givers. She argues that many of them have a "bias towards maximization of corporate profit" — a point she made when she criticized a Harvard orientation for freshman lawmakers stacked with CEOs and lobbyists. So she's looking elsewhere — to a different breed of academics, activists, issue experts, and journalists. "We're literally writing a whole new playbook, which means we can use some of the books and we can use some of the institutions and we can use some of the knowledge that's been produced up to this point, but we have to do a lot of building our own institutions as well," she said. "What we're really doing right now is saying, 'What perspectives are not being heard right now? Let's bring those to the table.'" The Truth About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The Inside Story of how, in just one year, Sandy the bartender became a lawmaker who triggers both parties. Business Insider.: https://www.insider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-biography-2019-1 x. Soon after Election Day in 2016, Ocasio-Cortez's younger brother, Gabriel, sent her name to Brand New Congress, a Bernie Sanders-inspired group recruiting candidates for the House and Senate. When she got home from her North Dakota trip, a leader of BNC called her out of the blue with an ask: Will you run for US Congress in New York's 14th district? BNC cofounder Saikat Chakrabarti said the group wasn't looking for anyone to challenge the district's 10-term Democratic incumbent when they reached out to the 27-year-old. But after a few calls and a meeting with Ocasio-Cortez, Chakrabarti thought, "Holy crap: You're an incredible candidate." It took a few months of convincing, but Ocasio-Cortez, still moved by what she saw at Standing Rock, said yes. The congressional campaign began with a handful of volunteers, living-room stump speeches, and a coalition of local progressive support. They proposed big ideas: a universal jobs guarantee, abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, and tuition-free public college. Justice Democrats, another Sanders-inspired group that Chakrabarti founded, gave Ocasio-Cortez media and policy training. Volunteers led an aggressive canvassing operation. Ocasio-Cortez quit Flats Fix in mid-February 2018. Chakrabarti moved home to New York in early 2018 to cochair the campaign. Ocasio-Cortez's press secretary, Corbin Trent, left his wife, kids, and food-truck business in Tennessee to sleep on Chakrabarti's couch. Alexandra Rojas, now the 23-year-old executive director of Justice Democrats, led the last six weeks of the campaign's text- and phone-banking effort. The crew was unconventional and politically inexperienced. Then a pair of 20-something socialist filmmakers from Detroit produced a polished, low-budget ad that framed Ocasio-Cortez as a courageous working-class underdog. W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 17

19. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 The two-minute spot went viral. Donations jumped, hundreds of new volunteers turned out to the field offices, and Vogue published a glowing profile. The ad's central message: Economic inequality is the issue of our time. The video caught the attention of another young woman of color running an insurgent Democratic primary bid. Ayanna Pressley remembers watching it several times in a row and saying aloud to herself, "Hell yes." "I was struck by her rawness, her conviction — she'll hate me saying this — her beauty," said Pressley, now Massachusetts' first black congresswoman. Two weeks before the election, Rep. Ro Khanna became the only member of Congress to endorse Ocasio-Cortez. He made the decision at 2 a.m. It was particularly tortured because he'd already endorsed her opponent, Rep. Joe Crowley. But the progressive Democrat thought to himself: "This is the type of person who deserves to have a shot to serve. She's doing it for all the right reasons." The Truth About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The Inside Story of how, in just one year, Sandy the bartender became a lawmaker who triggers both parties. Business Insider.: https://www.insider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-biography-2019-1 xi Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. House of Representatives.: https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/about Scott Starrett was craving tacos.The 32-year-old had recently moved to New York City from Austin, Texas. So when a tiny taqueria called Flats Fix opened up around the corner from his Manhattan office, he soon became a regular with his graphic design-firm colleagues.Because it was 2016, lunch conversation would frequently turn to the presidential race. One friendly bartender would often join in. Her name was Sandy."Everyone just loved Sandy," Starrett said. "She had an infectious kindness, an infectious presence."The 26-year-old Bronx native would talk about her time interning in Sen. Ted Kennedy's office in college. Starrett would bring up his work for local candidates in Texas. Sandy started volunteering for Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign.Then Donald Trump was elected.Soon after, the bartender and political organizer raised some money and road-tripped out to North Dakota, where Native Americans were leading protests against the Dakota Access Oil pipeline. Starrett had lent her a camera to document the trip.When she got back, she had a new idea. She might run for office. Starrett and his design firm got to work on branding.They created a campaign poster inspired by the United Farm Workers of the 1960s. It could've been mistaken for a Netflix show ad.In blaring-blue and yellow block type alongside an image of Sandy, it read ꜟOcasio!Sandy, now better known as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was running for the US House of Representatives.Eighteen months later, she became the youngest woman to be elected to Congress.Along the way, she beat a popular and powerful 20-year incumbent in her own party. And she's proved to be the most disruptive new Democrat in decades, striking fear in both Republicans and Democrats. The Truth About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The Inside Story of how, in just one year, Sandy the bartender became a lawmaker who triggers both parties. Business Insider.: https://www.insider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-biography-2019-1 xiiRep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she “ate shit” both as a bartender and in her job in Congress in a new interview with the New Yorker. Ocasio-Cortez went from a bartender and W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 18

20. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 waitress in New York City to a member of Congress virtually overnight in 2018, when she knocked out powerful, long serving Democratic congressman Joe Crowley in a major upset victory. The New York Democrat is not in her second term in Congress and has become one of the most influential figures in the Democratic Party – but she says she still runs up against roadblocks and frustrations. “And so the day-to-day of my day job is frustrating. So is everyone else’s,” Ocasio-Cortez told the New Yorker’s David Remnick. “I ate shit when I was a waitress and a bartender, and I eat shit as a member of Congress. It’s called a job, you know?” Ocasio- Cortez described Congress as a “shit show” and “scandalizing, every single day, saying that ‘the most powerful people’ are ‘just susceptible to groupthink, susceptible to self-delusion.’” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says the ‘day-to-day’ of her job is full of frustrations: “It’s called a job, you know?” Business Insider.: https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/rep- alexandria-ocasio-cortez-says-the-day-to-day-of-her-job-is-full-of-frustrations-its-called-a-job- you-know/articleshow/89575961.cms xiiiI find it revealing when people mock where I came from, & say they’re going to “send me back to waitressing,” as if that is bad or shameful. It’s as though they think being a member of Congress makes you intrinsically “better” than a waitress. But our job is to serve, not rule. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on Twitter.: https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1104069510238269440 xivGoing from waitressing a year ago to now carries a LOT of life-adjustments. But 3 paychecks in has shown me how 1 of the greatest scams in US is the idea that financial struggle is due to “poor character.” It’s a huge myth designed to keep people from empowering themselves. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on Twitter.: https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1127258010936598528 xv About six-in-ten U.S. adults (62%) say they favor raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, including 40% who strongly back the idea. About four-in-ten (38%) say they oppose the proposal, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted April 5-11. (…) Support for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is extensive across most demographic groups, according to the survey, which was conducted among 5,109 U.S. adults. Black adults in particular stand out for their support: 89% favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, including 73% who support the idea strongly. (…) About three-quarters of Hispanic (76%) and Asian Americans (73%) also favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, with 52% of Hispanics and 43% of Asians saying they strongly support the idea. White adults, by contrast, are divided: 51% favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour – including just 30% who strongly favor it – while 48% oppose it. About seven-in-ten adults who live in lower-income households (72%) say they favor raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, including about half (52%) who strongly favor such an increase. Smaller majorities of those in middle- (58%) and upper-income households (55%) say they favor a $15 minimum wage. There are sharp partisan differences in opinions. While 87% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they favor increasing the wage to $15 an hour (including 61% who strongly W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 19

21. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 favor it), 72% of Republicans and GOP leaners oppose the idea (including 45% who strongly oppose it). (…) People living in areas where the state-level minimum wage is currently $12 or higher are more likely than others to say they favor a federal increase to $15 an hour. About seven-in-ten adults in these places (69%) favor raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, compared with 59% of those living in places with a minimum wage of less than $12 an hour. While Democrats are largely united in their support for increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, Republicans’ views differ by household income. Lower-income Republicans (46%) are much more likely than middle- (23%) and upper-income Republicans (18%) to say they favor raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Still, a majority of lower-income Republicans (54%) say they oppose such an increase. Similarly, Republicans who live in areas where the state minimum wage is $12 or higher are slightly more likely than those living in places where the $7.25 federal minimum wage applies to say they favor raising the federal minimum to $15 an hour (32% vs. 25%). (…) More than half of Americans who favor a $15 federal minimum wage (54%) say that if there is not enough congressional support for such an increase this year, Congress should prioritize increasing the wage even if the new wage is significantly less than $15. These views differ by race and ethnicity, as well as by income. A majority of Black adults who favor a $15 standard (55%) say that if there is not sufficient support in Congress for that to pass, congressional leaders should continue to work for a $15 minimum wage even if no minimum wage increase becomes law this year. Half of Hispanic adults who back the $15 wage also express this view. By contrast, 36% of White adults who favor a $15 minimum wage say Congress should keep pressing for that amount. A majority of White supporters of a $15 federal minimum wage, by contrast, say Congress should work for an increase in the minimum wage even if it is less than $15 an hour. Lower-income adults who favor a $15 minimum wage are divided on the better approach if there is inadequate support in Congress for the proposal this year: 49% say congressional leaders should prioritize any raise to the minimum that can happen this year, while an identical 49% share say leaders should continue working until they pass legislation raising the wage to $15 an hour. Among higher-income adults who support a $15 minimum wage, majorities say the priority for Congress should be to work to increase the minimum wage, even if the new wage is significantly less than $15 an hour. Most Americans support a $15 federal minimum wage. Pew Research Center.: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2021/04/22/most-americans-support-a-15-federal-minimum-wage/ xviThe 1966 amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provided for a 50 percent “tip credit” for employers of tipped workers, allowing tipped workers’ income from tips to count toward half the regular minimum hourly wage guaranteed to workers by the FLSA, with the newly established subminimum wage comprising the other half. (…) In real terms, both wages are lower today than in 1966. Over time, the federal tip credit provision—the difference, made up for by customers’ tips, between the regular minimum wage and the tipped minimum wage— dropped to as low as 40 percent (1980–1989) while never exceeding half of the regular minimum wage prior to 1996. The roughly proportional relationship between the two wages changed when President Clinton signed into law the Minimum Wage Increase Act of 1996. The act eliminated W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 20

22. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 the FLSA provision that required the tipped minimum wage remain a certain percentage of the full minimum wage, instead locking in the tipped minimum wage at $2.13 per hour. At the time of the bill’s passage, the tip credit stood at 50 percent. In October of that year, as the bill’s regular minimum-wage increase from $4.25 to $4.75 took effect, the $2.13 tipped minimum wage remained frozen—bringing the tip credit for employers above 50 percent (Whittaker 2006). (…) In fact, the 1996 law set the stage for an ever-increasing tip credit. When the federal minimum wage was raised in 2007, 2008, and 2009, the tipped minimum wage was left unchanged. Today, the tipped wage remains at $2.13, meaning it is equal to a record low 29.4 percent of the regular minimum wage of $7.25, while the employer tip credit ($5.12) is equal to 70.6 percent of the regular minimum wage. As such, the customer-provided subsidy afforded to employers ($5.12) is now more than twice the base wage ($2.13) employers are required to pay to workers. The change to the tip credit in 1996 effectively shifted responsibility for an increasing portion of tipped workers’ wages from employers to customers; it greatly reduced employers’ future wage bill by locking in a low base wage for tipped workers that would remain fixed, even as prices rose or the regular minimum wage was increased. Legally, employers of tipped workers are still required to ensure that the sum of tipped workers’ base wages plus their tips is equal to at least the full regular minimum wage; however, as is discussed later in detail, enforcement of this requirement is fraught with problems, and evidence suggests that tipped workers are subject to high rates of wage theft. Twenty-Three Years and Still Waiting for Change. Why It’s Time to Give Tipped Workers the Regular Minimum Wage.: https://www.epi.org/publication/waiting- for-change-tipped-minimum-wage/ xviiWe present evidence that tipped workers would be better off still if we simply eliminated the tipped minimum wage, and paid these workers the full regular minimum wage. Raising the wage floor for tipped workers is crucial for a number of reasons. Rising income inequality and the accompanying slowdown in improving American living standards over the past four decades has been driven by weak hourly wage growth, a problem that has been particularly acute for low- wage workers (Bivens et al. 2014). Tipped workers—whose wages typically fall in the bottom quartile of all U.S. wage earners, even after accounting for tips —are a growing portion of the U.S. workforce. Employment in the full-service restaurant industry has grown over 85 percent since 1990, while overall private-sector employment grew by only 24 percent. In fact, today more than one in 10 U.S. workers is employed in the leisure and hospitality sector, making labor policies for these industries all the more central to defining typical American work life. Ensuring fair pay for tipped workers is also a women’s issue. Women comprise two out of every three tipped workers; of the food servers and bartenders who make up over half of the tipped workforce, roughly 70 percent are women. (…) Tipped workers in equal treatment states earn 14.2 percent more than tipped workers in low tipped minimum states, compared with an 11.4 percent gain for all workers (the relative difference is 20.6 percent for waiters/bartenders). Looking more closely at the gains for waiters and bartenders, we see that total wages of women are 22.5 percent higher, and of men 19.1 percent higher, in states that do not allow for a subminimum wage compared with the states that W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 21

23. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 follow the $2.13 policy. Restaurant industry advocates often argue that raising or eliminating the tipped minimum wage would leave tipped workers worse off because customers would disproportionately reduce tips if they knew employers were paying higher base wages. These data show that the evidence for this claim is weak, and even if it were true, tipped workers in equal treatment states still earn higher total wages (tips plus base wage) than workers in states with lower tipped minimum wages. While these relative differences are important, tipped workers in equal treatment states are still low-wage workers, earning around $11.00 to $12.00 per hour—still in the bottom third of all U.S. wage earners, yet better than the $9.00 to $10.00 per hour for workers in the lowest tipped-wage states. Twenty-Three Years and Still Waiting for Change. Why It’s Time to Give Tipped Workers the Regular Minimum Wage.: https://www.epi.org/publication/waiting-for-change-tipped-minimum-wage/ xviii We single out waiters and bartenders because most are tipped workers and because they comprise the bulk (58 percent) of the tipped workforce. There are approximately 4.3 million tipped workers in the United States, and roughly 2.5 million are waiters and bartenders. A plurality of workers, including tipped workers, reside in partial tip credit states that set tipped wages above $2.13 but below the binding state regular minimum wage—46.4 percent of the overall workforce and 49.4 percent of tipped workers reside in these states. Approximately one- third of all tipped workers reside in states with a $2.13 tipped wage rate, and less than one-fifth (18.4 percent) are in “equal treatment” states that do not allow for a tipped or subminimum wage. (…) Tipped workers and waiters/bartenders represent 3.4 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively, of the overall U.S. workforce. Looking across the state tipped wage categories, tipped workers comprise 3.1 percent of the workforce in states with a $2.13 subminimum wage, 3.6 percent of the workforce in partial tip credit states, and 3.5 percent of the workforce in states with no subminimum wage. There are no significant differences in waiters’ and bartenders’ share of overall employment across the tipped wage scenarios. These results suggest that tipped work opportunities are not diminished in states that do not allow for a subminimum wage. (…) Tipped workers have lower levels of education than the overall workforce, as 36.5 percent of all workers lack more than a high school education, compared with around 48.2 percent of tipped workers and 45.4 percent of waiters/bartenders. However, more than half of all tipped workers and waiters/bartenders have at least some college experience. Tipped workers, especially waiters/bartenders, are less likely to be black, as they are underrepresented in this line of work as compared with their representation in the overall workforce. Tipped workers are also less likely to work full time; while this may be at the behest of some of these workers, it is also the case that many workers desire more hours and are unable to receive them. (...) Regardless of demographic category, the median tipped worker and waiter/bartender earns less than the median U.S. worker. Compared with the $16.48 median wage of all workers, tipped workers have a median wage (including tips) of $10.22; waiters/bartenders make slightly less ($10.11). Even as women represent two-thirds of tipped workers, they still make less than their male counterparts ($10.07 for women at the median versus $10.63 for men). The respective figures are $9.89 and $10.71 for waiters and bartenders. For the most part, tipped work is low-wage W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 22

24. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 work. Hourly pay across all the demographic categories (…) varies from a low of $8.11 to a high of $12.88. The median wages of tipped workers who are also parents are $10.11 and $11.41 for single and married parents, respectively. The wages of the nearly one-in-three female tipped workers who are also parents are even lower, at $10.00 and $10.83 for single and married parents, respectively. (…) The family structure data reported (…) showed that while tipped workers are less likely to be married and have children compared with the overall workforce, they are more likely to be single parents—especially female workers. As that table shows, of tipped workers who are women, 30.4 percent are parents, and 14.1 percent are single parents. Among wait staff and bartenders who are women, 16.4 percent are single parents. Low wages combined with lower marriage rates translate into low family incomes for most tipped workers. (…) About 30.5 percent of all U.S. workers are in families that earn less than $40,000. That share jumps to 47.2 percent for tipped workers and 49.9 percent for waiters and bartenders. Looking only at women (gender-specific breakdowns are not displayed in the figure), the trends are similar, if not slightly more pronounced: 31.7 percent of all working women are in families with total incomes below $40,000, compared with 47.6 percent of tipped workers who are women. Among female wait staff and bartenders, over half (51.8 percent) fall into this low-income group. The relatively low family incomes of tipped workers mean they also experience poverty at much higher rates than other workers. (…) The poverty rate of non-tipped workers is 6.5 percent, while it is 12.8 percent for tipped workers in general and 14.9 percent for waiters and bartenders. While the magnitude of this difference by itself is startling, it is important to note how poverty rates for tipped workers vary significantly based on states’ tipped-minimum-wage policies. (…) poverty rates for non-tipped workers do not vary much by state tipped-wage policies. Yet for tipped workers, and particularly for waiters and bartenders, the correlation between low tipped wages and high poverty rates is dramatic. Among wait staff and bartenders, 18.0 percent are in poverty in states that follow the $2.13 subminimum wage, compared with 14.4 percent in medium-tipped- wage states and 10.2 percent in equal treatment states that do not allow for a lesser tipped minimum wage. This pattern strongly suggests that higher tipped wages mitigate poverty to some extent, yet it is still the case that poverty among tipped workers is far too high even in states that do not allow for a subminimum wage. (…) The Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey (NCS) reports benefits for all private-sector workers and benefits by various establishment and worker characteristics, including a breakout for “accommodation and food services (AFS)”—a sector with the majority of tipped workers. (…) The NCS reports that two of the most common benefits offered to workers are paid vacations and paid holidays—each offered to 77.0 percent of private-sector workers. But among workers in accommodation and food services, just 45.0 percent and 36.0 percent are offered paid vacations and paid holidays, respectively—and these figures are for all workers in that industry, including managers and supervisors. (…) Health care and retirement benefits are crucial to most workers, but they are offered to just a fraction of AFS workers—30.0 percent and 27.0 percent, respectively, compared with 70.0 percent and 64.0 percent, respectively, of other private-sector workers. Given that the majority of tipped workers are wait staff and bartenders who handle food and drink, it is particularly unfortunate—and potentially dangerous—that their industry does not provide widespread access to paid sick leave; just 23.0 percent of AFS workers receive paid sick leave, compared with 61.0 percent of the total private-sector workforce. As W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 23

25. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 we’ve shown, many tipped workers are parents—many single parents—with low family incomes; thus, life insurance and short-term disability protection would be particularly important to these workers and their families, especially given the physical nature of their work. Life insurance and short-term disability protection are offered to 57.0 percent and 40.0 percent of private-sector workers, yet only 17.0 percent and 19.0 percent, respectively, of AFS workers. Again, while the shares of workers in the broad category of accommodation and food services (which includes managers, supervisors, etc.) who have access to these benefits are very low, we would likely find that the shares of tipped workers and waiters/bartenders with access are even lower, if such data were available. (…) Tipped workers face a number of other unique challenges in the workplace. As mentioned earlier, in states that allow for a subminimum wage, a tipped worker’s tips plus her base or tipped wage must equal at least the regular state minimum wage—if not, her employer must make up the difference. However, tipped workers are often unaware that their tips and base wage must sum to at least the regular minimum wage. This regulation is hard to implement in practice, both because it is logistically difficult to do so and because it is up to the worker to request that her employer make up the difference. To determine compliance with the FLSA’s wage requirements, the total of tips plus the subminimum base wage is to be assessed on a workweek basis. A workweek is defined as any fixed and regularly recurring 168-hour period. But many tipped workers work irregular schedules, and the practical implementation of this regulation is unclear; at what point does an employer stop the clock to tally up hours, tips, and base wages? Compliance is difficult to assess even if a good-faith employer would like to do so. Moreover, a tipped employee seeking to monitor her employer’s compliance with the law would need to record her hours for the determined workweek—erratic schedules notwithstanding— record all tips she receives (how employees should treat tips shared with other staff, such as restaurant bussers or bar-backs, in this calculation is also unclear), record the base wage she was paid from her employer, and calculate if the effective hourly rate equaled the required state or federal minimum wage. If it did not, this employee would have to approach her employer seeking the missing pay. Of course, this is the same employer who determines whether this employee will be given the most lucrative shifts, the best restaurant sections (in the case of waiters and waitresses), or if the employee will retain her job at all. It is unrealistic to think that a tipped employee dealing with an unscrupulous employer would be able to reclaim her lost wages, let alone confront someone with such power over her near-term financial health. Indeed, the restaurant industry is fraught with violations. In the most recent (2010–2012) compliance sweep of nearly 9,000 full-service restaurants by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), 83.8 percent of investigated restaurants had some type of violation. In total, WHD recovered $56.8 million in back wages for nearly 82,000 workers and assessed $2.5 million in civil money penalties. Violations included 1,170 tip credit infractions that resulted in nearly $5.5 million in back wages. Research has also shown that the practice of tipping is often discriminatory, with white service workers receiving larger tips than black service workers for the same quality of service (Lynn et al. 2008). The worker advocacy group Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United has published numerous testimonies from both tipped and non-tipped workers in the restaurant industry that anecdotally describe these problems. ROCs “Behind the Kitchen Door” worker survey reports echo what is found in much W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 24

26. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 of the data presented here: Workers report an array of problems, from low earnings and low to no benefits, to overtime violations, working off the clock, and issues of safety (ROC various years; Jayaraman 2013). Twenty-Three Years and Still Waiting for Change. Why It’s Time to Give Tipped Workers the Regular Minimum Wage.: https://www.epi.org/publication/waiting- for-change-tipped-minimum-wage/ xixPlaintiff Leah Humphrey will testify that “I don’t see being in a bikini as being sexual. For me it is more about accepting myself, and being accepted by the people around me. I have changed as a person by being able to express myself as a bikini barista. Being able to express myself in this way has changed me as a person in a deeper way than what is obvious.”Jovanna Edge et al v City of Everett. Case 2:17 – cv – 01361 – MPJ. xxPlaintiff Liberty Ziska will testify about the message she sends by wearing a bikini:“for me, the message I send is freedom…Millions of women fought for our rights and right to vote, and it’s my right to wear what I want. It’s my right as a person.” Jovanna Edge et al v City of Everett. Case 2:17 – cv – 01361 – MPJ. xxiMs. Bjerke was employed at Starbucks before she became a bikini barista. She will testify that the bikini barista message is more genuine, friendly, and empowered than the Starbucks message. At Starbucks, the message is more corporate and professional. At Starbucks, the attire is a little intimidating and does not allow for dialogue that arises because of the bikini. Ms. Bjerke will testify that at “the bikini stand we have conversations that never would happen at Starbucks. The bikini is an invitation to discuss. It makes the customers more open to be themselves because they see us as individuals. They see us as open and expressive in our bikinis and they feel they can open up.” Jovanna Edge et al v City of Everett. Case 2:17 – cv – 01361 – MPJ. xxiiSome of the Baristas have tattoos on their torsos, backs, and upper thighs that incorporate expressive speech, including personal and political statements. Plaintiffs use these tattoos to further discussions with customers about topics they are passionate about. Plaintiff Brittany Giazzi has tattoos and piercings that she proudly displays in the bikini barista stand. She cannot reveal this part of herself if she wears more than a bikini. Customers often ask her about them, which opens conversations. Ms. Giazzi will testify that the message she sends, by wearing a bikini with tattoos and piercings displayed, is confidence. Plaintiff Liberty Ziska has expressive tattoos on her legs, arms, wrists, back, neck, stomach, and W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 25

27. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 hip. She will testify that most “of them are not visible if I have to wear the clothing the ordinance demands. I get lots of questions from customers about my tattoos – they ask me how, why, who, what. Tattoos in particular I feel passionate about getting and sharing them because you put them on your body forever.” Ms. Humphrey has scars that she reveals when she wears a bikini that are part of her identity and personal history. Her scar from a childhood accident tells “a personal story about my own growth and how far I’ve come and I share that story with customers, who open up about their own stories.” Just like Starbucks with green aprons, UPS with brown trucks and outfits, and Hooter’s with short orange shorts, the Baristas’ attire evokes a message at work. These women wear bikinis while serving coffee. The Baristas use bikinis to portray a fun and happy-go-lucky image that give customers a quick break from their daily lives. The bikini allows customers to image for a moment that they are relaxing at the beach or on vacation. The Baristas could not portray this message with another uniform. Jovanna Edge et al v City of Everett. Case 2:17 – cv – 01361 – MPJ. xxiiiThis action challenges the constitutionality of two new City of Everett ordinances. The first ordinance (No. 3559 –17) (the “Citywide Ordinance”) is a citywide restriction that prohibits women from exposing “more than one half of the part of the female breast located below the top of the areola” and the “bottom one half of the anal cleft.” A woman displaying more than 25% of her breast area or the lower half of her anal cleft is a criminal – facing up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. Anyone who “permits, encourages, or causes to be committed” the wearing of a bikini that violates the law is also now a criminal under Everett law. To properly enforce the Citywide Ordinance, police must first determine the location of the “top of the areola,” which is only revealed when a woman exposes her breast. Next, the suspect woman must undergo a humiliating and intrusive examination so the officer can evaluate whether her clothing choice exposes more than the law allows. If police suspect a violation, officers may view, evaluate, and take measurements from a woman’s breast areola or anal cleft. It is unlikely that most citizens would be able to determine the location of their anal cleft, as it is not a term used in everyday speech and has varying definitions on the internet. The second ordinance (No. 3560 –17) (the “Dress Code Ordinance”) is a dress code that applies to drive through coffee stands. It requires workers to cover completely their upper and lower body, including the pectorals, stomach back below the shoulder blades, and the “top three inches of legs below the buttocks.” The length of a common woman’s shirt is often short enough that stretching or bending would reveal part of her back or stomach. Wearing that attire expressly violates the Dress-Code Ordinance. Jovanna Edge et al v City of Everett. Case 2:17 – cv – 01361 – MPJ. W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 26

28. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 xxivThere is no movement, there is no effort, there is no unionizing, there is no fight for the vote, there is no resistance to draconian abortion laws, if people think that the future is baked in and nothing is possible and that we’re doomed. Even on climate—or especially on climate. And so the day-to-day of my day job is frustrating. So is everyone else’s. I ate shit when I was a waitress and a bartender, and I eat shit as a member of Congress. It’s called a job, you know? So, yes, I deal with the wheeling and dealing and whatever it is, that insider stuff, and I advance amendments that some people would criticize as too little, etc. I also advance big things that people say are unrealistic and naïve. Work is like that. It is always the great fear when it comes to work or pursuing anything. You want to write something, and, in your head, it’s this big, beautiful Nobel Prize-winning concept. And then you are humbled by the words that you actually put on paper. And that is the work of movement. That is the work of organizing. That is the work of elections. That is the work of legislation. That is the work of theory, of concepts, you know? And that is what it means to be in the arena. - Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on the New Yorker.: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-an- insider-now xxvPlaintiffs Jovanna Edge and others are or were employed by “bikini barista stands.” Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of two ordinances enacted by the City of Everett, Ordinance No. 3559-17 (the “Lewd Conduct Ordinance”) and Ordinance No. 3560-17 (the “Dress Code Ordinance”). The Lewd Conduct Ordinance expanded the definition of a lewd act to include an exposure of “more than one-half of the part of the female breast located below the top of the areola,” “the genitals, anus, bottom one-half of the anal cleft, or any portion of the areola or nipple of the female breast” and created the new crime of Facilitating Lewd Conduct. Dkt. #65 at 7-8. The Dress Code Ordinance requires all employees, owners, and operators of “Quick-Service Facilities” to wear clothing that covers “the upper and lower body (breast/pectorals, stomach, back below the shoulder blades, buttocks, top three inches of the legs below the buttocks, pubic area and genitals).” Id. at 8. The Ordinance defines Quick-Service Facilities as “coffee stands, fast food restaurants, delis, food trucks, and coffee shops” in addition to all other drive-through restaurants. Id. Violations are deemed civil infractions. Id. To ensure that stand owners are motivated to enforce the dress code, the City instituted a $250 fine for first time offenders. Id. Repeat offenders face increased fines and risk losing their business licenses. Although the Dress Code Ordinance defines “Quick-Service Facilities” broadly, it is clear from the title (“an Ordinance concerning the regulation of Quick Service Facilities including Barista Stands”) and the preamble (e.g., “The City has seen a proliferation of crimes of a sexual nature occurring at bikini barista stands...”) that this Ordinance was enacted to respond to the W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 27

29. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 perceived problems associated with bikini barista stands. See Dkt. #1-2 at 2. Edge v City of Everett. United States District Court, Western District of Washington.: https://casetext.com/case/edge-v-city-of-everett- 3?__cf_chl_tk=2xEPiAelzIPWmriNJ.bJSbk.Wk3df_k71NYjl.1uJWo-1669856698-0- gaNycGzNCL0 xxviThe San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) have disclosed records of internship opportunities they had offered to college/university students in the State of California. The recently disclosed records of (internship opportunities offered by) the SFAC go back to October 27th 1995. When disclosing these records, the SFAC confirmed that no international student completed an internship with them as part of his/her Curricular Practical Training (CPT) and/or Optional Practical Training (OPT). Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W was between January and May 2011 an intern of the Callaway County government in the State of Missouri. Via e-mail dated March 07th 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have informed Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W that Westminster College (Fulton, Missouri) had extended an invitation to their then Director William Webster on August 29th 1986. The invitation extended by Westminster College (Fulton, Missouri) on August 29th 1986 to William Webster came approximately 5 (five) months after the rape and murder of Jeanne Ann Clery. In another email (dated November 12th 2021), the FBI have informed Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W that they had transferred the case of Jeanne Ann Clery rape and murder to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on June 11th 1992. Via postal correspondence sent to Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have denied ever being transferred the case of Jeanne Ann Clery rape and murder by the FBI. William Webster was Director of the FBI (from 1978 to 1987) and Director of the CIA (from 1987 to 1991). His father Thomas H. Webster is an alumnus of Westminster College (Fulton, Missouri). Michael A. Ayele (a.k.a) W has attended Westminster College as a full-time undergraduate student between January 2010 and May 2013. He became an alumnus of Westminster College on December 31st 2016. According to the April 27th 2022 report published by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR), [1] “race is the likely reason why Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers use higher rates of more severe force against Black individuals compared to white individuals in similar circumstances;” [2] “MPD’s covert social media accounts were used to conduct surveillance, unrelated to criminal activity, and to falsely engage with Black individuals, Black leaders, and Black organizations;” [3] the MPD and the City of Minneapolis have a history of withholding exculpatory evidence even after an “Entry of Appearance” (or a request for information) has been filed in a criminal case where police brutality is very much at play. The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Disclose Limited Records to Request Filed About the April 27th 2022 Report into Pattern of Police Misconduct in Minneapolis (Minnesota). Michael Ayele (a.k.a) W. Official Website of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Liberties (AACL).: https://michaelayeleaacl.wordpress.com/2022/10/10/the-san-francisco-arts-commission-sfac- disclose-limited-records-to-request-filed-about-the-april-27th-2022-report-into-pattern-of-police- misconduct-in-minneapolis-minnesota-by-michael-ayele-index/ W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 28

30. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/02/2022 xxviiThe Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have disclosed limited records of Westminster College (Fulton, Missouri) August 29th 1986 invitation to their former Director William Webster. These records were disclosed by the FBI following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted by the Association for the Advancement of Civil Liberties (AACL) on or around October 12th2021. It’s the 2nd (second) time the Department of Justice (DOJ) have referred the AACL to the National Archives Records Administration (NARA) on issues not unrelated to the rape and murder of Jeanne Ann Clery. The recent FBI disclosure show that Westminster College had extended an invitation to William Webster to “deliver the 1987 Commencement Address on Sunday, May 17, 1987 at 2:30 P.M.” The August 29th 1986 letter was signed by Westminster College former President J. Harvey Saunders. On October 31st 1986, William Webster accepted the invitation of Westminster College, acknowledging his formal and informal ties to Westminster College as well as Callaway County. The Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Disclose Limited Records of Westminster College (Fulton, MO) August 29th 1986 Invitation of Former Director William Webster. The rape and murder of Jeanne Ann Clery continues to leave several key questions about Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 unaddressed. These questions include but are not limited to the following. 1) What are/were colleges/universities in the U.S.A obligations pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972? Were colleges/universities throughout the U.S.A required by law to denounce violence committed against women irrespective of their racial backgrounds, their sexual orientations, their religious affiliations and their national origins following the enactment of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972? If yes, were colleges/universities required to inform their students about what constitute appropriate sexual boundaries pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972? 2) Did colleges/universities throughout the U.S.A begin informing their students about what constitute “affirmative and effective consent” following the enactment of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972? If not, when did colleges/universities begin to inform their incoming freshmen/transfer students about the concepts of “affirmative and effective consent?” Did colleges/universities throughout the U.S.A begin teaching the concepts of “affirmative and effective consent” to their incoming freshmen/transfer students following the rape and murder of Jeanne Ann Clery (dated April 05th 1986)? If yes, why have colleges/universities throughout the U.S.A fixated on the rape and murder of this Caucasian woman by a Black/African American man to inform their incoming freshmen/transfer students about what constitutes “affirmative and effective consent?” 3) Are colleges/universities discussions pertaining to what constitutes “affirmative and effective consent” consistent with Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 if they are first informing their incoming/freshmen students about the rape and murder of Jeanne Ann Clery? Are colleges/universities discussions pertaining to what constitutes “affirmative and effective consent” consistent with their academic integrity policy if they are first informing their incoming freshmen/transfer students about the rape and murder of Jeanne Ann Clery? Michael Ayele (a.k.a) W. Association for the Advancement of Civil Liberties (AACL) Official Website.: https://michaelayeleaacl.wordpress.com/2021/12/10/jeanne-clery- april-1986-and-michael-ayele-aacl-january-2010-in-review-affirtmative-and-effective-consent- in-question-title-ix-doj-fbi-cia-dhs-westminster-college-fulton-missouri-index/ W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 29

31. APPENDIX A.

34. APPENDIX B.

37. APPENDIX C.

38. 131 M St, N. E., Fifth Floor Washington, D. C. 20507 Free: (833) 827-2920 ASL: (844) 234-5122 FAX: (202) 827-7545 Website: www.eeoc.gov U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION Office of Legal Counsel November 17, 2022 VIA: waacl13@gmail.com Michael Ayele (aka) W ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVIL LIBERTIES P.O. Box 20438 Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA 10013 Re: FOIA No.: 820-2022-012947 California FAST Recovery Act Dear Mr. Ayele (aka) W: Your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, received on 09/02/2022, is processed. Our search began on 09/02/2022. All agency records in creation as of 09/02/2022 are within the scope of EEOC’s search for responsive records. The paragraph(s) checked below apply. [X] Item numbers 2 through 14 of your request is procedurally denied as [] they do not reasonably describe the records you wish disclosed, or [X] no records fitting the description of the records you seek disclosed exist or could be located after a thorough search, or [] the responsive records are already publicly available. See the comments below for further explanation. [X] Item number 1 of your request is granted in part and denied in part. The comments below explain in more detail. [X] I trust that the furnished information fully satisfies your request. If you need any further assistance or would like to discuss any aspect of your request, please do not hesitate to contact the FOIA Professional who processed your request or our FOIA Public Liaison (see contact information in above letterhead or under signature line). [X] You may contact the EEOC FOIA Public Liaison Michael L. Heise for further assistance or to discuss any aspect of your request. In addition, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740- 6001, email at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at (202) 741-5770; toll free 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at (202) 741-5769. The contact information for the FOIA Public Liaison is as follows: Michael L. Heise, EEOC FOIA Public Liaison, Office of Legal Counsel, FOIA Division, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 131 M. Street, N.E., Fifth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20507, email to FOIA@eeoc.gov, telephone at (202) 921-2542; or fax at (202) 827-7545. [X] If you are not satisfied with the response to this request, you may administratively appeal in writing. Your appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted in 90 days from receipt of this letter to the Office of Legal Counsel, FOIA Division, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 131 M Street, NE, 5NW02E, Washington, D.C. 20507, email to FOIA@eeoc.gov; online at

39. 820-2022-012947 https://eeoc.arkcase.com/foia/portal/login, or fax at (202) 827-7545. Your appeal will be governed by 29 C.F.R. § 1610.11. Sincerely, Michael L. Heise Assistant Legal Counsel | FOIA Division foia@eeoc.gov Comments This is in response to your 224-page Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), request. Your request consists of fourteen (14) items. The requested items appear on pages 1 and 2 of your request letter and are attached hereto as Exhibit One. Request item 1 is granted in part and denied in part. That request was: The formal/informal ties, which exist between your office, California Assembly Members Chris Holden, Wendy Carrillo, Evan Low, Luz Rivas, Mia Bonta, Mike Gipson, Ash Kalra, Kevin McCarty, Al Muratsuchi, Miguel Santiago and California State Senators Scott Wiener and Henry Stern[.] Since EEOC provides leadership and guidance to federal agencies on all aspects of the federal government's equal employment opportunity program, and because this information is publicly available on EEOC’s website, to the extent this request item pertains to these records, your request if fully granted. Please go to https://www.eeoc.gov/federal-sector to review the responsive material. Because EEOC does not have direct ties with individuals, to the extent this request item concerns individuals, that portion of your request is denied since EEOC would have no records responsive to that. Request items 2 through 14 are denied because no records exist within EEOC. When making a FOIA request please understand what EEOC enforces. Refer to the link above for assistance. This response was prepared by Tracy L. Smalls, Government Information Specialist, who may be reached at Tracy.Smalls@EEOC.Gov or 202-921-2541. 2 | P a g e

40. EXHIBIT ONE