Denise A. Tugade’s Appointment to the Court Reporters Board is a Possible Threat to the Future of Court Reporting in California

Posted bystenoimperiumPosted inCourt ReportingTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The recent appointment of Denise A. Tugade to the California Court Reporters Board (CRB) on February 11, 2025 has raised serious concerns within the court reporting community. While Tugade brings a wealth of experience in government relations and public policy, her appointment signals an unwelcome turn for the profession, especially when considering her ties to SEIU United Health Workers (UHW) West and Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), both of which have been involved in efforts that many court reporters see as detrimental to their careers.

​Concerns within the court reporting community are further amplified by the presence of board members with ties to Bill Gates, a prominent advocate for and investor and developer of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology, as as highlighted in the article “A Fox Inside the Chicken Coop: Do you Know Who is on the CA Court Reporters Board?” published on November 7, 2024. Notably, Jeff Raikes, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, serves on the advisory board of Roar Social, a philanthropic social media platform. While there is no direct evidence that the Gates Foundation has invested in Roar Social, the involvement of key individuals associated with the foundation suggests a potential alignment with Gates’ longstanding efforts in advancing ASR technologies. This connection raises apprehensions about a possible bias toward favoring ASR technologies over traditional stenography, posing a threat to the roles of human court reporters and the accuracy of legal transcripts.​

Tugade’s background and the history of the SEIU’s actions, combined with her connection to Gonzalez—who has been a vocal advocate for replacing human court reporters with automated systems—suggest that her appointment may not bode well for the future of court reporting in California.

A Closer Look at Denise A. Tugade’s Background

Denise A. Tugade’s resume boasts significant experience in government relations and policy, with a notable history of working as a Legislative Director for Assemblymember Christy Smith and in various roles within the California State Assembly. She has also worked as a Legislative Aide for Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, whose stance on court reporters has drawn significant criticism from the profession.

But it is Tugade’s current role as a Government Relations Advocate for SEIU UHW West, a union that represents healthcare workers, which is most concerning for court reporters. The SEIU has a history of representing official court reporters at Los Angeles Superior Court, wher, most notably in 2012, due to a budget shortfall of $20 million California, the court faced tough decisions about which employee groups to lay off. The Superior Courts chose to target two of the highest-paid employee groups: court reporters and social workers. While the union represented both groups, the SEIU ultimately decided to sacrifice the court reporters, allowing them to be laid off in favor of protecting the social workers. The union’s failure to stand against this decision resulted in the loss of over 80 skilled court reporting jobs, a blow that is still felt within the profession today.

While there is no direct evidence to suggest that Denise Tugade had a role in the 2012 layoff decision, her ties to SEIU make it clear that she is part of an organization that has historically shown little regard for the preservation of the court reporting profession. SEIU’s decision to allow these layoffs without significant opposition raises concerns that Tugade’s perspective on court reporting may not be in line with the interests of those working within the profession.

The Controversial Stance of Lorena Gonzalez

Adding to the concern surrounding Tugade’s appointment is her close relationship with Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez. Tugade’s time working as a Legislative Aide for Gonzalez gives her direct experience in a political office that has been openly critical of the court reporting profession. Gonzalez has been a staunch advocate for the use of technological solutions, such as automated transcription services and artificial intelligence (AI), to replace human court reporters. Her push for automation and digital solutions is seen by many in the court reporting industry as an existential threat to the profession, undermining the quality of transcriptions and replacing skilled professionals with potentially unreliable machines.

Gonzalez’s position on this issue has been polarizing, with advocates for the court reporting profession warning that her proposals could lead to job losses and a decline in the quality of legal records. Tugade’s connection to Gonzalez, particularly her work as a Legislative Aide in Gonzalez’s office, raises the question of whether Tugade shares her former boss’s vision for the future of court reporting. Given that Tugade’s career has been defined by her involvement in political advocacy and labor relations, it is likely that her views on this issue are shaped by her ties to political figures like Gonzalez, whose stance on court reporting is seen as directly threatening to the profession.

​Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez has been instrumental in legislative efforts impacting court reporting in California. Notably, she authored Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), which reclassified many independent contractors as employees. This reclassification affected freelance court reporters, potentially altering their employment status and work arrangements. Additionally, Gonzalez’s legislative initiatives have included resolutions such as ACR14, which recognized California Court Reporting and Captioning Week, highlighting the importance of the profession. Her legislative actions reflect a complex relationship with the court reporting industry, balancing recognition with regulatory changes that have significant implications for practitioners.

The SEIU’s Role in Disrupting Court Reporting

The SEIU’s failure to protect the court reporting profession was most evident during the 2012 layoffs in Los Angeles. When the Superior Court faced a budget shortfall and needed to cut positions, SEIU, which represented both court reporters and social workers, chose to protect the social workers, allowing the court reporters to be laid off without opposition. This decision demonstrated a clear lack of commitment to preserving court reporting jobs at a critical moment.

For court reporters, this raises important questions about Tugade’s loyalty to the interests of the profession. As a key advocate for SEIU UHW West, Tugade is closely tied to a union that has shown a willingness to sacrifice the livelihoods of court reporters when faced with difficult financial decisions. With Tugade now in a position to influence decisions about court reporters on the CRB, it is unclear whether she will act in the best interests of those who rely on the profession for their livelihoods.

What Does This Mean for the Future of Court Reporting?

Tugade’s recent appointment to the Court Reporters Board is especially concerning in light of her background and affiliations. The CRB’s role is to regulate the court reporting profession, ensure that high standards are maintained, and protect the interests of court reporters. However, with Tugade’s ties to SEIU, a union that has historically undermined the profession, and her connections to Assemblymember Gonzalez, a key proponent of replacing human court reporters with automated systems, it seems unlikely that she will advocate for policies that protect and preserve the profession.

Instead, Tugade’s presence on the CRB could signal a move toward greater acceptance of technology-driven solutions that threaten the jobs of court reporters. Her connections to both SEIU and Gonzalez suggest that she may be inclined to support initiatives that prioritize cost-saving measures over maintaining the integrity and quality of court reporting in California courts.

A Profession at Risk

Court reporters in California have already faced significant challenges in recent years, from budget cuts to the increasing use of technology in the courtroom. The appointment of Denise A. Tugade to the Court Reporters Board raises the prospect that these challenges will only increase. With her ties to SEIU, a union that has historically shown little regard for court reporters, and her relationship with Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, who has been a vocal proponent of automated transcription services, Tugade’s role on the CRB could result in policies that undermine the profession.

Court reporters play a vital role in the judicial system, ensuring that the record of court proceedings is accurate, reliable, and complete. The decisions made by the CRB in the coming years will have a lasting impact on the profession, and with Tugade’s appointment, there is genuine concern that the interests of court reporters will not be adequately represented.

In conclusion, the appointment of Denise A. Tugade to the Court Reporters Board is a troubling development for the future of court reporting in California. Her deep ties to SEIU and Assemblymember Gonzalez suggest that she may be more aligned with efforts to replace human court reporters with technology, rather than protecting and preserving the profession. For the many court reporters who rely on their jobs to make a living, Tugade’s appointment represents a dangerous step toward a future where the profession is sidelined in favor of cost-cutting measures and technological innovation that could erode the quality of justice in California’s courts.

Published by stenoimperium

We exist to facilitate the fortifying of the Stenography profession and ensure its survival for the next hundred years! As court reporters, we've handed the relationship role with our customers, or attorneys, over to the agencies and their sales reps.  This has done a lot of damage to our industry.  It has taken away our ability to have those relationships, the ability to be humanized and valued.  We've become a replaceable commodity. Merely saying we are the “Gold Standard” tells them that we’re the best, but there are alternatives.  Who we are though, is much, much more powerful than that!  We are the Responsible Charge.  “Responsible Charge” means responsibility for the direction, control, supervision, and possession of stenographic & transcription work, as the case may be, to assure that the work product has been critically examined and evaluated for compliance with appropriate professional standards by a licensee in the profession, and by sealing and signing the documents, the professional stenographer accepts responsibility for the stenographic or transcription work, respectively, represented by the documents and that applicable stenographic and professional standards have been met.  This designation exists in other professions, such as engineering, land surveying, public water works, landscape architects, land surveyors, fire preventionists, geologists, architects, and more.  In the case of professional engineers, the engineering association adopted a Responsible Charge position statement that says, “A professional engineer is only considered to be in responsible charge of an engineering work if the professional engineer makes independent professional decisions regarding the engineering work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional engineer’s physical presence at the location where the engineering work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the engineering work.” If we were to adopt a Responsible Charge position statement for our industry, we could start with a draft that looks something like this: "A professional court reporter, or stenographer, is only considered to be in responsible charge of court reporting work if the professional court reporter makes independent professional decisions regarding the court reporting work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional court reporter’s physical presence at the location where the court reporting work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the court reporting work.” Shared purpose The cornerstone of a strategic narrative is a shared purpose. This shared purpose is the outcome that you and your customer are working toward together. It’s more than a value proposition of what you deliver to them. Or a mission of what you do for the world. It’s the journey that you are on with them. By having a shared purpose, the relationship shifts from consumer to co-creator. In court reporting, our mission is “to bring justice to every litigant in the U.S.”  That purpose is shared by all involved in the litigation process – judges, attorneys, everyone.  Who we are is the Responsible Charge.  How we do that is by Protecting the Record.

Leave a comment