I have an issue and would like some feedback on what others out in the nursing world think. I was licensed in California as an RN years ago when I did some travel assignements there. My Ca license expired in 2005 and I did not reactivate and have not tried to reactivate it since then. In 2006 I entered a nurse recovery program in my orginal state of licensure and completed that program in 2011. I have no discipline or restrictions on my license from the orginal state after completing the program.
A couple of weeks ago I received a legal packet in the mail from the California Attorney General stating that the Ca Board of Nursing was bringing a case against me regarding the previous discipline I had several years ago in another state. I am given three choices.
#1: Surrender my Ca license; #2: Request a hearing with the CA BON; #3 Request a settlement be agreed upon. Of course I chose that a settlement be offered as I live in Alabama now and flying out for a hearing with the BON is not feasible.
The Attorney General called me a couple of days ago and offered me the settlement.
It is in the form of a public reprimand and I will be ordered to pay over $600.00 ina a fine.
Remember, I do not have an active license in California, have not requested that the expired one I had be reactivated. This license has been expired for 9 years. What is wrong with this picture? Do I have any leg to stand on here? I only see this as a form of legal blackmail. What do you think?
I can understand this if I was requesting that my expired license be activated but all of this came out of the blue without reason.
CA found out about your AL issue- and you still have a CA license, it's just not currently valid, and CA is taking action. If you surrender you CA license that might be considered a discpilinary action that might affect your AL license, or a license in any other state. But do you really want to spend a lot of money to resolve the CA license (and recurring fees to renew it, etc,) if you're sure you'll never go back there? None of the options CA gave you are very palatable, so talk to a lawyer to be sure all the unintended consequences of any of the 3 options have been explored. Reminds me of the time I got a speeding ticket in FL. I knew I'd never go back to FL, so I ignored that ticket. Three years later, a man (an local officer sent by FL) came to my door about that FL ticket, and I had to pay it and a huge penalty in order to renew my MI drivers license. I couldn't belive it.
It's not a money swoop or extortion or anything of the sort; it's simply a penalty imposed by the California BON. If you don't want to pay the $600 and are not planning to work in California, simply choose option #1 and surrender your (expired) California license.
I don't really understand the source of your angst.
Well, California imposing a penalty involving collecting bucks on a license that has lapsed and no request for activation in that many years looks like trolling the money pond to me.
I would say the same for any state.
If they were requesting resumption I could possibly give it some thought.
I think what CA is saying this: we licensed you, you had issues in another state and you didn't tell us about it. We don't like that because you lied to us, pay up and face the charges.
I know that the CA license was expired at the time if your infraction, but you had not surrendered that license, so technically, you should have contacted the CA board back in 2006 to alert them of your infraction and possibly let them weigh in on your penalties then. Or at least, they may have agreed the penalties imposed by the other state were good and all you needed was to keep CA in the loop.
Lawyer consult for sure! As you have seen, the actions of one state impact others. If you agree to any kind of disciplinary action it could affect your current license. Same goes for surrendering.
I didnt have to report anything to my other boards, my program is "off the radar" so to speak. As long as I do what's right, when I complete my program it'll be as if it never happened. What's happening to the OP is wrong, and I would surely contact an attorney. It's not like the OP was currently working in Cali and the licensure wasn't even valid! Sounds like someone's looking for reasons to take money that surely isn't owed to them! Best of luck to the OP.
Surrendering a license in another state can have consequences, regardless of intent to work there again. When applying for licensure in another state or often even renewal in your own state, they ask whether you've surrendered a license or had one revoked. Having to answer yes can bring more investigations, money and at the very least a hassle. I would consult an attorney.
LPNMary
31 Posts
CA found out about your AL issue- and you still have a CA license, it's just not currently valid, and CA is taking action. If you surrender you CA license that might be considered a discpilinary action that might affect your AL license, or a license in any other state. But do you really want to spend a lot of money to resolve the CA license (and recurring fees to renew it, etc,) if you're sure you'll never go back there? None of the options CA gave you are very palatable, so talk to a lawyer to be sure all the unintended consequences of any of the 3 options have been explored. Reminds me of the time I got a speeding ticket in FL. I knew I'd never go back to FL, so I ignored that ticket. Three years later, a man (an local officer sent by FL) came to my door about that FL ticket, and I had to pay it and a huge penalty in order to renew my MI drivers license. I couldn't belive it.