Posted on 04/01/2009 8:32:26 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
The union of low-wage caregivers that Tyrone Freeman once headed has taken him to court to demand restitution of more than $1.1 million -- dues money that allegedly financed his lifestyle of $175 glasses of cognac, $250 bottles of wine and a $3,400 trip to the NFL's Pro Bowl in Hawaii.
The lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles-based chapter of the Service Employees International Union opens another legal front in a scandal that dates to last summer and remains the subject of a federal criminal investigation.
In the civil complaint, brought in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the United Long-Term Care Workers accuses Freeman of misappropriating funds in a broad scheme to enrich himself and his relatives. Named as co-defendants are his wife, Pilar Planells; his mother-in-law, Carmen Planells; and the video and day-care companies they operated out of their homes.
The suit, which also seeks unspecified punitive damages and legal costs, alleges breach of contract and fiduciary duty and conversion of union funds for personal benefit.
Freeman and the Planellses could not be reached for comment, and Freeman's lawyer did not respond to interview requests.
The SEIU removed Freeman from office after The Times published a report in August on his spending practices. Freeman and the Planellses had told the paper they did nothing wrong.
The Times report led to the criminal investigation, and the firings and resignations of several other SEIU officials and staffers. Freeman ignored the union's subsequent order for repayment of the money, which was made after an internal hearing in the fall, SEIU officials say.
"We are going to do absolutely everything in our power to make sure that he is held accountable to the members," SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette said Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
This is NOT an April's Fools piece...
but it does still warm the cockles a bit.
Good! I hope this gets a lot of publicity. SEIU is part of the OBAMA GOON SQUAD along with ACORN.
And I wonder to which party they were partisan...
When has a union boss not been corrupt? Isn’t that part of the job description?
Job Description for Union Bosses:
Job 1. Sign up new members.
Job 2. Collect more and more union dues.
Job 3. Spend union dues collected on getting Dims elected.
Job 4. Whatever is left, spend on lavish personal lifestyle.
Job 5. Repeat Jobs 1-4.
The LAST paragraph in the LA Slimes article:
"Meanwhile, Freeman required employees of the training-center charity to work on partisan political campaigns, despite laws barring such activities, and then denied doing so to an Internal Revenue Service examiner, sources told The Times."
Care to guess WHO he campaigned for as President??????
The LA Slimes failed to mention that piece of information....
Agreed. Would be nice if it were a trend-the unions turning on their own bosses and outing them.
I’m shocked.
Sounds like the current administration’s parties. In 1867 the (First) Reconstructed Lousiana Legislature voted themselves $250,000 in Christmas hams. Reconstruction never changes, i.e. In 2009 Reconstruction II votes itself $250 bottles of wine, etc. etc.
This SEIU is nothing but a mafia disguised as a union. The problem with most unions today is that they have professional unionists running them, not the people who are actually doing the work that the union represents. In the early 50’s my mother was the VP of the CWA-CIO for the 5 western states. She held this office while working as a telephone operator for Ma Bell. I remember she did most of her union work after working hours. Many nites I would accompany her to the union office after dinner (I was 8-10 years old) and my job was to run the address-o-graph machine for envelopes. It was a big kick for me. Nowdays most union reps are not working at the jobs they represent. They are just the reverse side of the coin from the bosses, suits. If my mom were alive today and saw what some unions have become she would have nothing to do with them.
In addition to the payments to his relatives’ firms, Freeman’s local, the United Long-Term Care Workers, spent nearly $300,000 last year on a Four Seasons Resort golf tournament, restaurants such as a Morton’s steakhouse, a Beverly Hills cigar club and the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent firm, The Times reported earlier this month.
Altogether, the payments to Freeman and the home-based companies operated by his relatives, and to a former union employee totaled more than $1 million in 2006 and 2007, records and interviews show. That includes Freeman’s salary and other union compensation. The workers whose dues fill the union’s coffers make about $9 an hour caring for the infirm and disabled.
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