SEIU
continues to face allegations of sexual misconduct nearly two years after it
grabbed headlines for scandals surrounding SEIU EVP Scott
Courtney, several Fight
for $15 staffers, a top official at 1199SEIU
in Boston, and SEIU-UHW.
In one of
the most recent episodes, SEIU’s second-largest local union was hit with a civil
lawsuit by a former female organizer alleging that three male co-workers
sexually assaulted her during an offsite work event.
The lawsuit, filed in Los
Angeles Superior Court, names SEIU Local 2015 and three of its male staffers as
defendants.
The suit
alleges that the three male staffers committed assault, battery, intentional
infliction of emotional distress, and defamation in an episode that’s reminiscent
of the infamous one allegedly carried out by conservative Supreme Court Justice
Brett Kavanaugh during a high school
party.
Here’s what
happened at a “work function” in Chicago, according to the lawsuit by the
female SEIU organizer:
“Despite Plaintiff’s repeated statements that she was not interested in sex with him, Defendant #1 grabbed Plaintiff by the arm, took his penis out of his pants, and attempted to penetrate Plaintiff with it. Defended #2 restrained Plaintiff and prevented her from escaping while Defendant #1 attempted to rape her. Defendant #3, a supervisor for Defendant SEIU, watched the entire incident, verbally encouraging Defendants #1 and #2.”
A source
inside Local 2015 tells Tasty that despite the lawsuit’s allegations, the union
returned two of the defendants to work. And the local hired Glenn
Rothner -- a lawyer whom SEIU often hires to fight decertification
campaigns -- to defend itself against the suit.
Rothner
recently filed a motion seeking to remove Local 2015 as a defendant. He argues
that the union should not be held liable “because sexual assault is not within
the course and scope of employment of the employees of unions.” Nice argument.
The lawsuit comes
two years after #MeToo scandals forced SEIU President Mary Kay Henry to appoint an external
advisory group to determine what practices SEIU could enact to stop sexual
abuse within the union.
Hmmm. Sounds
like Mary Kay Henry was not too successful.
And the suit
comes at roughly the same time that Local 2015 decided to flaunt its impeccable
moral judgment by re-hiring a disgraced former staffer, Rickman
Jackson, who was removed from his job in 2008 for stealing $33,500 from
the union’s low-waged members while serving as the Chief of Staff to the union’s
then-president, Tyrone Freeman.
