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| Scott Courtney |
Scott Courtney, an SEIU Executive Vice
President and leader of the union’s “Fight for $15” campaign, has resigned his
position at the union, according to BuzzFeed
News and Bloomberg News. In
addition, another staffer was fired and a third was placed on administrative
leave. Here are links to the news coverage:
Cora Lewis, “A
Top Labor Executive Has Resigned After Complaints About His Relationships With
Female Staffers,” BuzzFeed News
Josh Eidelson, “Union
Leader in $15 Wage Effort Resigns During Sexual Misconduct Investigation,” Bloomberg News
And here’s an excerpt
from the BuzzFeed article:
"This morning, President Mary Kay Henry accepted Scott Courtney’s resignation as an elected officer and member of SEIU," wrote Sahar Wali, spokesperson for the Service Employees International Union, in an email to BuzzFeed News.
"This comes a week after she suspended him from his assigned duties based on preliminary information that surfaced through an internal investigation launched to look into questions about to potential violations of our union’s anti-nepotism policy, efforts to evade our Code of Ethics and subsequent complaints related to sexual misconduct and abusive behavior towards union staff," Wali added.
Bloomberg News reports that SEIU President Mary Kay Henry sent an e-mail today to SEIU’s
International Executive Board informing them she accepted Courtney’s resignation
and took action against two other staffers. The article includes this detail:
Current and former SEIU employees had told Bloomberg News last week that Courtney had a pattern of dating subordinates, and some said they believed people working for him had been rewarded or reassigned based on those romantic relationships.
On October 19, UltraViolet -- a national women’s
rights organization founded in 2012 -- issued a press
release calling on SEIU to fire Courtney. The release stated:
The SEIU must immediately move to fire Courtney, and conduct a review of the organization’s sexual harassment policies. This is wholly unacceptable, and the SEIU leadership must act quickly to ensure that it never happens again.
Courtney is one of the highest officers inside SEIU, serving as one of seven "Executive Vice Presidents" and a member of the union's International Executive Board.
