SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan Inks Secret Deal to Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Just Days before Trial

Only days before a jury trial was set to begin in Alameda County (Calif.) Superior Court, Dave Regan and SEIU-UHW reached a secret deal to settle a lawsuit by a former SEIU-UHW staffer alleging sexual harassment, discrimination, battery, defamation and gender violence, according to court records.

The tentative deal, reached last month, appears to have been finalized in recent days. On February 5, the plaintiff’s attorney submitted a formal “Request for Dismissal” of the lawsuit known as Sturge vs. SEIU-UHW, according to court records.

The lawsuit, filed in 2018, exposed jaw-dropping allegations about Regan, SEIU-UHW Vice President Stan Lyles, Chokri Bensaid, Marcus Hatcher, Greg Pullman and other SEIU-UHW officials, according to court records.

Seven current and former SEIU-UHW members and staffers gave sworn testimony alleging that Regan was drunk on the job and repeatedly engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior towards women staffers and union members. More details are below.

How much did SEIU-UHW pay to settle the suit?

At this point, the terms of the settlement are secret. However, the settlement likely carries a hefty price tag.

SEIU-UHW likely agreed to pay for all of Sturge’s legal expenses and attorney’s fees for the past two years. Plus, Regan likely authorized payment for compensatory and punitive damages, which were demanded in the lawsuit

Who’s footing the bill?

Even though violations were allegedly carried out by officers of SEIU-UHW, the union’s members ultimately pay the bills. Regan is reportedly telling SEIU-UHW staffers that the union’s insurance policy will cover at least some of the settlement. But just as your auto insurance premiums go up if you’re a bad driver, Tasty believes that SEIU-UHW will now likely face higher insurance costs – which are paid by the union’s members.

On top of that, SEIU-UHW must pay all of the costs associated with its legal defense during the past two years. SEIU-UHW’s General Counsel Bruce Harland and two other attorneys have been involved in trying to defend SEIU-UHW against the allegations. Given that the attorneys probably charge $300-$500 per hour, the total bill is likely very large.

What kind of allegations have emerged from the lawsuit?

Dave Regan

Seven current and former SEIU-UHW members and staffers gave sworn testimony to the court alleging shocking behavior by Regan, Stan Lyles, Chokri Bensaid and Marcus Hatcher. Hatcher and Bensaid served on SEIU-UHW’s Executive Committee and Executive Board when the alleged violations took place. Regan, in addition to being the president of SEIU-UHW, also serves as a Vice President of SEIU in Washington DC.

Here are some of the details from the sworn testimony:

One SEIU-UHW member alleges she was fired from her job at Kaiser Permanente after she refused Marcus Hatcher’s “repeated” requests to go out with him. Hatcher allegedly told her he would retaliate against her if she refused his romantic overtures. During her official termination hearing at Kaiser, Hatcher allegedly told her, “You are paying for turning me down.”  

When she got a new job at another hospital, she says she tried to “lay low and not be noticed by anyone at UHW.” Eventually, she ran into Hatcher on the job, according to her testimony. She alleges: “The very next day, I was told I was being investigated. Mr. Hatcher told me, ‘It’s following you.’” She says she made a written report of these incidents to Greg Pullman, Dave Regan’s Chief of Staff, who allegedly never responded.

Another woman, also an employee of Kaiser Permanente, attended a multi-day SEIU-UHW training for Kaiser employees in 2017. She alleges that Regan, who “was very intoxicated – and not for the first time,” attended a gathering of women union members during the meeting and “went around asking the women if he could sniff their panties.” Later that year, she attended another SEIU-UHW event where Regan allegedly “had his face in the breasts of a steward and was clearly drunk,” according to her sworn testimony.

A third woman, also a union member, testified that Stan Lyles allegedly sent photos of his penis to her, and later cornered her in a hotel room in a scene that is eerliy like the ones described in Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial. She testified: “He closed the hotel room door and stood in front of it and started taking off his belt. He said something like, ‘I know you want it.’ I was so scared – I thought I wouldn’t get out alive.” Lyles allegedly told her: “I like big assess.”

According to a fourth woman who served on SEIU-UHW’s Executive Board, Lyles allegedly “stuck his hand under my shirt and groped my breast” on an elevator inside SEIU-UHW’s office in Commerce, California.

A former male staffer at SEIU-UHW alleges that he saw “Dave Regan drunk in meetings, including brainstorming meetings relating to the Get Healthy California Campaign that UHW was involved in. I saw Mr. Regan reach under or into his desk for a liquor bottle. He used to keep a liquor bottle in his desk.”

He also alleges that Regan “is a notorious ‘boob gazer,’ meaning he would stare at women’s breasts. One member, [name deleted], told me that she had to tell Mr. Regan, ‘Dave, my eyes are up here’ when he would be staring at her breasts.”  

More details to come. 

Lawyers Drop Bombshell in Suit against SEIU-UHW and Dave Regan

Dave Regan

Here’s the latest from the lawsuit filed by a former staffer who alleges that SEIU-UHW president Dave Regan and other top officials created a culture of sexual harassment and discrimination that led to an assault against a women staffer.  

The case, known as Sturge vs. SEIU-UHW, is being heard in Alameda County Superior Court.

In a recent court filing, Sturge’s lawyers dropped a bombshell.

Remember Chokri BenSaid?

He’s Regan’s right-hand man and at one point was rumored to be Regan’s heir apparent. Regan placed him on SEIU-UHW’s Executive Board and Executive Committee, and also appointed him to direct the union’s Hospital Division.  

Well, witnesses testified in sworn depositions that he’s a vicious stalker and harasser of women, according to records filed by Sturge's attorneys.

And it gets worse.

Top SEIU-UHW officials hired him just weeks after he was fired by SEIU for sexual harassment, according to court records.

Which SEIU-UHW officials knew about BenSaid's history of sexual harassment?  

General Counsel (Bruce Harland) and Regan’s Deputy Chief of Staff (Triana Silton), according to court records.

Why is this bad for Regan and SEIU-UHW?

Sturge’s lawyers allege that Regan and Co. fostered a workplace culture of sexual harassment and discrimination against women. Obviously, it doesn’t look too good if Regan and Co. hired, and then promoted to one of the union's highest positions, a person with a known track record of sexually harassing women.

What did BenSaid allegedly do to women at SEIU-UHW?

According to sworn testimony, he propositioned them, stalked them, retaliated against them, harassed them…

For example, one person testified he referred to a woman co-worker as a “whore” and a “bitch,” stalked her, and caused her to resign her job. He allegedly exchanged texts with a co-worker like:  “I think I might want to f*ck Georgette first.” “Just like to spin her on my d*ck lol.” Another testified that he propositioned an SEIU-UHW organizer and when she turned him down, he called her a bitch and told her to “f*ck off.” And he allegedly had inappropriate photos of women on his cell phone.

Given the broader social awareness brought by the MeToo movement, it's hard to imagine that SEIU-UHW's hiring, promotion and treatment of BenSaid will not look devastatingly bad to a jury.

What’s next in the case?

It’s heading to a trial. Last Friday, the judge scheduled the start of the trial for January 27, 2020.  Stay tuned.

Lawsuit Testimony: SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan and Stan Lyles Propositioned, Groped and Demeaned Women

More shocking news is emerging from legal proceedings surrounding allegations of sexual harassment by SEIU-UHW officials (Sturge vs. SEIU-UHW).

Recently, the lawyers representing a former SEIU-UHW staffer filed documents in Alameda County Superior Court containing excerpts from sworn testimony delivered by a variety of SEIU-UHW staffers during court depositions. The staffers include Regan’s Deputy Chief of Staff Triana Silton and former Kaiser Director Marcus Hatcher.

The details are stomach-churningly revolting. Regan has apparently decided to model himself after Donald Trump. Here are some details from staffers’ sworn testimony:

One staffer testified that, “Regan asked a group of women if he could sniff their panties.”

SEIU-UHW Vice President Stan Lyles “sent photos of his penis to a UHW member, cornered and propositioned her in a hotel room.”

“Lyles groped a member’s breast.”

“Regan and Lyles discussed picking up ho’s while on business in Arizona, and commented that the ho’s in UHW’s office ‘were ugly.’”

“Regan is a notorious ‘boob gazer’ who would comment to attractive women (‘you’re lucky I’m a married man’).”

"Directors Bensaid and Hatcher texted lewd remarks about women coworkers ('I think I might want to f*ck Georgette first'; 'Just like to spin her on my d*ck lol.')"

More details are below in a two-page excerpt from the court filing. Tasty blanked out the names of some of those who testified in order to protect their identities.

The lawsuit is about to get more interesting. Trial is set to begin on November 25. And Regan reportedly has been deposed by the plaintiff’s attorneys.

   Lawsuit Details Harassment by Top SEIU-UHW Officials by Anonymous iC9QziK on Scribd

Source: Top SEIU-UHW Official Fired over Sexual Misconduct

Marcus Hatcher, a top officer at SEIU-UHW and a close confidant of Dave Regan, was fired during the past 48 hours due to sexual misconduct, according to sources inside the union based in Oakland, California.

Hatcher was the Director of SEIU-UHW’s Kaiser Division and was also a member of the union’s governing board and the board’s Executive Committee. He formerly served as the union’s “Director of Representational Excellence.”

Here’s what one source reports:

At a recent meeting of the union’s Executive Board, a dispute erupted among three female board members who are each “intimately involved” with Hatcher. One of the women then reported the incident to Triana Silton, a staffer at SEIU-UHW.

During the past 48 hours, Hatcher was terminated, according to a second source.

According to the first source, Hatcher is not the only SEIU-UHW official who has had sexual affairs with staffers and members. The source writes:

That being said....Chokri [Bensaid] and Dave [Regan] are and have been perpetrators of the same conduct. Sleeping around with staff and members. Abusing their power.

Marcus, Chokri and Dave would all fraternize outside of work. This is well known and documented.  Birds of a feather flock together.

Dave Regan is the president of SEIU-UHW and a member of SEIU’s International Executive Board. Chokri Bensaid is the director of SEIU-UHW’s Hospital Division and a member of both the union’s Executive Board and its Executive Committee.

In 2016, these three individuals ranked among the highest-paid officials at SEIU-UHW, according to records filed with the US Department of Labor: Dave Regan ($224,706), Chokri Bensaid ($152,860), and Marcus Hatcher ($126,011).

For many years, multiple reports have swirled around Dave Regan and his alleged affairs with both staffers and members of the unions that he has directed, including both SEIU-UHW and SEIU 1199 Ohio Kentucky West Virginia. At the latter union, for example, he allegedly had an affair with one of the members of the union’s Executive Board. At SEIU-UHW, staffers and board members have alleged, for example, that he had an affair with a staffer in the union’s Hospital Division.

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan

Given the reports of sexual misconduct by at least several top SEIU-UHW officials, one staffer asks why the union has only taken action against Marcus Hatcher, who is African-American and has less power in SEIU-UHW’s hierarchy than Regan and Bensaid. The staffer, referring to Regan, Bensaid and Hatcher, writes:

But when their maleable bodies started sweating amidst the sexual harrasement spotlight.....the only Black Director of the Local was chosen to be the sacrifice for the sins of many.

Interestingly, the staffer reports that “there are plenty more stories” of sexual misconduct inside SEIU-UHW that haven’t yet reached the public light.

Dave Regan: "I want a higher salary than the presidents of the Steelworkers and UAW"

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan

Should SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan earn more than the international presidents of the United Auto Workers at the United Steel Workers?

Doesn’t make sense, right?

After all, Leo Gerard (USW) and Dennis Williams (UAW) lead international unions with four to six times as many members as Regan’s local union in California. In 2016, the UAW had 415,963 members while the USW had 548,033.

Nonetheless, that didn’t stop “Wall Street” Dave Regan from pocketing a higher salary in 2016, according to the unions’ DOL Forms LM-2.

In fact, SEIU-UHW’s second-highest paid official, Dave Kieffer, also earned more than the USW’s Gerard and the UAW’s Williams.

Here’s a rundown of their pay, according to Forms LM-2:

Dave Regan, SEIU-UHW President:  $224,706

Dave Kieffer, SEIU-UHW Director of Governmental Relations:  $210,909

Leo Gerard, International President of United Steelworkers:  $207,289

Dennis Williams, International President of United Auto Workers:  $184,159

SEIU-UHW's David Kieffer

A quick glance through SEIU-UHW’s recently filed disclosure report reveals that ten SEIU-UHW officials pocketed more than $150,000 during 2016. The list is below.

And take a look at their job descriptions.

Is it really necessary for one local union to have a Director of Governmental Relations, a Director of Public Affairs, a Director of Healthcare Policy and Advocacy, and a Political Director -- all earning more than $150K a year?

• Dave Regan, President:  $224,706
• Dave Kieffer, Director of Governmental Relations:  $210,909
• Kathy Ochoa, Director of Healthcare Policy and Advocacy:  $179,572
• Stan Lyles, Vice President:  $176,230
• Steve Trossman, Director of Public Affairs:  $170,494
• David Miller, Assistant to the President for Strategic Campaigns:   $168,974
• Myriam Escamilla, Hospital Division Director:   $162,415
• Greg Pullman, Chief of Staff:  $153,980
• Chokri Bensaid, Kaiser Division Director:  $152,860
• Cass Gualvez, Organizing Director:   $152,521
• Arianna Jimenez, Political Director:   $152,227

Glad there are unions like NUHW, whose constitution speaks volumes about the union's democratic values by prohibiting the union's president from earning more than the highest-paid rank-and-file member.

Dave Regan Wins Reelection with Votes from Just 3% of Union’s Members

Last week, Dave Regan was declared the winner of SEIU-UHW’s internal election after winning the votes of just 3% of SEIU-UHW’s members. 

Of the union’s 86,512 members, Regan received votes from 2,916 members while his two challengers together collected about 1,000 votes.

Here are the vote totals for the election, according to SEIU-UHW’s website:

Total eligible voters: 86,512

Dave Regan: 2,916 votes

Niko Anagnostopoulos: 511 votes

Cartina Price: 469 votes

Regan’s vote totals dropped from approximately 8,000 in 2014 to just 2,916 in 2017. At the same time, Regan’s challengers collected about the same numbers of votes in 2017 as they did in 2014 – approximately 1,000.

In the run-up to the election, Regan campaigned around California by attending monthly steward council meetings at multiple hospitals. Regan’s efforts may have been prompted by the support shown for one of his challengers, a rank-and-file Kaiser Permanente member named Niko Anagnostopoulos who won the unanimous backing of the steward council at his hospital, which is one of Kaiser’ largest.

During his speeches to steward council meetings at Kaiser hospitals, Regan reportedly said he wants to negotiate a 10-year labor contract with Kaiser during the partnership unions’ negotiations next year. In California’s hospital industry, union contracts are typically two to four years in duration.

Interestingly, at St. Francis Medical Center in Los Angeles, Regan’s slate of candidates (the so-called “Healthcare Justice” slate) lost elections for seats on SEIU-UHW’s Executive Board. Independent candidates beat Regan’s slate by more than a two-to-one margin. The 384-bed hospital is part of Verity Health System, formerly the Daughters of Charity Health System.

In 2015, Regan negotiated massive cuts for workers at St. Francis and other Verity hospitals, including freezing workers’ wage scales, eliminating benefits for many part-time workers, and multiple other cuts. Next, Regan used a system of ramrod membership votes to ratify his give-backs to the four-profit company. SEIU-UHW members called Regan’s contract “the worst contracting or history.”

Facebook post by one of Regan's challengers following the vote count.

What’s next?

It’s unclear whether Regan intends to serve out the full three years of his next term of office.

In December 2015, Regan told a meeting of the SEIU-UHW’s Executive Board he would not run for re-election, according to board members who attended the meeting. Regan said he was backing the director of SEIU-UHW’s Kaiser Division, Chokri Bensaid, to succeed him.

As the election approached, however, Regan suddenly declared his candidacy. 

Some observers speculate he ran for reelection because he was concerned that Bensaid could not win a contested election. According to these observers, it’s possible Regan will resign his position during his next term of office so that Bensaid can be appointed by the union’s Executive Board as his successor.

Stay tuned.

SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan: ‘I’m running for re-election’

Despite earlier reports to the contrary, Dave Regan is officially running for re-election as president of SEIU-UHW.

Days ago, the union announced that Regan will join two other candidates on the ballot in next month’s mail-ballot election. And next week, Regan and the other candidates are supposed to post statements on SEIU-UHW’s website about their candidacies.

What about the earlier reports of Regan’s imminent departure?

In December 2015, Regan told a meeting of the union’s Executive Board he would not run for re-election, according to board members who attended the meeting. Regan also said he was backing the director of SEIU-UHW’s Kaiser Division, Chokri Bensaid, to be his replacement.

Several months ago, staffers at SEIU-UHW confirmed that Regan was on his way out.

What changed?

Hard to tell. Perhaps Regan had a change of heart and decided to hang onto his annual $250,000 salary.

Observers point to another possibility. If Regan fears his chosen successor might not win a contested election, he may be running so that sometime after he’s installed for a new three-year term, he can resign and have the Executive Board appoint his chosen successor without a union-wide election.

Who’s running against Regan in next month’s election?

 

Niko Anagnostopoulos

Both of his challengers are rank-and-file members at Kaiser Permanente and currently serve on the union’s Executive Board.

One of them, Niko Anagnostopoulos, ran against Regan in 2014 and got about 1,200 votes compared to Regan’s 8,000. Anagnostopoulos has set up a website and Facebook page that criticizes Regan and his slate of Executive Board candidates, which is called the “Healthcare Justice slate,” for failing to represent workers on the job and for Regan’s “failed policies.”

Here’s an excerpt from Anagnostopoulos website:

Currently to remain as an elected officer with the existing UHW administration I would only be contributing to the failed policies of the establishment.  You will no doubt become familiar with “HealthCare Justice” as the masses of glossy flyers begin to clutter our mailboxes leading up to the election on March 15th, 2017…    The "HealthCare Justice Slate" has failed to represent all of its members.  The HealthCare slate leadership has jeopardized UHWs standing by pursuing a reckless policy of litigation with our employers.  I know that together we can act on a more constructive relationship with our administrative associates.  I believe that new leadership can improve our daily working conditions without further damaging the integrity and public perception of SEIU-UHW.

Last month, says Anagnostopoulos, the SEIU-UHW steward Council at Kaiser Walnut Creek Medical Center voted not to endorse Regan’s “Healthcare Justice slate.” It’s unclear if they voted to endorse Anagnostopoulos.

Anagnostopoulos’ campaign Facebook page takes a shot at Regan and the other six-figure staffers like Cass Gualvez who are Regan’s candidates for SEIU-UHW’s “Executive Committee.” Here’s what it says:

Here is a graphic showing the candidates for the SEIU-UHW election. We have included the union staff salaries. Do you feel protected? Have they earned re-election?

The third candidate is Cartina Price, a Licensed Vocational Nurse at Kaiser Torrance Clinic in Los Angeles.  It’s not clear if she has a website presence so far.

Cartina Price

SEIU-UHW’s past elections have been marked by low voter turnout and plenty of controversy. During SEIU-UHW's officer elections in 2011 and 2014, Regan was able to corral little more than 8,000 votes from the union's 140,000 members.

In 2011, Sophia Sims -- a rank-and-file Kaiser worker with few resources -- came within several thousand votes of defeating Regan, who collected only 7,000 votes that year. Not an impressive showing when you consider that Regan massively outspent Sims and also used the union's entire institutional machinery to push his candidacy onto the membership.

The elections were also marred by allegations of vote-rigging by Regan, which were detailed in a complaint to the US Department of Labor and a February 2011 lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

After the 2011 election, Regan looked for opportunities to knock Sims out of contention in future elections.

In 2012, he accused her of "gross disloyalty or conduct unbecoming a member" and ordered her to be subjected to an SEIU-UHW show trial. In 2013, Regan's hand-picked kangaroo court found Sims "guilty" and banned her from competing in SEIU-UHW's elections for seven years.

This year’s election will be the first since SEIU-UHW lost more than half of its membership when the union’s long-term care workers were transferred to SEIU Local 2015, headed by Laphonza Butler. Historically, Regan relied on homecare workers as a key source of votes in elections.

Sources: Dave Regan Is on His Way Out

Job application??

Dave Regan is calling it quits at SEIU-UHW.

Sources inside SEIU-UHW recently confirmed that Regan will not stand for re-election as SEIU-UHW’s president when his three-year term expires in early 2017.

Ten months ago, Tasty reported that Regan told members of SEIU-UHW’s Executive Board he was throwing in the towel. At the time, he said he would support Chokri Bensaid, the director of SEIU-UHW’s Kaiser Division, to become his replacement.

Why is Regan leaving?

Observers point to a series of colossal failures that have taken a serious toll on SEIU-UHW and its members, including... 

• Regan’s backroom deals and mega-failures at the bargaining table that have stripped tens of thousands of SEIU-UHW members of their pensions and other benefits; 

• his failed battle with SEIU President Mary Kay Henry that has left Regan deeply isolated inside SEIU; 

• his loss of 65,000 homecare and nursing home workers that halved his union’s membership; 

• his failed backroom deal with the California Hospital Association that has cost SEIU-UHW’s members more than $25 million and has left the union mired in expensive legal battles and more politically isolated than ever; 

• his failure to organize healthcare workers to join SEIU-UHW; 

• etc.

And don't forget the personal scandals, such as Regan's physical assault on a process server that splashed his face across TV newscasts in California.

Where will Regan go next?

Coming to a reality TV show near you? 

It's not clear at this point.

However…Tasty hears that Diamond Dave would be absolutely perfect for a new reality TV show that Donald Trump is planning to launch after the US presidential election. 

Source: SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan is on His Way Out

At SEIU-UHW's Executive Board meeting last month, SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan announced he will not run for reelection when his three-year term ends next year, say sources.

Let Tasty be the first to wish Dave a hearty "GTFO." 

So, why is Regan leaving?

Some observers point to his repeated losses and failures, which have certainly taken their toll -- for example, his failed battle with SEIU President Mary Kay Henry, his deepening isolation inside SEIU, his mega-failures in California, etc. 

In the Golden State, Regan has single-handedly led SEIU-UHW through a period in which the union lost half of its membership, destroyed the pensions and workplace standards for tens of thousands of California hospital workers, and flushed an estimated $25-30 million of union members' dues money down the toilet in Regan's failed pursuit of a so-called partnership with the California Hospital Association.

Other sources offer a different explanation for his departure. They say Regan is jumping ship because he's concluded he can’t win reelection next year. Here's what these sources say.

During SEIU-UHW's officer elections in 2011 and 2014, Regan was able to corral little more than 7,000 votes from the union's 140,000 members.

In 2011, Sophia Sims -- a rank-and-file Kaiser worker with few resources -- came within several thousand votes of defeating Regan, who collected only 7,000 votes that year. Not an impressive showing when you consider that Regan massively outspent Sims and also used the union's entire institutional machinery to push his candidacy onto the membership.

The elections were also marred by allegations of vote-rigging by Regan, which were detailed in a complaint to the US Department of Labor and a February 2011 lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

 

Dave's hand-picked successor? Chokri Bensaid

After the 2011 election, Regan looked for opportunities to knock Sims out of contention in future elections. 

In 2012, he accused her of "gross disloyalty or conduct unbecoming a member" and ordered her to be subjected to an SEIU-UHW show trial. In 2013, Regan's hand-picked kangaroo court found Sims "guilty" and banned her from competing in SEIU-UHW's elections for seven years.

In other words, Regan is vulnerable to internal challenges.

What's more, he’d face an even bigger challenge if he were to run in 2017. 

In the union's 2011 and 2014 elections, Regan relied heavily on SEIU-UHW's homecare workers as his main source of votes. Homecare workers are very isolated from one another (each worker is employed in a separate client's home) and are aggressively targeted for votes by Regan's staff, who serve up heavy doses of misinformation and threats to harvest their votes.

Last June, Mary Kay Henry and the SEIU International Executive Board stripped Regan of his electoral base when they transferred 60,000 SEIU-UHW homecare workers to Laphonza Butler’s SEIU Local 2015.

That means Regan, in 2017, would have to campaign among SEIU-UHW's remaining membership -- hospital workers -- where he faces outright hostility from thousands of workers. Why?

At Dignity Health, Regan gave away 15,000 workers' defined-benefit pension and accepted a wage freeze even though the company was pocketing giant profits… and then he lied to workers about the cuts.

At the Daughters of Charity Health System, Regan has twice used ramrod ratification votes to force massive benefit cuts down the throats of approximately 3,000 workers. In recent months, he agreed to strip hundreds of part-time workers of all their benefits.

So, just how vulnerable is Regan to defeat in the newly changed electoral landscape of SEIU-UHW's shrinking membership?

At Kaiser hospitals alone, Regan's critics turned out 13,000 votes for NUHW in the most recent NLRB decertification election -- nearly double the total number of votes that Regan received in SEIU-UHW's officer elections of 2011 and 2014.

With Diamond Dave headed for retirement next year, who will Regan annoint as his replacement? 

Not Stan Lyles, his current Vice President. 

According to Tasty's sources, Regan told attendees of last month’s Executive Board meeting he’s backing the union's Kaiser Division Director, Chokri Bensaid.  

Bensaid – who works alongside Kaiser’s fatcat executives to sell the "partnership" to workers -- has also built up some level of recognition among Kaiser workers, who’ll now become the largest bloc of voters in the union's officer elections.

As for Regan's departure… good riddance. And GTFO.