Newspaper: Calif. Legislator Filed Complaint against Dave Regan over Barroom Clash

The largest newspaper in California’s capital city has published an article confirming Tasty’s report about a barroom confrontation involving SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan that reportedly injured California Assemblymember Richard Bloom.

Last night -- just ten hours after Tasty posted an account of the incident -- the Sacramento Bee published an article confirming the report and offering new details. (Alexei Koseff, “A union president shoved him at a Sacramento fundraiser, lawmaker reports,” Sacramento Bee, August 21, 2016)

Here are some excerpts:

A California lawmaker reported to the Legislature earlier this month that he was shoved by a health care union president at a downtown Sacramento restaurant.

The confrontation between Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, and Dave Regan, president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, occurred on Aug. 8 at Lucca Restaurant and Bar, where the two were attending separate events for the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and California Forward.

Bloom’s office declined to discuss the incident but confirmed that Bloom reported it to the Assembly Rules Committee.

According to the Bee, Regan began arguing with Andrew Crutchfield, director of the political advocacy group Govern for California, who was attending the event organized by the California Legislative Jewish Caucus.

A few people from both parties came over to break up the dispute. Bloom got between Regan and Crutchfield, Sen. Ben Allen said, and that’s when Regan pushed him out of the way…

“From the short period of time that I witnessed the altercation, Mr. Regan appeared belligerent,” Allen said.

[SEIU-UHW staffer Steve] Trossman said Regan “maybe had a glass of wine” that night. He was not kicked out of the restaurant, Trossman said...

“I really don’t think alcohol was a factor in this,” Trossman said. “Dave is very passionate about workers…”

Sen. Ben Allen is a Democrat from Santa Monica, Calif. and serves as the Chair of the Senate Education Committee.

Regan's barroom clash was the top item in CALmatters

So, why did Regan -- who reportedly has a history of engaging in alcohol-fueled fights -- get “belligerent” and require lawmakers from both houses of California’s legislature to stop him from getting into a fistfight inside a Sacramento restaurant and bar?

According to Trossman, Regan tried to fight Crutchfield because Crutchfield was “gloating” about the US Supreme Court’s anti-union Janus decision and was criticizing unions.

Now… even if Crutchfield is the biggest rightwing anti-union ideologue in the nation, is it smart or strategic for a union leader to try to punch him during the middle of two political events attended by dozens of California legislators?

In the Sacramento Bee, Trossman tries to argue that Regan was not at fault because he was “provoked” or manipulated by Crutchfield into trying to punch him.

Hmmm, that’s a great message. 

If it’s so damn easy to manipulate Regan into doing stupid sh*t, isn’t Trossman basically saying Dave is a dumbass?

After all, rank-and-file union leaders face provocations at their worksites all the time from aggressive supervisors, anti-union bosses, etc. They manage to keep their cool. Why can’t Dave?

Thirdly, if Dave is gonna do something stupid, he should at least try to hit the guy he’s arguing with… and not an innocent bystander who happens to be a state legislator.

At the end of today, it's obvious that Regan can’t keep his cool. Remember, he’s the one who assaulted a process server who was simply trying to deliver legal papers to his house, according to court documents.

It seems like Regan’s handlers should keep him away from public events. And process servers. And union staff members. After all, who knows when someone will next set Regan off like a fistful of nitroglycerin?

Here’s a link to the full story in the Sacramento Bee:  “A union president shoved him at a Sacramento fundraiser, lawmaker reports.”

Sources: Dave Regan Injured a California Lawmaker during Barroom Fight

SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan sent a California legislator to the hospital after knocking him down during Regan’s allegedly drunken attack on an unidentified patron of Sacramento restaurant and bar, according to sources.

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan

The legislator, Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-West Los Angeles), is considering taking legal action against Regan, say sources. He was at the restaurant to attend an event organized by the California Legislative Jewish Caucus when he was inadvertently injured by Regan.

Here’s what happened, say Tasty’s sources:

Earlier this month, Regan attended an event sponsored by “California Forward” at Lucca Restaurant and Bar, just two blocks from the state capitol.

Regan serves on the board of “California Forward,” which describes itself as a “bipartisan leadership council” that articulates “a vision for governance reforms to break the partisan gridlock and fortify fiscal management.” Other board members include Duf Sundheim (the former Chairman of the California Republican Party) and Wade Rose (Vice President of Government Relations at Dignity Health).

During the event, Regan reportedly got drunk and began arguing with an unknown patron. (Apparently, this was Dave’s method of ‘bridging the partisan divide.’) While attempting to punch the patron, Regan instead knocked Assemblymember Bloom to the floor, who was injured and reportedly transported to a local hospital.

Assemblymember Bloom happened to be at the restaurant attending a separate event sponsored by the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. He’s one of 16 legislators who comprise the caucus.

According to Tasty’s sources, California’s capital is now abuzz with reports about Regan’s reportedly drunken attack at Lucca and the injuries sustained by Bloom. 

As readers know, Regan is shadowed by a long trail of allegations, arrests, restraining orders and lawsuits related to physical assault, threats and violence.

In the most recent incident known to Tasty, in 2016 Regan allegedly attacked a process server attempting to deliver legal documents from the California Hospital Association to Regan’s home in Kensington, Calif. The process server later documented Regan’s assault in court records and in photographs of his injuries. He wrote a description of the assault submitted to the court, which reads in part:

"Mr. Regan kept hitting me in the head with his fist… I thought I was going to die."

During a police investigation, Regan attempted to intimidate an investigating police officer, according to CBS News. The incident resulted in a criminal complaint against Regan that was referred to the District Attorney. Ragin’ Dave Regan was also subject to a court-ordered restraining order.

In 2008, Regan led busloads of SEIU staffers and supporters in an attack against a national conference held by "Labor Notes," a network of union activists seeking to democratize and reform US labor unions.

Regan's 2008 assaults on Labor Notes Conference

Regan's troops violently forced their way into the conference in Dearborn, Michigan, where they reportedly punched, kicked and knocked participants to the floor. One female conference attendee was sent to the hospital with injuries to her head and one of the members of Regan's union at the time, SEIU 1199 West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, died during Regan's assault from a heart attack.

John Sweeney (then President of the AFL-CIO) denounced Regan's attack on the conference, stating: "There is no justification -- none -- for the violent attack orchestrated by SEIU," according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

In 2011, Regan was sued for allegedly violating two civil rights laws by carrying out a plan of assault, battery, intimidation, threat and coercion in an effort to silence SEIU-UHW’s critics. Later, Regan reportedly settled the lawsuit out of court.

During a 2009 election among homecare workers in Fresno County, SEIU staffers reportedly threatened immigrant home care workers with deportation unless they voted for SEIU-UHW, according to TV news coverage and video-taped testimonials of workers and SEIU staff.

During NLRB elections at Kaiser Permanente in 2010, SEIU-UHW employed a "World War III" strategy designed to intimidate its members by employing, for example, violent "shout downs" and intimidation tactics against union members.

In one infamous incident inside a hospital cafeteria, SEIU-UHW staffer Tiffany Ford issued death threats against Kaiser employees… for which a Los Angeles Superior Court judge imposed a restraining order against her.

Another SEIU-UHW staffer, Liz Castillo, became a YouTube sensation (90,000 views) for her violent assault in a hospital cafeteria captured on videotape.

SEIU-UHW -- including staffer Angela Hewett -- even threatened and intimidated 80-year-old labor legend Dolores Huerta, who co-founded of the United Farm Workers Union with Cesar Chavez. In one incident, SEIU-UHW representatives shamefully screamed at Ms. Huerta to "go back to the fields."

In 1995, Regan was arrested by police in Ohio for disorderly conduct, according to CBS News.

Regan, in addition to serving as the President of SEIU-UHW, is also a Vice President of SEIU and serves on its DC-based International Executive Board headed by SEIU President Mary Kay Henry.

Here's the 2016 CBS news clip reporting on Regan's assault on a process server at his home.