Jury Awards $8.5 Million Verdict to Staffer Fired after Blowing Whistle on SEIU’s Failed Representation

Over the years, Tasty has reported on SEIU-UHW’s repeated failures to enforce its own labor contracts and defend union members against their bosses.

Remember the Kaiser worker who sued SEIU-UHW for failing to defend her against the allegedly meth-smoking manager who fired her? Or the SEIU-UHW official who simply sat on her hands while Kaiser Permanente fired a worker with 33 years on the job? Or the SEIU-UHW member from Dignity Health who sued SEIU-UHW in federal court alleging that SEIU-UHW officials failed to enforce the union’s own labor contract and instead allowed the hospital to fire her.

Well, here’s an interesting story about a similar kind of failed representation at SEIU Local 721, which represents 90,000 public-sector workers in the Los Angeles region.

On November 24, a California jury awarded an $8.5 million verdict against SEIU Local 721 for wrongfully terminating one of the union’s own staff members after he revealed to Local 721 officials a backlog of more than 600 arbitration cases that had been filed by members but weren’t being handled. He alleged that Local 721 falsified records to cover up the massive backlog.

The staffer, Talbert Mitchell, worked as the union’s “Advocacy Coordinator” and had been on staff for 21 years. According to his lawyers, after Mitchell directed an internal report revealing the massive backlog of arbitration cases and following his medical leave for a hernia surgery, Mitchell was wrongfully terminated.

The jury agreed with Mitchell, finding he was the victim of whistleblower retaliation, disability discrimination, medical leave discrimination, and wrongful termination. The jury awarded him a $2.4 million verdict and an additional $6.1 million in punitive damages.

(Don’t count the money yet, as these kinds of verdicts can shrink on appeal.)

A former member of SEIU Local 721 said the staffer’s description of failed representation is consistent with his experience. Here’s what he told Tasty in an e-mail:

Many employee grievances were mishandled (on the union side, once responsibility of the grievance handling was transferred from the steward to the Local) -- time frames were overlooked resulting in many management denials and many more were lost after they were allegedly transferred to the County's Human Resources Department for a higher level of possible adjudication called Arbitration.  Were the union staff set up for failure by being given unmanageable caseloads or did the executive staff of the Local just not care in representing it's members?  Another question for the members to consider is where does anyone think this award money, to pay Mr. Talbert Mitchell, will come from.  Why will no one at the Local 721 be charged mush less dismissed because of gross incompetence and/or administrative mismanagement?

As for Talbert Mitchell, the former Local 721 staffer, here’s what his lawyers said in a November 28 press release:

“Due to his disability, needing medical leave, and his reporting of conduct he thought was illegal and which adversely affected union member rights, he became the target of his superiors and ultimately was terminated with a fabricated story," said Carney Shegerian, Mitchell's trial lawyer. "Talbert was morally treated wrong by his employer and superiors, and today a California jury of his peers announced that treatment was not only just illegal, but punishable."

For more information about the jury verdict, here’s a news story:

Toni McAllister, “Jury awards Lynwood whistleblower $2.63 million, punished for exposing union’s wrongdoing,” City News Service, November 24, 2017.

SEIU Staffers: “SEIU Nevada’s Deputy Trustee is a professional bully”

Tasty got some interesting news about one of the trustees appointed recently to run SEIU Nevada.

In April, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry imposed an “emergency trusteeship” on the 9,000-member union and appointed two “trustees” to run the union after removing the elected board and officers.

Luisa Blue, one of SEIU International’s Executive Vice Presidents, serves as the “Trustee” of SEIU Nevada.

“Deputy Trustee” Martin Manteca -- who normally works as the Organizing Director of SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles -- is “a professional bully,” say his co-workers at Local 721. They say he’s “harassed” and retaliated against staffers at Local 721.

In 2016, staffers were so upset by Manteca's bullying that 55 of them signed a letter delivered to SEIU Local 721 President Bob Schoonover. A copy of the petition is below.

An “update” circulated to Local 721 staff accuses Manteca of “a pattern of persistent, repeated mistreatment, and a culture of intimidation, harassment, retaliation, and nepotism.”

After staffers complained about Manteca, a number of the whistleblowers reportedly were targeted with retaliation and fired. In the process, Manteca and other Local 721 managers “destroyed the department,” according to staffers.

Sounds like the perfect person to fix SEIU Nevada, which is riven by internal divisions and conflicts, according to Mary Kay Henry.

One staffer from Local 721 writes:

I feel bad for the folks in Nevada. Martin is a professional bully, and has harassed and pushed out so many great organizers here. There'll be few of them left in Nevada once he's done there.

SEIU's Mary Kay Henry Imposes "Emergency Trusteeship" on SEIU Nevada

Here’s the latest.

Last Friday (April 28), SEIU President Mary Kay Henry implemented an “emergency trusteeship” on 9,000-member SEIU Nevada, according to an announcement on the union’s website and a formal order pasted below. The action removes the local union’s Executive Board and suspends its constitution.

Friday’s action came two days after Henry removed SEIU Nevada’s President Cherie Mancini and Executive Vice President Sharon Kisling and asked the local union’s Executive Board to meet hours later with two of her representatives, Neal Bisno and Deedee Fitzpatrick. 

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, here’s what happened during that private meeting on Wednesday night (Las Vegas Review-Journal, “Nevada SEIU asks parent union to take control of operations,” April 27, 2017):

SEIU Local 1107’s executive board voted Wednesday night to request an emergency trusteeship be imposed, SEIU International spokeswoman Janet Veum said. A source with direct knowledge of the vote said it was 17-to-7, with five executive board members abstaining…

Typically, the international union would conduct a hearing and have a vote of its international executive board before imposing trusteeship, Veum said. But because SEIU 1107 made an emergency request, international president Mary Kay Henry could expedite the process by imposing the trusteeship before the hearing is held.

Who’s running SEIU Nevada now?

Henry appointed Lisa Blue and Martin Manteca to serve as “Trustee” and “Deputy Trustee,” respectively. Blue was the “Chief Elected Officer” (CEO) at SEIU Local 521 in California until May of 2016, when Henry appointed her as one of SEIU International’s seven Executive Vice Presidents. Manteca is the Director of External Organizing for SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles.

Here’s Henry’s trusteeship order:

  SEIU's Emergency Trusteeship Order over SEIU Nevada: 4-28-2017 by tastysternburger on Scribd

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan Funnels Millions to Lobbyists

Here’s an interesting item.

The "Capitol Weekly," a newspaper that covers the political scene in California’s state capitol, offers yet another glimpse at the ass-backwards changes brought by Dave Regan to SEIU-UHW.

Earlier, Tasty posted internal documents that show how Regan is systematically slashing the union's day-to-day representation of its own members while SEIU-UHW pockets multi-million dollar profits.

At the same time, Regan has been busy funneling millions of dollars to business-suited lobbyists in the state capitol, according to the "Capitol Weekly."

In fact, during 2013 SEIU-UHW became one of the top ten biggest lobbyists in California... along with Chevron, the California Chamber of Commerce, ATT, Southern California Edison and the California Hospital Association.

Regan funneled $1.88 million to a variety of lobbying firms in 2013, causing SEIU-UHW to join the top-ten list for presumably the first time ever.

What kinds of policies did Regan lobby for/against during 2013?

Regan assigned an estimated ten lobbyists to fight a bill backed by UNITE HERE, the UFCW, the Teamsters, Teachers, Longshore Workers… and even SEIU Locals 521, 721 and 1021! The bill would've required Kaiser Permanente to share more information with unions and other purchasers when Kaiser demands premium hikes for its health insurance policies.

The bill's demands were milk-toast modest, basically saying: "Hey Kaiser, show us the numbers before you jack up our premiums."

But instead of supporting workers' demands for more transparency, Regan pimped for Kaiser and the California Hospital Association by hiring lobbyists to kill the worker-backed bill.

Regan also teamed up with the California Hospital Association to lobby against Assembly Bill 975, which would’ve required nonprofit hospitals to spend more money on "charity care" for low-income, uninsured patients.

It's no wonder “Wall Street” Dave is on the short-list for the Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Employee of the Year' award.

Here's the full article from the Capitol Weekly entitled "Top 10 Lobbying Firms Bill More than $40 Million.”

Public-Sector Workers in Southern California Oust SEIU Local 721 in Landslide Election Victory

Last Thursday, nearly 400 workers at the Coachella Valley Water District in Southern California voted by a three-to-one margin to decertify SEIU Local 721 and to form a new union, the Coachella Valley Water District Employee Association (CVWDEA).

The final tally was 233 (CVWDEA) to 83 (SEIU Local 721) to 9 (“No Union”). A total of 377 workers were eligible to vote in the election.

A local newspaper, The Desert Sun, quoted the new association’s interim president as saying: “We will be self-governed.” The new union will work with City Employees Associates, which represents 105 independent associations of public-sector workers across California.

Workers at the Coachella Valley Water District provide water to more than 110,000 homes, farms and businesses in Riverside, Imperial and San Diego counties. Last July, workers petitioned for their decertification election with the full backing of the workers' local leaders, according to a newsletter. Officials at SEIU Local 721 then used legal maneuvers to stall the elections for seven months.

Congrats on the victory!

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan Joins Chamber of Commerce and Kaiser Permanente in Opposing Labor-Backed Bill

Ever wonder why SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan is expected to win the “Employee of the Year Award” from Kaiser Permanente and the Chamber of Commerce?

Here’s a clue.

Earlier this year, unions across California backed a bill in the state legislature that seeks to beat back the skyrocketing cost of health insurance. Senate Bill 746 would require large insurance companies like Kaiser Permanente to cough up more information about their profits and operations so that unions and large employers can figure out whether the insurance companies’ rate hikes are fair.

As supporters say, “All we want is transparency -- basic information from the big insurance companies.”

The bill’s backers include all of the state’s major unions: UNITE HERE, the Teamsters, UFCW, AFSCME, Transit Workers, Teachers, Machinists, Longshore Workers, Engineers, Utility Workers, Nurses, the California Public Interest Research Group, the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, etc.

In fact, even SEIU’s public-sector unions back the bill -- SEIU Locals 521, 721 and 1021. Check out their letter of support below.

So who’s opposed to the bill?

You guessed it. All of the Bosses… and Dave Regan’s SEIU-UHW!

Here’s the list of opponents: the California Chamber of Commerce, Kaiser Permanente, Health Net, Aetna, California Association of Health Plans, America’s Health Insurance Plans, Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies... and SEIU-UHW. Below, see SEIU-UHW’s letter of opposition.

And here’s a fact that speaks volumes:  SEIU-UHW is the only union that opposes this bill.

Interestingly, legislators in both houses ended up approving the bill by wide margins despite the fact that Regan assigned as many as 10 staffers to lobby against the bill, including Dave Kieffer of Tyrone Freeman fame.

Tasty hears that Regan's efforts to defeat the bill have intensified SEIU-UHW’s isolation from the rest of the labor movement… and have boosted Regan’s well-earned reputation as bought-and-paid-for by the Chamber of Commerce and Kaiser Permanente!

   SEIU-UHW's  Letter Opposing California Senate Bill 746: June 18, 2013

   Letter from SEIU Locals 1021, 721 and 521 endorsing California Senate Bill 746: August 29, 2013.

More California Workers to Bolt SEIU

Last month, a group of approximately 400 public-sector workers in Southern California petitioned to dump SEIU Local 721 in order to create their own independent union. 

The workers are employed by the Coachella Valley Water District, which provides water to more than 110,000 homes, farms and businesses in Riverside, Imperial and San Diego counties.

The decertification effort is backed by the workers’ elected board, according to a July newsletter (see below). More than 50 percent of the workers had already signed the decertification petition by early July.

According to  newsletter, the water district workers want to form an independent union with the help of City Employees Associates, which represents 105 independent associations of public-sector workers across California.

The news was reported by a dirt-digging blogsite called “Loco 221,” which offers news and commentary about SEIU Local 221 in San Diego.

So why are so many of SEIU’s members running for the exit signs?

Here’s what the leader of a separate group of already-departed SEIU members says. "Loco 221" published an interview with the president of the La Mesa City Employees Association, which earlier decertified SEIU Local 221 to form their own independent union.

Just before the decertification of SEIU we had only 22% of employees who were SEIU members and most of them didn’t know why they were hanging on.  Employees were tired of SEIU people confronting them at their workstation and at home to join SEIU.  Employees were adamant that they would not join an organization that took a lot of their money and they had no say of where that money went.  Once we started our decertification process, we wanted to send a clear message to SEIU, every employee dropped out except the President and Treasurer.  We stayed only so we could control the bank account which had only a few hundred dollars left.  That last year I met with [former local 221 president] Sharon-Frances Moore 4 times insisting we needed change.  We needed  a rep that returned phone calls and responded to e-mails.  We needed a rep that did not “call in sick” to a bargaining meeting but forgot to call us and tell us he would not be there.  We needed a rep who would show up to her first ever Skelley hearing and NOT not know what to say – I could go on.  Sharon-Frances Moore made a lot of promises and it never got any better.

For readers who don’t remember Sharon-Frances Moore… Andy Stern met her at a cocktail party in New York City and then hand-picked her to run SEIU Local 221 even though her closest previous union experience was working for the Girl Scouts!

Moore crashed and burned in spectacular SEIU fashion, including an exorbitant salary, a fraudulent union election that was overturned by the U.S. Department of Labor, a civil lawsuit, and a six-figure severance package paid by SEIU’s members!

   Coachella Valley Water District General Employees Association Files to Decertify SEIU and Form Independent...

SEIU's Tyrone Freeman on Trial; Six-Figure Payout to SEIU's Steve Trossman Was Reportedly Hush Money

Here’s the latest on SEIU’s Tyrone Freeman, who was indicted last July on 15 criminal counts including embezzlement, theft of union assets, mail fraud, and false tax returns.

According to the U.S. District Court’s website, Freeman’s trial is set to begin tomorrow, January 8, at 8:30am in Courtroom 680 at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building at 255 East Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles. (More reporting below.)

Tyrone Freeman's Criminal Trial -- Calendar for Trial on January 8, 2013 from US District Court Central Dis...

Tasty expects that the opening statements by prosecutors and Freeman’s attorneys will be quite interesting. What sort of defense strategy will Freeman’s attorneys mount? One clear option: to show the jury that SEIU’s top officials were fully aware of Freeman’s corruption for many years, didn’t lift a finger to stop him from stealing millions of dollars from workers… and even orchestrated a cover-up to hide Freeman’s corruption from SEIU’s members and the public.

Below, Tasty has posted documents that detail SEIU’s six-figure payment of alleged “hush money” to Steve Trossman following his cover-up operation to hide Freeman’s corruption scandal from union members and the public.

So what did SEIU’s officials know about Freeman’s corruption and when did they know it? These facts seem quite clear. Tasty earlier posted excerpts from an explosive court deposition in which a top SEIU official, Jim Philliou, testified that he learned of Freeman’s corruption in 2001 and immediately reported it to Eliseo Medina’s Chief of Staff and Tom Woodruff. Medina is SEIU’s Secretary Treasurer and Woodruff is an Executive Vice President of SEIU.

Despite Philliou’s action, SEIU officials allowed Freeman to continue robbing workers for SEVEN MORE YEARS until Freeman was finally busted in 2008 by an investigative journalist at the Los Angeles Times. In fact, Philliou testified that after he reported Freeman’s corruption to SEIU bigwigs in 2001, the SEIU officials actually eliminated their financial oversight of Freeman, thereby allowing Freeman to steal faster and more easily.

SEIU's Steve Trossman

And here’s a new piece of SEIU’s corruption scandal that’s not been previously discussed. Sources report that after news of Freeman’s corruption spread throughout the executive suites at the Purple Palace in 2001, SEIU officials -- including Andy Stern -- enlisted SEIU’s top communications official, Steve Trossman, to run a cover-up operation to hide Freeman’s corruption from SEIU’s members and the public.

Years later, in late 2008, Trossman was pushed out of his job as the Purple Palace’s Communications Director. SEIU’s head honchos needed Trossman to remain absolutely silent about the cover-up operation, so they reportedly purchased Trossman’s silence with a massive payout of hush money. How much? Here’s a hint: in 2009, Trossman pocketed at least a quarter million dollars from SEIU.

Records of these payments are buried in lengthy reports that SEIU filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. In the reports (which are excerpted below), SEIU falsely described its alleged hush-money payouts to Trossman as “consulting fees expenses,” sources say.

Take a look at the records and see what you think. You’ll see that on January 6, 2009, SEIU paid Trossman $60,000 in “consulting fees expenses.” Several weeks later, SEIU dropped another $60,000 into Trossman’s pocket, according to these records.

Hmm… so how many consultants get paid $120,000 in “consulting fees” in just several weeks?

And that’s not all. In 2009, Trossman pocketed another $30,000 in “consulting” payments from SEIU Local 721, which has careened from one scandal to the next under officials loyal to Andy Stern and Mary Kay Henry.

Finally, during 2009, SEIU’s Dave Regan -- the Stern-appointed trustee running SEIU-UHW -- paid Trossman $85,000 for communications work under the trusteeship.

Trossman’s total take-home pay for 2009? At least quarter million dollars.

Not bad for a PR hack who allegedly covered up federal crimes by Freeman, Stern and Co. In fact, an article by the LA Times cites an unnamed source who’s “close to SEIU” and has personal knowledge of Trossman’s role in SEIU’s cover-up in 2001. 

When the LA Times questioned Trossman about his role, Trossman was suddenly afflicted with severe memory problems, saying he “remembers little about those reports, including whether he had alerted Stern to them.” Here’s the full excerpt from the LA Times article:

Another Stern spokesman, Steve Trossman, has said the SEIU had received no allegations of financial irregularities by Freeman until The Times raised questions about the local's finances last month. But a source close to the union has said that Trossman was informed six years ago of some concerns about Freeman's spending habits and his having fathered a child with Planells, who was then a union staffer.

Trossman has said he remembers little about those reports, including whether he had alerted Stern to them.

So what’s in store for Trossman? Well, he may be one of the SEIU officials who’s under continuing investigation by federal prosecutors for his links to SEIU’s multi-million-dollar crime spree. Stay tuned. And if you attend Freeman's trial, please send Tasty your reports about the all of the courtroom drama!

SEIU's $250K Payout to Steve Trossman in 2009