Lawsuit Alleges Another Sexual Scandal inside SEIU

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.

Staffer: SEIU-UHW and Dave Regan to Face Lawsuit over Harassment and Retaliation

Here’s the latest on the SEIU-UHW staffer who, during an interview published on March 2, 2019, made explosive allegations that SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan has had sexual relations with SEIU-UHW members and staffers, is often drunk on the job, and carries out campaigns of retaliation against staffers and members who raise criticisms.

On March 6, SEIU-UHW fired the staffer, Njoki Woods, “less than 24 hours after [she] was interrogated by SEIU Chief of Staff Greg Pullman about her interview with Payday Report,” according to a new article in PayDay Report. 

(Mike Elk, “SEIU Sexual Misconduct Whistleblower Fired After Interview with Payday Report,” Payday Report, March 6, 2019.)

The article continues:

Woods says that she intends to sue over her firing. She says that she has plenty of witnesses that can back her story of retaliation.

Since the publication of her interview with Payday Report, she says additional people have come forward to her with stories of abuse within SEIU-UHW. Woods says that she intends to help organize folks to fight back against what she says as a toxic culture within the union.

“I am doing exactly what they trained me to do, I am standing up for myself,” says Woods.

For years, Woods says that she has suffered health problems, nausea, and anxiety attacks as a result of the abuse she says that she suffered within SEIU, but this morning when she woke up expecting to be fired, the symptons all of a sudden disappered.

“I feel good. I feel like I have broken away from this abusive household and I don’t have to keep abuse hidden and that feels really good” says Woods.  “I thought that I would be afraid. I thought I would be nervous and I don’t feel like that. I feel like I have freed from myself from an abusive father or an abusive husband.”

Readers’ comments posted alongside the article expressed support for Woods, a 42-year-old woman who began working as an organizer for SEIU-UHW in 2015. One comment reads as follows:

I personally worked alongside Njoki, she is a great organizer and a sweet person. The internal staff motto of UHW is “UHW is where great organizers go to die” – and they sure live up to it. Glad I got away. Stay strong Njoki!!!!!!

Another states:

As a former employee of the organization I think it’s far past time to file a class action suit sexual discrimination sexism racial discrimination racially disparaging remarks as a former organizer with in the organization I can attest and be would be more than willing to I’ve worked at UHW for over 10 years

If Woods files a lawsuit, it will be the second one featuring allegations that connect Regan to sexual misconduct and retaliation against whistleblowers.

Will Mary Kay Henry do the right thing by taking action against Regan, who also serves on SEIU’s International Executive Board?

One would hope so.

After the #MeToo movement emboldened SEIU staffers to step forward with their own stories about sexual harassment and misconduct inside the purple union, Henry was forced to remove a number of staffers following investigations.

In late 2017, Henry announced the formation of an external advisory group that was supposed to determine what practices SEIU can enact in order to stop sexual abuse within the union. She recruited high-profile women to make up the advisory group, including Cecilia Muñoz, former White House Domestic Policy Council director; Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center; and employment attorney Debra Katz, founding partner of law firm Katz Marshall & Banks.

At the time, an SEIU spokesperson announced:

“SEIU is deeply committed at every level of our union to ensuring that our workplace environment reflects our values, and that all staff is respected, their contributions are valued and their voices are heard.”

Meanwhile, SEIU has rightfully criticized big businesses for turning a blind eye to sexual harassment inside the workplace. For example, SEIU is working with fast-food workers to confront sexual harassment. SEIU worked with women fast-food workers who recently stood up in silent protest during a presentation by McDonalds chief communicator at an event sponsored by Politico. Meanwhile, women janitors in commercial office buildings have staged protests against sexual harassment and assaults they suffer on the job.

Will Mary Kay Henry “walk the talk” by launching an investigation into the allegations about Regan?

Or will Henry and her panel of experts turn a blind eye to allegations against one of SEIU’s own board members?

Latest Gig for SEIU’s Andy Stern

As 35,000 Los Angeles teachers struck to oppose the harmful effects of charter schools, SEIU President Emeritus Andy Stern jumped onto the side of (you guessed it) the charter schools and other “bold” ideas backed by his deep-pocketed patrons.

In a recent column in The Daily Beast, Stern announced he’s taken a seat on the Board of Directors of Cambiar Education, which “is now incubating over 20 projects and trying to raise a new venture fund,” according to Andy. 

Cambiar is a California-based organization funded by the venture philanthropy group New Schools Venture Fund.

In another one of his so-called "bold" ideas, Stern argues that education should go the way of Google, Apple and Big Tech. Stern writes:

Silicon Valley has created an ecosystem to foster and scale innovation: a continuum of educational institutions, incubators, startups, and funders with different stages and strategies of investment. United by a “can-do” culture of experimentation that accepts failure, the Valley regularly generates disruptive ideas and creates companies that change the world.

In response, C.M. Lewis published a fantastic take-down of Andy entitled “Andy Stern is back. This time, it's ed reform” (Strikewave, February 13, 2019). Here are some excerpts:

Stern thinks we need to disrupt education by bringing a Silicon Valley ethos to the classroom.

Quelle surprise.

Stern’s post-union career has been characterized by a hard pivot toward the tech sector and abandonment of interest in the labor movement. It’s been quite the 180° for the modern era’s most notorious union leader…

It’s no surprise that Stern thinks that the same market-driven, Silicon Valley “solutions” should enter the education sphere… Stern has peddled the same utopian (or dystopian, depending on who you ask) vision of benevolent saviors in paeans on the universal basic income for right-wing Cato Institute forums—and, really, for anyone that’ll still listen to him.

Unsurprisingly, Stern doesn’t actually offer much in the way of concrete proposals; really, all he has to say is that “some charters are good, but they’re not effective, so let’s bring in some Silicon Valley billionaire vultures to disrupt education and save the kids.” The ability of tech billionaires to offer solutions is assumed: after all, didn’t they give us Siri and Alexa? Why wouldn’t that translate into teaching our kids? Who would doubt that Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey can teach the children?

This is, in fact, the assumption behind Stern’s foray into education policy: that education reform—the played-out billionaire-driven agenda that spent the past few decades gutting our public schools and privatizing the education sector—is still the solution. Just add venture capital, some paternalistic tech billionaires, and mix till blended…

Stern has made his post-union career serving as a hype man for anti-worker interests; all they need to do is show they have a former union head on their side to say “See, we’re not so bad!” It’s no surprise that he came out swinging in favor of friendlier, gentler education reform right as the teacher revolt against school privatization reached its pinnacle in Los Angeles. Someone’s got to carry water for the folks picking apart our education system; if he undercuts a union victory in the process, well—it wouldn’t be the first time.

Stern may not be convincing anyone in organized labor, and he’s certainly not convincing teachers. But he does do something insidious: give cover to some of the worst social actors around; ones that think that just because they’ve amassed billions, they can use society as a laboratory. His participation and support allows them to pretend that they do have the interests of workers in mind, and that their policies won’t hurt working families. After all, Stern was the “New Face of Labor.”

Stern’s spectre still hasn’t been completely exorcised from organized labor, or from the broader political discussion. Folks like David Rolf still wield influence, and SEIU has struggled to oust the predators and abusive bullies Stern cultivated like Scott Courtney and Dave Regan. He’s still invited to talk to “thought leaders,” and prominent activists like Barbara Ehrenreich, Cecile Richards, and Robert Reich promote his work.

He’s problematic, sure—but he’s still getting invited to Thanksgiving, even though everyone knows he’ll ruin dinner by complaining about Sal Rosselli.

Enough is enough. Carrying water for education reform in 2019 is too far; doing it right as 35,000 teachers fought and won against the wholesale privatization of the second largest public school system in the country is unconscionable. Touting a pie-in-the-sky vision of future automation, innovated and disrupted schools, and benevolent tech billionaires doesn’t change the basic fact that we live in a moment in which it’s been made painfully clear that the elite don’t care about us, and that their interests are not our interests…

Here’s a link to the full piece.

SEIU Staffer Reinvents Himself after Harassment Firing

Do you remember Caleb “the Creepy Bathroom Monitor” Jennings?

Last October, SEIU fired Jennings amidst a widening harassment scandal kicked off by revelations about former SEIU Executive Vice President Scott Courtney.

Jennings, a director of SEIU’s “Fight for $15” campaign in Detroit, was fired following allegations he operated as a “mini-Scott Courtney” who “relished bullying people and trying to intimidate them (especially women),” according to an anonymous source.

In 2017, a female SEIU organizer won more than $20,000 in back pay and a reinstatement order from an NLRB judge after Jennings wrongfully terminated her as an organizer in the “Fight for $15” campaign. According to BuzzFeed, Jennings “became violent, ripping [the female organizer’s] work phone out of her hands and subsequently shoving her against a door frame.”

So what’s Jennings doing now?

Here’s a clue:

That’s right. Jennings has become an “expert” in helping to gentrify Chicago by converting multi-unit apartment buildings into AirBnb hotels.

Hey Caleb, that’s super helpful… especially for fast food workers struggling to pay rent.

Not unsurprisingly, Jennings has already raised the ire of Chicago community leaders and anti-displacement advocates.

The contradictions in Caleb's career path are not unusual for SEIU officials. You could say he’s had a lot of "entrepreneurial" role models at SEIU like Andy Stern (who’s been busy padding his pockets as a high-paid consultant for Uber, Airbnb, Handy and other tech companies) and Tyrone Freeman (who's now running a consulting firm to help homecare companies make more profit).

Stay tuned for news of the next SEIU entrepreneur.

Reporter: More Top SEIU Officials Are Likely to Fall Over Sexual Misconduct Charges

Will more “top SEIU officials” be fired for sexual misconduct?

On December 15, Mike Elk -- Senior Labor Reporter at Payday Report -- published the following interesting tip in the publication’s newsletter. 

Through interviews with over a dozen sources, Payday has learned that more top SEIU officials are expected to lose their jobs over sexual misconduct allegations.

Elk seems like a credible source on these matters. 

In November, he published a lengthy investigative piece about sexual misconduct by one SEIU staffer that led to the staffer’s firing.

Here’s a full copy of Elk’s tip.

More Top SEIU Officials Expected to Fall Over Sexual Misconduct Charges

Through interviews with over a dozen sources, Payday has learned that more top SEIU officials are expected to lose their jobs over sexual misconduct allegations. The quick firing of top 5 top SEIU officials has encouraged many to come forward with sexual misconduct allegations to see if the matters can be resolved in-house.

Payday continues to investigative sexual assault within the labor movement.

(See our in-depth investigation that got an SEIU manager fired and revealed how an employee accused of sexual assault at one local was able to get a job at another local).

Head of SEIU 1199 in Massachusetts Is Suspended over “inappropriate conduct”

Tyrék D. Lee Sr., the top official at SEIU Local 1199 in Massachusetts, has been suspended over “inappropriate conduct,” according to the Boston Globe.

The newspaper cites unnamed “people familiar with the situation” who say Lee was suspended over “accusations of sexual harassment.” The local represents approximately 56,000 healthcare workers in Massachusetts. (Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, “Head of health care union suspended over allegations of inappropriate behavior,” Boston Globe, December 12, 2017)

Lee holds the title of “Executive Vice President” at SEIU Local 1199, where last year he earned $128,902, according to records from the US Department of Labor.

       

Union officials did not detail allegations against Lee, said the Globe. Here’s what SEIU Local 1199 said in a statement to the press:

“1199SEIU strongly condemns all forms of inappropriate conduct and will not tolerate such behavior by any employee of our union. Upon being made aware of these allegations 1199SEIU has taken the action of suspending Executive Vice President Tyrék Lee while a formal investigation is conducted.”

The Globe notes that “Lee took the top job at 1199SEIU in January 2016, when he was 38.”

In November, SEIU appointed SEIU Executive Vice President Leslie Frane to lead an internal investigation due to the multiple SEIU officials accused of sexual harassment and/or misconduct, including the suspension and subsequent resignation of SEIU Executive Vice President Scott Courtney.

SEIU also announced the formation of an external advisory group including Cecilia Muñoz, former White House Domestic Policy Council director; Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center; and employment attorney Debra Katz, founding partner of law firm Katz Marshall & Banks.

It’s possible Lee’s suspension was connected to the investigation by Frane’s team.

If so, this may create some nervousness over at SEIU-UHW, where staffers and members at SEIU-UHW describe a culture of bullying and sexual misconduct, including alleged affairs by the union’s president, Dave Regan. In mid-November, Marcus Hatcher, one of the union’s top officials, was fired for allegedly having simultaneous affairs with three female members of the union’s Executive Board.

Will Frane’s crew soon be knocking on Regan’s door?

Stay tuned.

Press: “SEIU Manager Sexually Assaulted Staffer Then Was Rehired at Another SEIU Local”

As revelations emerged about the termination of a top SEIU-UHW official over sexual misconduct, a second story hit the press about another SEIU-UHW staffer allegedly involved in sexual harassment and assault.

In 2014, Pedro Malave was removed from his job as the Assistant Director at SEIU 32BJ Local 615 in Boston over sexual assaults against a female co-worker, according to journalist Mike Elk writing in Payday Report. (Mike Elk, “SEIU Manager Sexually Assaulted Staffer Then Was Rehired at Another SEIU Local,” Payday Report)

The following year, however, officials at SEIU-UHW hired him into a management position as a “Coordinator,” according to records from the Department of Labor. Later, he went on to work at another California local, SEIU United Service Workers West.

Today, Payday Report announced that SEIU United Service Workers West has fired Malave in the wake of the publication's first article. (Mike Elk, “SEIU Fires Staffer Who Sexually Assaulted Another Staffer Following Payday Investigation,” Payday Report)

Elk’s initial article includes detailed quotes from Malave’s victim, an Administrative Coordinator at the Boston union. After one assault, in which Malave attempted to masturbate in her face, she said the following about her work life:

"I felt anxious and nauseous most of the time. I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to see him face-to-face. I didn't want to have him look at me. I just felt disgusted by the situation and the anxiety grew around the fact that it was likely going to happen on a daily basis, considering my job role at the union."

The article continues:

Later in 2015, [the Administrative Coordinator] would discover that Malave would go on to get a job with SEIU again as an organizer with SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) in California. Since then, Malave has moved on to work as a regional field coordinator for a separate SEIU local, SEIU United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW).

 Neither SEIU-USWW or SEIU-UHW returned Payday’s requests for comment.

In the article, the Administrative Coordinator expresses special frustration about Malave’s rehiring by SEIU locals after being removed for sexual assault.

Malave was able to obtain this work despite repeated efforts by [the Administrative Coordinator] and others in her Boston local to ensure that Malave would have a permanent record placed in his file so that he could never work again for SEIU.

“More than being upset about what happened with Pedro, I was really frustrated with how SEIU handled the situation,” [she said]. 

She is now part of an effort of current and past SEIU staffers “who are launching a campaign to pressure SEIU to take more concrete steps to prevent sexual harassment and assault,” says the article. “The organizers have launched an email address metooseiu@gmail.com and encourage women to contact them confidentially to share their stories and organize against sexual harassment and assault.”

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.

Two More SEIU Directors Depart amid Sexual Harassment Investigation

Scott Courtney

Two more directors of SEIU’s "Fight for $15" campaign are gone, according to Bloomberg and BuzzFeed.

Kendall Fells, who was the “National Organizing Director” and “one of the top national leaders of SEIU’s ‘Fight for $15’ campaign,” has resigned, according to the November 2 articles. (Links to the articles are below.) 

In SEIU’s 2016 financial records, Fells is listed as a “Deputy Organizing Director” with an annual pay of $146,740.

Meanwhile, Mark Raleigh, who directed the campaign’s Detroit office, was fired. On October 23, SEIU placed him on administrative leave.

And… it sounds like more firings may be coming down the pike. Here’s what an SEIU spokesperson told Bloomberg:

“These personnel actions are the culmination of this stage of the investigation which brought to light the serious problems related to abusive behavior towards staff, predominantly female staff.”

The SEIU spokesperson’s spin -- that these problems were only “brought to light” during the current investigation -- contradicts reports from SEIU staffers who say the abusive treatment of women staffers has been an open secret inside of SEIU for some time.

Scott Courtney -- who was the top director of SEIU’s "Fight for $15" campaign -- reportedly had sexual liaisons with multiple women staffers who then received promotions, according to sources cited by both Bloomberg and BuzzFeed .

Courtney was suspended from SEIU after he eloped to Europe with an SEIU female staffer. He resigned days after being suspended by SEIU President Mary Kay Henry.

Courtney’s departure is significant. He was one of SEIU’s top international officials, serving as an Executive Vice President and a member of SEIU’s International Executive Board.

Altogether, four top national leaders of SEIU’s "Fight for $15" campaign have now resigned or been fired in amidst a growing sexual harassment scandal. On October 23, Caleb Jennings -- the director of the campaign’s Chicago office and a former top staffer at Dave Regan’s SEIU-UHW -- was fired.  

In an e-mail to BuzzFeed, Jennings seemed to echo the reports of SEIU staffers who say the abusive treatment of women staffers has been a longtime, open secret inside SEIU. He told Bloomberg:

“President Mary Kay Henry should focus on the systemic abuse that has been going on within the institution, and hold accountable not just the perpetrators, but the many who have been complicit.”

Jennings told Bloomberg he denied any wrongdoing... but he nonetheless appears to refer to himself and his fellow campaign directors as “perpetrators” of “systemic abuse that has been going on within [SEIU].”

Not too bright, right?

Sounds like “Caleb the Creepy Bathroom Monitor” should watch a few more episodes of Perry Mason before he starts talking to the press about his culpability.

Here are links to yesterday’s to press stories:

Josh Eidelson, “SEIU Ousts Senior Leaders for Abusive Behavior Toward Women,” Bloomberg, November 2, 2017. 

Cora Lewis, “The Organizing Director of The Fight For 15 Has Resigned Amid Harassment Investigation,” BuzzFeed News, November 2, 2017.

SEIU staffer: 'My firing was unjustified'

Here’s the latest.

It looks like SEIU’s Caleb Jennings -- who worked closely with SEIU EVP Scott Courtney -- may fight his firing by Mary Kay Henry. Jennings calls the firing “unjustified” in comments to the Chicago Sun-Times.

What about the problems of harassment inside SEIU?

Jennings points the finger at SEIU and its top officials for “the systemic abuse that has been going on within the institution.”

Here’s an excerpt from the article. (Stefano Esposito and Mitchell Armentrout, “Union organizer fired from ‘Fight for 15’ minimum wage group,” Chicago Sun-Times)

“I support the ongoing investigations and I’m against any workplace sexual misconduct and abuse,” Jennings said in an email. “My hope is that SEIU focuses on the systemic abuse that has been going on within the institution, rather than focusing on their public relations damage control. My employment was severed with SEIU without cause, was unjustified, and I am exploring all my options.”

In response to Jennings' comments, an SEIU spokeswoman said the union “can’t comment on HR-related matters, or any details regarding our ongoing internal investigation,” according to the Sun-Times.

Details emerge on SEIU staffer fired in ongoing harassment investigation

Caleb Jennings

The SEIU staffer who was fired yesterday in connection with a widening harassment investigation is Caleb Jennings, says an anonymous source. Meanwhile, Mark Raleigh is the SEIU staffer who was placed on administrative leave.

This afternoon, BuzzFeed News confirmed this information. (Cora Lewis, “The Lead Chicago Organizer Of The Fight For 15 Has Been Fired Amid A Harassment Investigation,” BuzzFeed News)

Jennings told BuzzFeed:

"My employment was severed with SEIU on Monday."

Yesterday, top SEIU officials said they took action against two unnamed staffers in an announcement related to a widening investigation initially focused on SEIU Executive Vice President Scott Courtney. Also yesterday, Courtney resigned after being suspended a week earlier by SEIU President Mary Kay Henry amid allegations of a history of sexual relationships with young women staffers.

Today, an anonymous source told Tasty that:

Jennings and Raleigh fancied themselves "mini-Scott Courtneys" and relished bullying people and trying to intimidate them (especially women). Jennings was known to blow up on people and even once shoved a staffer into the wall.

Last year, Jennings earned a total of $148,955 as an “Organizing Coordinator 3” at SEIU, according to financial records filed by SEIU with the US Department of Labor. In 2016, Raleigh earned $147,144 as a “Deputy Campaign Director” at SEIU. Raleigh reportedly serves as the director of SEIU’s “Fight for $15” campaign in Detroit.

Prior to taking a job in SEIU’s “Fight for $15” campaign, Jennings was an Assistant Director of the Hospital Division at SEIU-UHW, headed by Dave Regan, who himself has confronted allegations of sexual misconduct and violence, including a physical assault against a court employee documented by a local police department in California. Regan reportedly embraces “old school” tactics of threats, intimidation and “ass-whipping” in workplace organizing, leading to lawsuits and even allegations of death threats.

In recent months, a 28-year-old woman organizer for “Fight for $15” reportedly won more than $20,000 in back pay after Caleb Jennings wrongfully terminated her from her job as an organizer with “Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago” (WOCC), a Chicago affiliate of SEIU’s “Fight for $15” campaign. That news comes from an August 25, 2017 article published by libcom.org, an online site, and is also discussed in today's BuzzFeed article. (“Outsourced SEIU union organizer wrongfully terminated for organizing at work,” libcom.org)

Jennings reportedly served as WOCC’s Director. An NLRB judge ordered SEIU to reinstate the organizer, Gönül Düzer, to her job. She declined, however, telling the online site that “I wouldn't want to work for someone who assaulted me.”

BuzzFeed describes the incident this way: Jennings “became violent, ripping [Düzer’s] work phone out of her hands and subsequently shoving her against a door frame.”

NLRB records reviewed by Tasty confirm that in June of 2016 Ms. Düzer filed an “unfair labor practice” charge against Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago (NLRB Case Number 13-CA-179335). Two NLRB records indicate the case was closed in May of 2017 following an out-of-court settlement between Ms. Düzer and SEIU, the terms of which were not disclosed in those records.

In 2016, says libcom.org, more than 50 employees of three Chicago-area SEIU locals wrote a letter to top SEIU officials -- including Tom Balanoff and Keith Kelleher -- stating that Jennings “has made himself well known for creating a toxic work environment. This has led to a high turnover among staff. Gönül will be the third woman to resign or be fired within the last 2 weeks.” The letter also alleges that Jennings “attacked an immigrant and a woman of color, exactly the workers which the FF15’s success depends on.”

BuzzFeed News cites sources connecting Courtney to Jennings and Raleigh:

Both Jennings and Raleigh reported to Courtney, an SEIU source confirmed, and former SEIU staff alleged to BuzzFeed News that he protected them from consequences.

In 2010, Tasty reported an account of two women at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Oakland, California who described how Caleb Jennings -- who then worked for Regan’s SEIU-UHW -- followed them to the women’s bathroom and waited outside to monitor them, which earned Jennings the nickname of “Caleb the Creepy Bathroom Monitor.”

Scott Courtney resigns from SEIU

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.

More details on sexual harassment allegations inside Purple Palace

Scott Courtney

More coverage of the details emerging around Mary Kay Henry’s suspension of SEIU EVP Scott Courtney…

In an article published this afternoon, Josh Eidelson (the reporter who initially broke the story) describes more allegations from unnamed current and former SEIU staffers about Courtney’s romantic relationships with multiple women staffers. (Josh Eidelson, “‘Fight for 15’ Leader Suspended While Union Investigates Office Dating,” Bloomberg BNA.)

Here’s an excerpt:

Beyond his relationship with his new wife, multiple current and former SEIU employees who spoke to Bloomberg said that [Scott] Courtney had a pattern of dating subordinates. His conduct, these people say, has been a source of tension and concern within the union and has spurred an internal ethics complaint that preceded this week’s suspension. Some co-workers said that they believed people working for Courtney had been rewarded or reassigned based on romantic relationships with him.

… One woman recounted a time when she felt pressured by him into agreeing to have dinner together and had to scramble to find a way to back out. “The climate he created was hostile to women, and ultimately it didn’t stop with him,” said the woman, who now works elsewhere in the labor movement.

The full article is below.

The article mentions Courtney’s marriage in recent days to an SEIU staffer after they apparently eloped in Europe. The article notes that Courtney has publicized their marriage in photos on Twitter and Facebook. Here’s one of the photos posted by Courtney.

The sexual harassment inside SEIU that’s grabbing headlines is more widespread than the current case, according to Tasty’s sources. For example, sources say SEIU President Emeritus Andy Stern was known to sleep with women staffers when he was SEIU’s Organizing Director.

Tasty, in earlier coverage, described multiple allegations surrounding a former SEIU staff leader, John August, who reportedly was notorious for sexual harassment inside both SEIU and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. In 2013, he was ousted from his job atop the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions after months of investigations regarding sexual harassment and abusive behavior against staffers. His removal apparently took place after he sexually harassed a staffer at Kaiser Permanente.

 

SEIU's Dave Regan

Courtney, prior to becoming a top officer at SEIU International, served as the Organizing Director at SEIU 1199 Ohio, which was headed by Dave Regan. 

Regan, who currently serves as the president of SEIU-UHW and is a member of SEIU's International Executive Board, has been the subject of a number of allegations of sexual misconduct targeting both staff and union members.

According to Tasty’s sources, the harassment of women staffers has existed for many years inside SEIU but the union’s leaders have largely turned a blind eye and failed to hold high-level SEIU officials accountable.

Bloomberg BNA

‘Fight for 15’ Leader Suspended While Union Investigates Office Dating

Current and former SEIU staff describe a union leader’s pattern of relationships with subordinates.

By Josh Eidelson

October 19, 2017, 12:34 PM PDT

An architect of the high-profile union campaign to raise U.S. fast-food wages has been suspended from his duties at the Service Employees International Union this week over a relationship with a subordinate whom he married, and multiple current and former colleagues say his conduct is part of a pattern of previous romantic relationships with women working for him.

Scott Courtney, an executive vice president at SEIU who played a key role in creating and leading the union’s “Fight for 15” campaign, was suspended from his job on Monday by SEIU President Mary Kay Henry. A staff email sent by Henry on Wednesday said that there had been questions about Courtney “relating to a romantic relationship between a staff person and a supervisor.”

Courtney, reached via Twitter earlier this week, said he was on his honeymoon and “in no position to respond at this time.” His new wife, an SEIU organizer who now goes by Ashley Courtney, seemed to address the controversy by posting to Twitter and Facebook a photo of the couple in wedding attire with the caption, “No matter what you do to us, I will not apologize for getting married. #LoveAlwaysWins.” Mr. Courtney did not respond to further questions, and it not clear if the couple still work together at SEIU.

Beyond his relationship with his new wife, multiple current and former SEIU employees who spoke to Bloomberg said that Courtney had a pattern of dating subordinates. His conduct, these people say, has been a source of tension and concern within the union and has spurred an internal ethics complaint that preceded this week’s suspension. Some co-workers said that they believed people working for Courtney had been rewarded or reassigned based on romantic relationships with him.

SEIU spokeswoman Sahar Wali said the union is investigating “the situation that gave rise to” allegations about Courtney’s relationship with the staffer and the union’s “ethical code and anti-nepotism policy.” She declined to comment on the details. It is unclear from SEIU’s statements if Courtney’s suspension and the ongoing investigation are limited to his relationship with his now-wife.

With nearly 2 million members, SEIU is the nation’s second-largest union and arguably its most politically influential. Courtney is a major figure in the leadership, previously serving as organizing director of the health-care division and national organizing director. Courtney has been central to the “Fight for 15,” which has successfully pulled Democratic Party politicians to the left while raising minimum wages through state and local legislation. The campaign has combined strikes against some low-wage employers with political and legal pressure tactics. The goal is to enact a $15 minimum wage across the country and organize low-wage industries.

The campaign’s chief target has been the fast-food industry, which SEIU has so far failed to unionize. “Holding McDonald's accountable is our air traffic controllers moment—our chance to reverse a steady decline for workers that started when President Reagan fired 11,000 striking air traffic controllers, undermining the bargaining power of workers for decades," Courtney said in 2015. As part of the union’s effort against McDonald’s, the Fight for 15 sought to highlight claims of sexual harassment filed against the company with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

This month’s sexual harassment scandal involving Hollywood mega-producer Harvey Weinstein may have spurred SEIU employees to be more outspoken about alleged impropriety within the union. "Without Harvey Weinstein, there may have been an ethics complaint filed, but I don’t know that there would be the scale of conversation that’s happening now," said one current SEIU employee. "There are some very clear parallels—that there is a man with an outsize amount of power in a certain dynamic and a whole system that has enabled that behavior.”

In her internal email, SEIU’s Henry acknowledged that the investigation into Courtney would cause a big stir in the union. “I know that this situation has profound impacts on our staff family,” she wrote. “Just as we fight to make change in our society, we know that our organization should reflect the kind of just society that we fight for across the country.”

Some women who had left SEIU said they felt Courtney’s alleged relationships with subordinates would cast into doubt any recognition or advancement bestowed on women working below him in the union, since co-workers might assume the promotion came from a sexual relationship with him. One woman recounted a time when she felt pressured by him into agreeing to have dinner together and had to scramble to find a way to back out. “The climate he created was hostile to women, and ultimately it didn’t stop with him,” said the woman, who now works elsewhere in the labor movement.

Janice Fine, a labor studies professor at Rutgers University and a former union organizer, said the macho culture that has historically prevailed in organized labor remains a widespread issue. “This generation of young women in the labor movement, they’ve just come up in a time where they are so much better at calling that stuff out,” she said.

—With assistance by Ben Penn (Bloomberg BNA).