In the world of high-level office politics, a leave of absence set against the backdrop of scandal all too often is a prelude to resignation. That's the way it played out at the Screen Actors Guild. On April 25, the union's longtime Producers Pension and Health Plans (SAG-PPHP) CEO, Bruce Dow, resigned his position, effective April 30, in the face of a wrongful termination suit filed in California state court on March 22 by a former plan official, Craig Simmons. Dow, on disability leave since January, had announced his intent to retire in March. Simmons' suit, which follows his complaint of last September with the U.S. Department of Labor, alleges Dow and loyalists embezzled millions of dollars in SAG benefits and then stonewalled probes. The plans' interim head is its chief operating officer, Christopher Dowdell. Dow will remain as a consultant.
The 
On May 1, Ernest Milewski, former president of United Food and Commercial Workers, Northeast District Council, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for embezzling funds from the Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based council and a related health benefit program. He also will have to pay $257,590.26 in restitution and a $200 special assessment. Milewski pleaded guilty last August after being charged that July. The actions follow a joint probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards, Employee Benefits Security Administration and Office of Inspector General.
On April 27, Jill Ragland, former president of Ohio Association of Public School Employees Chapter 782, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), was indicted in the Court of Common Pleas, Ross County (Ohio), on one count of theft in an amount of $1,385 from the Portsmouth-based union. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On April 25, Jeff Agee, former business representative of International Association of Machinists Lodge 10, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in an information count with embezzling funds from the Richmond-based union in the amount of $4,181.62. The charge follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On April 24, Salvador Carney, a former employee at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on 16 counts of embezzlement from the union totaling $7,258.92. The charges follow a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards and Office of Inspector General.
Peter LoMauro was a person who for a fee could make a contractor's labor problems disappear. Now he himself is likely to disappear for a while. LoMauro, a business agent for United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 9, 
On April 17, Thomas Coffey, former president of United Auto Workers Local 912, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky with making false entries in financial records of the Lexington-based union for the years 2005-08. The charge follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On April 10, Vicki Guynn, former president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1612, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to four months home confinement and three years probation for embezzling $16,081 in funds from the Clever (near Springfield) union. She pled guilty in December. The guilty plea and sentencing follow a joint investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards and Office of Inspector General, and the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General.
