Founded 1991
Since 1997, NLPC has become a high-profile and credible source for information about America’s labor unions through our publication Union Corruption Update.
The newsletter has been referenced in many other media outlets including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and National Journal.
On March 10, Rodney Priestley and Brian Walker, respectively, former president and vice president of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1504-8, were indicted in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas for embezzling funds from the Galveston-based union. Priestley allegedly stole $32,230; Walker allegedly stole $20,001. The charges follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… Read More ➡
On March 18, Kurt Kittleson, former secretary-treasurer of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 151D, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in a one-count information with making a false statement in a financial report on behalf of the Rancho Palos Verdes (Los Angeles County) union. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. … Read More ➡
On March 25, Lamar Elliott, former president of Association of Civilian Technicians Chapter 134, was indicted in Prince George’s County (Md.) Circuit Court on one count each of theft and embezzlement from the Clinton-based union. The alleged theft totaled between $1,500 and $25,000; the alleged embezzlement totaled $19,806. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… Read More ➡
Those who steal from teacher unions aren’t necessarily employed by public schools. The case of Kenneth Morris is instructive. On March 24, Morris, treasurer of American Federation of Teachers Local 2240, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for pilfering from the San Francisco-based union, which represents teachers and other school employees of the Catholic Diocese of San Jose, part of the San Francisco Archdiocese. He also must pay the union $101,583 in restitution and a $100 assessment. Morris had pleaded guilty in November 2019 to one count of bank fraud after being indicted that August on five counts of bank fraud and three counts of embezzlement. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Morris, now in his early 50s, a resident of Alameda, Calif., had been a math teacher at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco. … Read More ➡
If someone claimed severe trauma after decades of falling down stairs, getting into car crashes, getting dropped to the floor head first, and leaping from rigged explosions, one would tend to believe that person. Yet the Screen Actors Guild Pension and Health Plan believes that Leslie Hoffman, a retired Hollywood stuntwoman who did these things and more, has no right to make such a claim. Trustees of the plan, in fact, have spent over a decade in court for the purpose of blocking her attempt to receive benefits. But a U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, now has told the Plan that the charade is over. On March 18, a three-judge panel ruled that Ms. Hoffman, who hasn’t done any stunts in nearly 20 years and who has been diagnosed multiple times with traumatic brain injury, deserves full compensation. But the circuit court, and not for the first time, has … Read More ➡
On March 25, Thomas Burkhart, former president of United Steelworkers Local 145, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma with one count of embezzling funds from the Sapulpa (near Tulsa)-based union in the sum of $19,900. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… Read More ➡
Cathy Long had an impressive skill set. Unfortunately for her, those skills were illegal. On March 12, Long, former treasurer of the Metro Detroit Branch of the AFL-CIO and the Laborers International Hall of Fame (LIHOF), was charged in Wayne County (Mich.) District Court with stealing a combined nearly $50,000 from the two organizations over a more than three-year period. An internal review in July 2018 of financial records had uncovered a series of unauthorized payments. She was charged with two counts of embezzlement, three counts of uttering and publishing, using a computer to commit a crime, and larceny. Long pleaded not guilty at her court arraignment. The evidence suggests she would do well to change her plea.
According to prosecutors, Long, now 61, a resident of Detroit, during March 2015-July 2018 falsified a computerized accounting program, forging the names of authorized signers on checks and “manufacturing documents to give … Read More ➡
On March 30, Mark Douglas, former president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1101, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to two years of probation for embezzling funds from the Arabi (near New Orleans) union. He also was ordered to pay restitution to the union in the sum of $7,078.35 and a special assessment of $100. According to prosecutors, Douglas, now 72, a resident of New Orleans, during November 2011-January 2015 had filed fake reimbursement claims for “lost time.” He eventually was charged in April 2019, and pleaded guilty that September. UFCW Local 1101 represents employees of the Domino Sugar Company. The actions follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. … Read More ➡
Given his situation, Scott Peterson didn’t have any other option. So, he admitted what he did and resigned. On February 19, Peterson, formerly treasurer and then president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2945, was arrested by Callaway County (Mo.) sheriff’s deputies for embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the Fulton-based union. The prosecutor’s office in neighboring Boone County, Mo. filed a felony charge on February 24. Peterson already had admitted to his thefts. He resigned as union president during an internal investigation and then resigned from his regular job with the City of Fulton fire department following his arrest. He is set for arraignment this Friday.
According to court records, Peterson, now 47, a resident of Fulton, had been facing financial difficulties and turned to stealing. He admitted to conducting 130 fraudulent transactions totaling $22,622.47. The true total may have been more. Union officials told the Callaway … Read More ➡
Arthur Penn represented Defense Department security employees. Under his control, however, the funds were less than secure. On March 25, Penn, formerly chairman of the Defense Protective Service Labor Committee Pentagon, an affiliate of the Fraternal Order of Police, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to one count of wire fraud in connection with his embezzlement of approximately $384,000 from the Arlington, Va.-based union. He had been charged last November after a grand jury had indicted him on seven counts of wire fraud. The actions follow a joint probe by the FBI and the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. He is scheduled for sentencing on July 2.
Penn, now 64, during 1999-2015 served as chairman of his union, which represents employees of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. For much of this time, prosecutors alleged, Penn embezzled funds for unauthorized personal activities that … Read More ➡