Coughlin was sentenced to 27 months of home confinement, and is being forced by the court to pay back the money he stole as well as back taxes. In addition, Wal-Mart is suing Coughlin to retrieve cash from Coughlin thefts not covered in the federal charges.
Shortly after Coughlin's retirement, Wal-Mart officials discovered Coughlin was a thief, and the retail giant turned over its findings to federal authorities.
Wal-Mart Watch, the Service Employees International Union funded group chose to post a Wall Street Journal article (Did they get permission to re-publish it from Dow Jones?) about Coughlin's sentencing.
Sadly, every organization has a bad egg or two. Some have more than two, and the Service Employees International Union is such an organization. I chose a few of the corruption cases involving SEIU from the suberb National Legal and Policy Center site.
On May 30, Darnell Smith, formerly bookkeeper for SEIU Local 36, was sentenced in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas to one to two years in prison, followed by five years probation, for embezzling from the union. He also was ordered to pay more than $70,000 in restitution. The sentence follows an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards
The redemption of Martin Ludlow continues. On June 5, the former member of the Los Angeles City Council and secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor was sentenced in U.S. District Court to five years probation and 2,000 hours of community service for diverting Service Employee International Union Local 99 funds to pay for his 2003 City Council run. He also will have to make $36,400 in restitution to the union. Former Local 99 President Janett Humphries still faces various charges.
On June 29 (2005), Anthony Marro, former secretary-treasurer for Local 518 of the Service Employees International Union, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, New Jersey District, to one count of failure to retain union records. The guilty plea follows a Labor Department investigation (OLMS, 7/21).
Brooklyn Landlord Abe Weider received only 4 yrs. probation on Nov. 20 (2002) for his part in a Mafia conspiracy to bribe their way into replacing the union at Weider's real estate development. Weider faced between 3 and 4 years in prison under fed. sentencing guidelines, but U.S. Dist. Judge Leo Glasser (U.S.D.C. E.D. NY, Reagan) described Weider's crime as "a marked deviation from an otherwise law-abiding life."
Weider was indicted, along with 45 reputed members of five NY crime families, on Apr. 26 for attempting to use bribery to replace Local 32B-J of the Service Employees Intl. Union with a union friendly to the mob. Weider was charged with paying the $350,000 bribe because he was "petrified" at the prospect of labor unrest at Vanderveer Estates, acc. to his attny., Victor Rocco, who described Weider as the "victim" of the official taking the bribe. Asst. U.S. Attny. Paul Schoeman reminded Judge Glasser that Weider illegally fired 42 workers who spent nearly a year getting their jobs back. [New York Daily News 11/21/02]
Service Employees Int'l Union Local 585 in Pittsburgh was placed in trusteeship Mar. 5 (2001) because of allegations that democratic procedures were ignored by its newly elected president, James Neville. The trusteeship was imposed after a hearing in late Feb. by int'l vice-president Thomas Balanoff. Deborah Schneider, regional director of SEIU District 925 in Cincinnati, was appointed trustee. Thomas Hoffman, a longtime SEIU staffer in Pittsburgh, was named deputy trustee.
Keep up the good work, SEIU, sticking up for "the little guy."
Technorati tags: The Left Wal-Mart Democrats Crime unions Labor corruption union corruption SEIU
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