Carl Horowitz's blog

On May 10, Gary Day, former field representative of Laborers International Union of North America Local 1180, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to three years probation for embezzling funds from the Harrisburg union. He also was ordered to pay $10,518 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. Day pled guilty in January. The guilty plea and sentencing follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On May 10, Curtis Iwatsubo, former financial secretary-treasurer of Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union Local 52, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to one count of embezzling funds from the Santa Clara local in the amount of $48,434.50. He had been charged in March after having made more than 80 unauthorized withdrawals with his union ATM card and subsequently concealing the thefts on union financial statements. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On May 20, Crystal Lynn Croston, former office secretary for Local 1015 of the Laborers International Union of North America, was charged in the Municipal Court of Stark County, Ohio with theft in the amount of $1,344.08 from the Canton local. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On May 20, Joseph Kerwan, business manager/treasurer of Sheet Metal Workers Local 112, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York to falsifying records of the Elmira-based union. He also will have to make restitution in the amount of $6,927.55. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On May 19, Lisa Wright, former treasurer of the Transit Employees Union, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to three years probation for embezzling $71,470.50 in funds from the Bedford (suburban Cleveland) union. She also will have to make full restitution. Wright pleaded guilty in February. The sentencing and guilty plea follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On May 18, Richard James, former president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1402, was charged in General District Court for Arlington County, Virginia with embezzling $1,550 in union funds. The charge follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is a case of "too big to fail." At least a number of members of Congress see it that way. And they are planning a push for legislation designed to shore up underfunded multiemployer private-sector pension funds whose result could put taxpayers on the hook for billions, if not tens of billions, of dollars. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., and Reps. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., and Patrick Tiberi, R-Ohio, the driving forces behind this measure, seek to shift the primary responsibility of keeping pensions adequately funded from unions and unionized employers onto the general public. It's another example of the bailout culture in action.

The revolution in tort liability has claimed another victim. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is now traveling lighter by around $140,000. The reason is a decision handed down about a month ago by a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerning two of its San Diego-area outlets that supposedly wouldn't comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The award might not be a king's ransom by the standards of one of the nation's most successful restaurant chains. But the ruling could have major consequences for the way business as a whole operates in this country.

On May 19, Stacey Spalding, former bookkeeper of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 215, pled guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to embezzling $29,516 in funds from the Evansville union. She had been charged in March. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On May 14, Jeffrey Kenney, former secretary-treasurer of Graphic Communications International Union Local 205-C in Youngstown, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to embezzling $10,305.70 in union funds and filing a false financial report. He had been indicted in February for embezzling more than $14,000. The GCIU has been affiliated with the Teamsters since the start of 2005. The guilty plea follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.