HOTEL EMPLOYEES (HERE)
Ex-Boss Snags Immunity Deal
Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Int'l Union ex-president
Edward T. Hanley won't be criminally prosecuted for any wrongdoing that
may have occurred during his 25-years reign due to a Nov. 30 immunity deal
with the U.S. Justice Dep't. DOJ refused to discuss the deal that reportedly
trumped efforts of U.S. Attorneys in Chicago and Madison, Wis., to bring
criminal indictments against Hanley. One federal official, who requested
anonymity, said the agreement "stinks."
Hanley "retired" on Jul. 31 as a condition of another deal to avoid civil charges brought by HERE's court-appointed monitor Kurt W. Muellenberg. Hanley allegedly ran "ghost Local 77" in Rhinelander, Wis., near his and other union bosses' vacation homes as a way to have vacation costs covered by HERE. Hanley was reportedly shocked to learn his agreement to "retire" wouldn't shield him from criminal prosecution. The boss threatened to back out of the civil deal, but allegedly DOJ's criminal immunity deal satisfied him. Critics say the criminal immunity deal raises many questions about the value of DOJ's reform efforts and what DOJ got in return for the deal. [BNA 12/01/98]
In addition to the unions and organizations covered in this Union Corruption Update,readers can look forward to news and information on other corrupt and abusive unions in future editions.
All back issues of the Union Corruption Update can be viewed at NLPC's website (www.nlpc.org). Also available is a union by union index of all Union Corruption Update articles.
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Union Corruption Update is part of NLPC's Organized Labor Accountability Project which is investigating and exposing corruption and extremism in the Teamsters, LIUNA, AFL-CIO and many other union organizations. NLPC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation promoting ethics and accountability in government through research, education and legal action.
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