Painesville (Ohio) Mun. Judge Michael Cicconetti sentenced James R. English, a former corrections officer in the Lake County Jail, Nov. 30 to jail time and a diversion program for stealing from a police union. English pled guilty to misuse of property, which is a misdemeanor. He admitted he took $1,900 to pay his rent from the Am. Fed’n of State, County & Mun. Employees in Feb. 2000. He was president of the union at the time. Reportedly, English cashed several checks without proper authorization from a small fund.
English was suspended from his corrections job in Sept. 2000 when the Lake County Sheriff’s Dep’t was alerted to the missing money by union officers. He resigned after he was told he would be fired. The AFSCME local has since disbanded, and jailers are now members of the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Ass’n.
English, who said he took the money to offset his financial problems, has since repaid the money. Cicconetti ordered English to serve 32 days in jail but suspended 10 days. He also ordered English to complete a diversion program, placed him on probation for three months and fined him $50. [Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 12/1/00]
New Jersey Union Fined $45,000
Striking teachers and custodial workers in the Magnolia (N.J.) School District have racked up fines totaling $45,000 for the New Jersey Educ. Ass’n and $1,500 for three of its officers. State Superior Court Judge Theodore Z. Davis ordered fines yesterday of $15,000 against the union for each day of school missed and $500 each for the union president, vice president and secretary. [N.Y. Times 11/23/00]
Ousted Officials Sue Parent Union
Four ousted officials of the Nat’l Ass’n of Broadcast Employees & Technicians Local 700 in Toronto have filed suit Nov. 8 against their parent union, the Communications, Energy & Paperworkers Union of Canada claiming wrongful dismissal. The suit, which seeks $12.7 million in damages, was filed by ex-NABET 700 president Daniel Latour, business agent and secretary-treasurer Linda Gordon, service representative Edward Jeffrey and employee Donald McKay. The four were ousted in Oct. 1999 when the CEPU placed NABET 700 into trusteeship to stop a rival union from raiding its membership. [Hollywood Rep. 12/1/00]