“It’s a sad commentary…It seems everyone in a responsible position fell asleep at the switch. The only ones who were vigilant were the thieves, who took everything that wasn’t nailed down.” — U.S. Dist. Judge Emmet G. Sullivan (Wash., D.C., Clinton)
Judge Sullivan made his comment during an April 30 hearing on a motion by local teacher Nathan Saunders to impose a court monitor on the Amer. Fedtn. of Teachers’ temporary trusteeship of the Washington Teachers Union (WTU), from which its recently deposed leaders apparently stole $5 million. He was shocked to hear AFT lawyers say that while the AFT requires audits from its affiliates every two years (which the WTU failed to do), it had no legal responsibility to even verify that the audits had been filed.