Tyrone Freeman

April 1, 2009 – Los Angeles Times

Union sues former executive for $1.1 million

The union of low-wage caregivers that Tyrone Freeman once headed has taken him to court to demand restitution of more than $1.1 million — dues money that allegedly financed his lifestyle of $175 glasses of cognac, $250 bottles of wine and a $3,400 trip to the NFL’s Pro Bowl in Hawaii.

December 27, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Service workers express outrage over alleged misuse of SEIU funds

They make subsistence wages tending to the sick and elderly, minus the dues paid to the union local whose charismatic former president promised again and again to make the caregivers’ own lives better.

December 13, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Records show no recent aid to two charities from union golf event

For several years, the Service Employees International Union’s largest California local has staged a lavish golf tournament that it bills as a fundraiser for two nonprofit groups affiliated with the labor organization.

December 13, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Union-founded nonprofit spent zero on its charitable purpose in two years

A nonprofit organization founded by California’s largest union local reported spending nothing on its charitable purpose — to develop housing for low-income workers — during at least two of the four years it has been operating, federal records show.

November 27, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Service union bans former California local president for life

The Service Employees International Union has imposed a lifetime ban on the former president of its largest California local and ordered him to repay more than $1 million that it says he misappropriated from the labor organization.

November 1, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Charity linked to union probe gets tax exemption

A nonprofit housing organization has received a federal tax exemption retroactive to 2004 despite being linked to a corruption investigation into the Los Angeles labor union that founded it, according to Internal Revenue Service records and officials.

October 20, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

L.A. labor leader used charity’s employees for politics, workers say

A Los Angeles labor leader now the target of a corruption probe routinely ordered employees of a charity he headed to work on campaigns for political candidates — a practice barred by law — according to people who said they participated in such activities.

September 30, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Union trusts must provide financial data

Labor union trusts that provide a variety of benefits for workers must disclose detailed financial information under new federal rules designed to root out corruption, officials said Monday.

Union paid firms with family ties

September 18, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

SEIU accuses local union leader of misusing funds

The Service Employees International Union has accused the head of its largest California local of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in an alleged corruption scheme that included payments to firms owned by his relatives and expenditures on his Hawaiian wedding and a Beverly Hills cigar club.

September 17, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

House pursuing probe of SEIU local in L.A., panel chairman says

Responding to Republican charges of foot-dragging, the Democratic chairman of the House labor panel said Tuesday that it is pursuing its inquiry into a spending scandal at the Service Employees International Union but taking care not to interfere with a criminal investigation.

September 12, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

GOP congressman calls for hearings into SEIU spending scandal

The top-ranking Republican on the House labor committee called Friday for immediate hearings on a spending scandal at California’s largest union local.

September 6, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Compton probes sale of land to group tied to embattled SEIU local

The Compton city attorney’s office is investigating a $1-per-lot sale of government land to a housing corporation that failed to receive the tax-exempt status it sought and is associated with a Los Angeles labor union mired in a spending scandal.

September 5, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

SEIU, beset by spending scandal, places a senior manager on leave

The Service Employees International Union announced Thursday that it had placed a senior manager at its biggest California local on leave and that two lower-ranking staffers had lost their jobs, because of allegations that other employees were retaliated against in connection with a widening spending scandal.

August 29, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Congress investigates L.A. local of the Service Employees International Union

A congressional committee has opened an inquiry into a financial scandal enveloping the Service Employees International Union’s biggest California local because of six-figure payments made to firms owned by relatives of its president.

August 28, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Labor Department reportedly joins investigation of SEIU payments

A growing financial scandal in the 2-million-member Service Employees International Union has prompted a federal criminal investigation into the labor organization’s largest California local, sources familiar with the probe say.

August 23, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

SEIU removes all officers of local chapter amid financial inquiry

The Service Employees International Union on Friday removed all elected officers of its biggest California local amid an inquiry into the financial practices of the labor group and a related charity, including payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by its president’s relatives.

August 21, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Tyrone Freeman steps aside as head of SEIU chapter

The head of California’s largest union local has stepped aside in the wake of Times reports that the organization and a related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by his wife and mother-in-law.

August 16, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

U.S. investigates L.A.-based union’s election

The election of a Los Angeles union leader under fire for his labor group’s spending practices is the subject of a government review that could force a new vote because of complaints that the contest was unfair to challengers.

August 12, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Investigation of spending by care workers’ union is sought

Advocates for low-wage caregivers called on authorities Monday to investigate the spending practices of a Los Angeles union and a related charity that have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by the wife and mother-in-law of the labor organization’s leader.

August 9, 2008 – Los Angeles Times

Union, charity paid thousands to firms owned by official’s relatives

California’s largest union local and a related charity have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by the wife and mother-in-law of the labor organization’s president, documents and interviews show.