The labor leader championing California’s wealth tax threatened other union officials as he sought to build support for the measure and previously assaulted a labor official, according to an independent investigation.<\/p>\n
A law firm’s probe into allegations against SEIU-UHW leader Dave Regan, obtained by POLITICO, substantiated claims made in a February complaint that Regan sought to intimidate other labor leaders into endorsing the proposed wealth tax, which has sharply divided California’s organized labor movement \u2014 and it found that a labor leader “reasonably” felt threatened because of Regan’s history of verbally and physically intimidating people.<\/p>\n
The law firm did not substantiate a second set of charges alleging the allegations against Regan were an attempt to derail the billionaire’s tax and retaliate against Regan.<\/p>\n
A statement from SEIU-UHW framed the report as part of a backlash to the wealth tax, calling it an effort by “some of the state’s wealthiest and most powerful interests” to “bring unfounded personal attacks.”<\/p>\n
“Unrelated verbal interactions spanning nearly two decades are being stitched together and stripped of context to manufacture a false narrative about the union’s leadership,” the union said. “This misinformation campaign will not distract the elected leadership or members of SEIU-UHW from passing Proposition 40 and protecting healthcare, hospitals and emergency rooms for millions of Californians.”<\/p>\n
Regan denied the allegations of threats and assault in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, which first reported on the investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n The probe found Regan suggested to one labor leader he would seek a federal Department of Labor investigation if SEIU State Council \u2014 the umbrella group of which Regan’s union is a member \u2014 did not endorse the wealth tax. The state council ultimately took a neutral position.<\/p>\n It also said that Regan told another SEIU official he was “coming for” her if an endorsement was not forthcoming \u2014 and concluded that the official had reason to be concerned about that statement because Regan had physically assaulted another labor official years ago, calling the assertion of past assault “materially accurate” based on multiple interviews.<\/p>\n According to the report, Regan \u2014 angered by a former SEIU official’s handling of a ballot measure \u2014 kicked in the official’s office door, pinned her against the wall, and berated her. Regan later threatened a person who described the alleged assault with a defamation suit.<\/p>\n Regan, denying the claim, told the Times the allegations were made in retaliation for his support for the wealth tax.<\/p>\n The report links Regan to SEIU-UHW’s effort to have state council endorse gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer \u2014 the only Democrat running for governor this year who endorsed the wealth tax \u2014 in exchange for SEIU-UHW dropping its own charge alleging that the probes of Regan were acts of political retaliation. The investigation concluded that Regan’s counter-allegation was not substantiated.<\/p>\n