After SEIU 1000’s Court Victory: Due Process Continues

On March 25, 2022, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steven Gevercer granted a preliminary injunction that extended the terms of a temporary restraining order issued against suspended SEIU Local 1000 president Richard Louis Brown on March 10. This injunction was granted after Mr. Brown entered Local 1000 Sacramento headquarters without a key, removed crates of documents, and occupied the building for several days. (You can read the Sacramento Bee article and video on the court case). 

While we are gratified the Court has recognized that our actions were taken to restore democratic procedures and serve the best interests of our membership, we remain focused on the need to effectively represent our members at the bargaining table and at the worksite, and we look forward to resolving this issue and keeping our focus on serving the workers represented by Local 1000.

Mr. Brown, who remains suspended from his duties, will have the opportunity to defend himself in a due process hearing about the charges that have been filed against him by Vice President for Organizing/Representation Anica Walls and another member. 

This hearing process, outlined in our Policy File, is a fair process that allows each side to make their case with legal assistance, if they so choose.  The allegations against Mr. Brown, which must be proven at hearing, include a number of charges related to failure to uphold democratic governance, failure to hold Board meetings, hiding litigation information from the Executive Committee, fiscal malfeasance, taking unlawful and retaliatory actions against the three statewide Vice Presidents, as well as his improper occupation of the Union headquarters after his suspension.

The hearing on these complaints has been scheduled to start on April 12, 2022. After completion of the hearing process, the hearing officer’s recommendations will be presented in a confidential report to Vice President/Secretary-Treasurer David Jimenez. The Board of Directors will then act on the hearing officer’s confidential report and recommendation(s) in executive session no later than its next regularly-scheduled Board meeting.

To ensure fairness, the Board has approved the appointment of an independent, experienced hearing officer who has been selected to hear the charges and make a report and recommendation(s) to the Board. Homer La Rue, the hearing officer, is a full-time professor at Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C. He has over 35 years of experience in resolving disputes in the private and public sectors, and has his own firm specializing in dispute resolution. La Rue is the permanent arbitrator for several collective bargaining agreements and is a member of the labor-management roster of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. 

Any disciplinary action requires a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors, and the decision of the Board will be final. 

We look forward to the final resolution of this matter. In the interim, we remain focused on our mission of building the power we need to win respect and dignity on the job and a strong contract with our new unified leadership.