Tyrone Freeman

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. Tyrone Freeman has been removed from the payroll of the Los Angeles-based local and faces formal dismissal pending an internal hearing, a union spokeswoman said.

As part of a lengthy corruption investigation, federal authorities have been examining $150,000 in consulting fees paid to a disgraced former Los Angeles labor leader under a confidential agreement signed by Andy Stern, then president of the powerful Service Employees International Union, according to documents and interviews. The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles had considered filing embezzlement charges against Alejandro Stephens, who headed the SEIU local for county government workers, in connection with the payments, records obtained by The Times show.

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.

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.

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. Tyrone Freeman, president of a Service Employees International Union chapter in Los Angeles, said in a written statement late Wednesday that he was taking a leave of absence and that the local would be placed in a temporary trusteeship. "In order to ensure that any investigation of the allegations is fair and free from any question of interference or influence, I am taking a leave of absence effective immediately for the duration of the investigation," the statement said.

A spending scandal at California's largest union local spread to a second state Monday as the head of a sister labor group in Michigan stepped aside because of a widening financial inquiry. The Service Employees International Union said that Rickman Jackson, who formerly served as chief of staff at the California organization, has taken a leave of absence from its biggest Michigan local less than a week after the president of the Los Angeles chapter relinquished his post. Both departures followed reports in The Times that the local and a related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by the wife and mother-in-law of its president, Tyrone Freeman, and spent similar sums on a Four Seasons Resorts golf tournament, restaurants such as Morton's steakhouse, a Beverly Hills cigar lounge and a Hollywood talent agency.

State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas attempted Friday to provoke a criminal investigation of alleged campaign finance improprieties by Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, his opponent in the race for county supervisor. In a letter to the Los Angeles district attorney's Public Integrity Unit, a Ridley-Thomas aide charged that the Parks campaign was improperly coordinating with an independent expenditure committee that is allowed to exceed contribution limits only if it remains at arm's length from the candidate it supports.

The top-ranking Republican on the House labor committee called Friday for immediate hearings on a spending scandal at California's largest union local. In a statement, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) suggested that the committee's Democratic chairman intended to delay an inquiry into the Service Employees International Union local because of the labor group's political support for Democrats. The Bay Area-based chairman, Rep. George Miller, announced about two weeks ago that the Education and Labor Committee would examine the local because of Times reports on its spending practices.

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. The Times reported last month that some workers who did not immediately sign a letter of support for the Los Angeles local's president, Tyrone Freeman, who is at the center of the scandal, had their union cellphone service canceled and were transferred to distant jobs.

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. Now, the workers are told, the same fallen leader, Tyrone Freeman, owes the Service Employees International Union more than $1 million that officials say he misappropriated from the Los Angeles local to enrich his relatives and himself.

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. Now, the workers are told, the same fallen leader, Tyrone Freeman, owes the Service Employees International Union more than $1 million that officials say he misappropriated from the Los Angeles local to enrich his relatives and himself.

The U.S. Labor Department has asked a federal court to overturn the election of all officers at a troubled Los Angeles union local, alleging that the organization made it too difficult for challengers to qualify for the ballot. In a civil complaint against the Service Employees International Union's largest California chapter, the department contends that the March election of local President Tyrone Freeman and his slate of officers violated labor laws.

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. Tyrone Freeman has been removed from the payroll of the Los Angeles-based local and faces formal dismissal pending an internal hearing, a union spokeswoman said.

The top-ranking Republican on the House labor committee called Friday for immediate hearings on a spending scandal at California's largest union local. In a statement, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) suggested that the committee's Democratic chairman intended to delay an inquiry into the Service Employees International Union local because of the labor group's political support for Democrats. The Bay Area-based chairman, Rep. George Miller, announced about two weeks ago that the Education and Labor Committee would examine the local because of Times reports on its spending practices.

State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas attempted Friday to provoke a criminal investigation of alleged campaign finance improprieties by Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, his opponent in the race for county supervisor. In a letter to the Los Angeles district attorney's Public Integrity Unit, a Ridley-Thomas aide charged that the Parks campaign was improperly coordinating with an independent expenditure committee that is allowed to exceed contribution limits only if it remains at arm's length from the candidate it supports.

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. The Times reported last month that some workers who did not immediately sign a letter of support for the Los Angeles local's president, Tyrone Freeman, who is at the center of the scandal, had their union cellphone service canceled and were transferred to distant jobs.

The U.S. Labor Department has asked a federal court to overturn the election of all officers at a troubled Los Angeles union local, alleging that the organization made it too difficult for challengers to qualify for the ballot. In a civil complaint against the Service Employees International Union's largest California chapter, the department contends that the March election of local President Tyrone Freeman and his slate of officers violated labor laws.

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. "This is very serious," County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, whose 1990s legislation allowed the union to organize home-care workers here, said of the financial transactions disclosed by The Times.

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. U.S. Labor Department authorities are examining payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars by the union and a related charity to firms owned by relatives of the Los Angeles local's president and expenditures of similar...

A spending scandal at California's largest union local spread to a second state Monday as the head of a sister labor group in Michigan stepped aside because of a widening financial inquiry. The Service Employees International Union said that Rickman Jackson, who formerly served as chief of staff at the California organization, has taken a leave of absence from its biggest Michigan local less than a week after the president of the Los Angeles chapter relinquished his post. Both departures followed reports in The Times that the local and a related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by the wife and mother-in-law of its president, Tyrone Freeman, and spent similar sums on a Four Seasons Resorts golf tournament, restaurants such as Morton's steakhouse, a Beverly Hills cigar lounge and a Hollywood talent agency.