SAN DIEGO – A labor union alleges that a former director failed to return union property after he was terminated.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135 filed a complaint on Sept. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against Bruce "Todd" Walters citing the Labor Management Relations Act and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on July 16, the defendant was terminated from his position as the union's grievance director and he refused to turn over all property belonging to plaintiff, including confidential and proprietary information.
The plaintiff alleges the defendant has no legitimate purpose to keep this information, but the defendant has used the confidential data to obtain the home addresses and personal cellular telephones of certain union members to come into their homes unannounced and send unsolicited text messages.
The plaintiff holds Walters responsible because the defendant allegedly utilized union members' confidential information for his personal purposes and gain and disclosed confidential information to news media.
The plaintiff seeks judgment against defendant, temporary restraining order, injunctive relief, compensatory damages, attorneys' fees and costs and other legal and equitable relief as the court deems just and proper. It is represented by Michael R. Feinberg and Michael E. Plank of Schwartz, Steinsapir, Dohrmann & Sommers LLP in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California case number 3:18-cv-02126