IAFF: His Royal Claim
Happy Harold and his Weak-kneed Knights
Harold Schaitberger has been cheating us from the moment he took the throne.
In the year 2000, when he first ascended, King Harold awarded himself a pension he was not allowed to take by IRS regulations or by the pension fund he was ripping off.
Kings do that kind of stuff.
Some twenty years later, our quisling knights, also referred to as the IAFF board, (finally) cut him off after three legal opinions were nailed to the castle door.
Now, he has created a hack committee called “Claims”, composed of three of his anemic knights, vice-presidents Tom Thornberg, Mike Carter and Frank Lima; they were appointed by Danny Todd, Harold’s knight-in-waiting, Todd has a long track record of covering for Schaitberger as he pillaged our union kingdom.
In a no doubt alcohol-induced gaffe, Schaitberger reportedly emailed the entire board telling them “he couldn’t be more pleased with the committee,” language that was probably meant only for his attorney.
So we know what verdict Schaitberger expects from his swarthy union warriors.
(By the way, if he actually had to hire his own attorney, it will absolutely kill him: this is a guy who believes IAFF members should pay for everything. He wanted the IAFF legal counsel to represent him in a prior conflict of interest and he once billed us for a $12 Scrabble game. I hope his lawyer negotiated a hefty retainer.)
In a just how f**ked-up can things be moment, at the very same time, there is also a so-called “ethics” committee looking into the pension swindle and other matters.
Schaitberger wants to stick his varicosed snout back in the IAFF trough even as he is being investigated.
Kings do that kind of stuff.
Since the board already voted unanimously to stop Schaitberger’s pension, just what is the mandate of the Claims committee? Can three people undo the vote of sixteen?
Schaitberger is engaging in a continuing conflict of interest by a) posting his “us-against-them” missive on the IAFF site and b) calling for the appointment of a committee to appeal his fraudulent pension.
In both instances he seeks to improperly influence the board even though he does, in a way, own them all.
As proof, he calls them together and lectures them like kids late from recess.
Kings do that kind of stuff.
The Claims committee is completely out-of-order, unethical and more proof that the executive board are really just cowering serfs panting for scraps from the King’s creaking table, loaded with booty he stole from us.
Although it would never occur to these village idiots, this issue has significance across the IAFF, affiliates look to leadership as a guide to how they should conduct themselves; under Schaitberger, it’s a pirate’s realm.
They also should know that failure to rescind his pension and claw back his ill-gotten gains exposes them to litigation from plan participants who are already discussing their next move.
If Danny Todd is running this IAFF ethics circus and wants to be taken at all seriously, he should:
rule the Claims committee out-of-order,
tell Schaitberger to appeal the pension decision in writing to the full board,
the board would then disclose the appeal to the full membership and discuss it during the next executive board meeting, and
inform Schaitberger that if he does not like that plan he can sue the IAFF.
That would be an example of ethical leadership.
And, that’s how any other similar situation would be handled; no more special deals for the kingly thief-in-chief.
Stop the Schaitberger Corruption
