AFT Statement on Criminal Indictments of Hemphill, Baxter and Others
 

(The U.S. Attorney today issued indictments of several former officials of the Washington Teachers Union and several other individuals who had done work for the union.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) welcomes today’s indictments as another critical legal step in the prosecution of those who committed these unconscionable actions against the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) and its members.  Today's development will further aid in the ongoing rebuilding of the union.

The action today, triggered by the AFT’s investigation of the local union's financial records and subsequent notification of the U.S. Attorney’s office, sends an important signal to the members of the WTU that those individuals responsible for this betrayal of trust will be held criminally accountable.

As the detailed forensic audit of WTU prepared for AFT last year indicated, more than $5 million dollars was misappropriated from the WTU.  AFT continues to pursue all means of restitution of these funds on behalf of the WTU and its members, and we hope that a speedy criminal prosecution will allow our pending civil lawsuit to move forward.  The teachers represented by the WTU deserve no less.

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The AFT represents more than 1.3 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees.