HOUSTON – A Texas district judge recently ruled the Service Employees International Union has no grounds to request a retrial following a court order directing the Chicago-based union to pay Professional Janitorial Services Houston $7.8 million.
In a Nov. 7 order, Harris County District Judge Erin Lunceford also instructed the SEIU to turn over nearly 10 years of financial records and other information before the court determines whether PJS can seize the union’s assets.
SEIU’s motion for new trial was denied Nov. 3, court records show.
“Since the SEIU claims it has insufficient funds to pay for the damage it caused my company, I look forward to combing through its finances to find every hidden dollar,” said PJS Houston founder Brent Southwell, a trained accountant.
“You cannot pay 10 lawyers to try to stop me from beating you in a courtroom and then claim you have no money.”
PJS Houston sued the SEIU in 2007 after the union provided PJS customers with asserted false claims that the company mistreated its employees.
The union had filed 19 claims against PJS with the National Labor Relations
Board and cited the filings as “evidence” of the company’s mistreatment, even though every claim was dismissed by the federal agency.
The union also filed a lawsuit against PJS that claimed the company owed back wages and “deposits” to its employees, and then cited the lawsuit as evidence the company was violating federal wage laws.
The Department of Labor found no violations and the lawsuit was subsequently withdrawn.
When the case went to trial in September, evidence surfaced that SEIU continued to assert claims in accordance with an internal campaign manual to “break the law.”
The strategy was part of a plan to “kill PJS,” according to testimony by SEIU’s campaign director, Dan Schlademan.
Following nearly 10 years of litigation, a Harris County jury found the union caused nearly $5 million in damages—the full amount sought by PJS.
Judge Lunceford tacked on nearly $3 million in interest.
The union claims it is struggling to post a bond that would allow it to appeal the jury verdict.
Meanwhile, interest continues to accrue at more than $1,000 per day.
“The SEIU came to Houston to intimidate PJS and extort payments from our employees—neither of which will ever succeed,” said PJS president Floyd Mahanay. “PJS will now make them pay for their lies to our customers.”