We're not talking about the outcome of the presidential election, though the repudiation of Barack Obama, his ideology, his policies, and his anointed successor certainly qualifies as gloat-worthy.
We're talking about the repudiation of another disreputable collection of Chicago-based thugs and the strong-arm tactics, apparent lies, and lawfare they used to get their way: the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
In September, a Texas jury concluded that SEIU had engaged in a smear campaign against Professional Janitorial Services Houston (PJS) in retaliation for the company's resistance to efforts to organize their employees.
PJS sued the SEIU in 2007 after the union disseminated false claims about the company to its customers, in an effort to destroy its business. It took nearly 10 years of litigation, but PJS cleaned up in court, winning nearly $8 million in damages.
Two weeks ago, Harris County District Judge Erin Lunceford denied the union's request for a retrial and responded to its claim that it could not afford to pay the assessed damages by ordering SEIU to turn over a decade's worth of financial records in anticipation of possible PJS seizure of the union’s assets.
“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.”
“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.”
We don't want to gloat over the outcome, but we have to say it couldn't have happened to a more deserving union.