Watchdog Bytes

And the burro goes to ... fashion company that feds say didn't like the old look

Watchdog has’t had a Burro candidate so far this year, but then came Tandy Brands and we started dusting off the donkey pics. 

And away we go: A Dallas fashion accessory designer recently learned the hard way that “out with the old” can cost big bucks. Tandy Brands Accessories will pay $95,000 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Tandy Brands' code of conduct states the company will promote "honest and ethical conduct.”  

What it didn’t promote was older workers.Those they fired, the EEOC says.

A call to the company seeking comment wasn't immediately returned.

But their website offers this description of their people: "We are cut from leather, and like leather we are strong, versatile and enduring." 

It's just some people look, you know, a little too leathery.

The EEOC suit began after a 62-year old manager was terminated because of her age, supposedly as part of a “reduction-in-force,” according to the EEOC suit. 

As Donkey would say, “Come on Shrek, isn’t that just, what do you call it, happenstance?”

Alas, little Donkey, the EEOC investigated and found that within four months, Tandy Brands terminated another five supervisors ranging in age from 58 to 75, at its Victoria, Texas, facility. The company retained only two supervisors in the relevant location, both of whom were in their early 40s.

Age discrimination against persons age 40 and over violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Senior Trial Attorney Connie Wilhite, who handled the case for the EEOC, said, “A company cannot avoid a claim of age discrimination by replacing a 62-year-old with a 40-something if age is the motivating factor.

"Although the younger person is within the protected class under the ADEA, the fact that he is much younger than the displaced person can and often does signal the company’s intent to discriminate based on age. That is what happened in this case.”

-- Darren Barbee

Toxic Waste brand candy again cited for actually being toxic

While out on Irony Patrol this morning, Watchdog happened upon news that Candy Dynamics is recalling one lot of its Toxic Waste brand candy products.  It seems the company’s Toxic Waste Short Circuits Bubble Gum (imported from Pakistan) is being pulled after the Food and Drug Administration found that the product contained elevated amounts of lead that could cause health problems for infants, small children and pregnant women. 

Watchdog readers may recall that the company earlier recalled Toxic Waste brand Nuclear Sludge Chew Bars of all flavors after California officials found elevated levels of lead in them.

Now, “Out of abundance of caution, the company has determined to recall Lot #15070SC12 (of the chewing gum), which was distributed from January 4, 2011 until March 18, 2011,” according to an FDA press release. The product is identified as: Toxic Waste® Short Circuits™ Bubble Gum, (UPC 0 89894 31001 3), 3.2 oz (90 g) size, Lot #15070SC12 (the Lot # is located along the left side of the bag).

The company will continue to sell Short Circuits™ Bubble Gum products in the U.S.

You can order Toxic Waste products here. Best of luck. 

-- Darren Barbee

Counselor: Having sex with me and painting my nude body will help your marriage

OK, this is how weird things are going to get: At one point during a woman’s relationship with her male licensed professional counselor, he stripped off his clothes and demanded she paint his body white while they were at an airplane hangar.  

An Amarillo counselor, Mark Britain, apparently used a unique approach to help a troubled couple — he had sex with the husband’s wife, according to state court documents in a disciplinary hearing. 

According to testimony by a woman identified as “KFM” in court documents, she developed a sexual relationship with Britain during the same time they had a counselor-client relationship. KFM was swept off her feet after Britain called from a strip club asking for a ride home.

KFM testified that Britain, who was intoxicated, pulled her onto his lap and kissed her, according to court documents.

Eventually, a sexual relationship started.

At one point during their ongoing romantic and counselor-client relationships, KFM said, Britain suggested that they have a counseling session at a private airplane hangar. The purpose, he told her, was to acquaint her with airplanes to strengthen her relationship with her pilot husband (the wife of whom he was sleeping with). 

“When she arrived, she testified, Mr. Britain took his clothes off and demanded that she paint him with white paint so that he could make an imprint of his body on a nearby red boxcar,” state documents say. “KFM testified that he became very aggressive and tried to take off her clothes, as well.”

KFM just couldn’t do that. She was on the phone at the time, interviewing for a job.

KFM also said Britain charged her for a social visit she made to him at his office and also testified that he showed her pornography, saying it would help her marriage.

Britain, who did not return a phone message to Watchdog, offered this explanation to the court: “...The referenced female was not my patient but rather a “friend” of a previous patient. Therefore, I don’t see the relevance of your involvement, the purpose of my response. Interestingly enough, this female and the previous male patient did call me indicating that they would be “asking for money.” Is that called extortion or blackmail? Might you ask them about that before you proceed much further? The agenda behind this complaint might become more clear.”

An administrative law judge recommended that Britain’s counselor license be revoked. Britain was previously disciplined in 2006 relating to “dual relationships and maintaining professional boundaries.”

 

-- Darren Barbee

 

Ex-Beaverette, federal government sue saloon for sex discrimination

Wild Beaver Saloon is "often described as the second happiest place on Earth," according to its website. “You can't help but smile when you walk into our Colorado Mountain themed beaver den."

Alas, the Beaver may be knocked down a notch or two now that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued the Indianapolis company, WBS Broad Ripple, (which operates Wild Beaver) for firing a server, called a Beaverette, because of her pregnancy. 

“Employees who become pregnant should not lose their jobs because of their condition,” said Laurie A. Young, regional attorney of the Indianapolis District Office. “The Commission will vigorously prosecute employers who engage in pregnancy  discrimination or other forms of sex discrimination.”

Watchdog could not reach company officials for comment and no attorney is listed for them in federal court filings.

To be fair, there might be some problems with a pregnant Beaverette dancing on the bar (as the Beaverettes often do). Still, the EEOC is seeking compensatory and punitive damages against the company, as well as other relief, including a permanent injunction to prevent the company from engaging in any employment practice that discriminates on the bases of sex.

That may be asking a lot from a bar that serves a drink called the Beaver Shot of the Day for $3.75.

 

-- Darren Barbee

 

Buy this investment or we will kill this dog

The chief of National Lampoon was arrested this week, accused of running a $207 million Ponzi scheme. Timothy Durham ran a separate company, Fair Financial, as in fair game, apparently. It raised money from more than 5,000 investors to loan to other businesses. Duham and his partners failed to mention that those businesses included their own risky ventures, like a rubber reclaiming plant, a racecar team and restaurants, according to a 12-count felony indictment. As the scheme unraveled, the indictment says, secretly recorded telephone conversations caught the men discussing the need to keep incompetent employees because they knew too much, and to avoid telling too many investors the same excuse "because it's not really true."  But, as Otter once advised frat brother Flounder, "Hey, it's gotta work better than the truth." More Animal House advice  advice here. 

IRS gives millions to tax debtors

Some delinquent taxpayers hide out from the IRS. Others boldly go to the agency and get hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts. Contractors owing $4.3 million in delinquent taxes were awarded more than $356 million in payments from the IRS and billions more from other federal agencies, after the IRS blocked efforts to collect taxes owed. In their defense, IRS officials say they must "investigate the merit of a taxpayer's claim before initiating enforced collection activity." That didn't wash with investigators, who say IRS had months to check out the problems. They also didn't buy the IRS explanation on why no penalities were assessed. Too bad you can't read that explanation. It's blanked out in the inspector general's report. A little sunshine might disinfect the IRS.

Faith-based investment's big returns bogus, state says

The Lord giveth double-digit returns, went the pitch by Joseph Andrew Sugg II of Flower Mound.

Unfortuantely, it was Sugg that taketh away.

Sugg is accused in Texas State Securities Board disciplinary order of selling promissory notes that would yield a miraculous 18 percent a year. He promised that the money would help Christian organizations which, the state says, chiefly meant Sugg himself.

As the securities board quipped in a press release, “What rate of return would Jesus have promised?” 

Sugg’s Findom Advisors company (slogan: Resourcing the Kingdom through strategic stewardship) said it would focus on joint ventures to ... support faith-based initiatives” and would fund “Christ-centered ministries, providing a double-digit return for an investor.”

Sugg raised $520,000 from investors. The money paid for Sugg and his company's personal expenses, according to the disciplinary order. 

Sugg, who couldn’t be reached for comment, was ordered by the board in February to cease and desist from engaging in any fraud in connection with the offer of securities in Texas.  He was also barred from registering as a broker or investment adviser.

Findom Advisors was registered with the Securities Commissioner as an investment adviser from August 4, 2008 through October 28, 2009. 

-- Darren Barbee

More than 90 percent of nursing homes employ criminals, government says

Turns out the odds of finding a crook working at a nursing home are alarmingly close to the odds of finding a criminal sitting in jail.

A government study found that 92 percent of nursing homes have at least one person with a criminal record working around some of the nation’s most vulnerable adults. The analysis paired nursing home employee records with FBI-maintained criminal history records. 

Nearly 44 percent of the employees had convictions for property crimes such as burglary, shoplifting and writing bad checks. A quarter of them had committed “other crimes” while 20 percent had DUI or DWI related crimes. 

The analysis found that, overall, 5 percent of nursing facility employees had at least one conviction in the FBI’s criminal history records. Despite criminal history checks mandated in almost all states, 84 percent of employees had convictions prior to beginning employment at the nursing homes.

The analysis was made from a sample of 260 nursing homes, according to a report by the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There are 15,728 Medicare-certified nursing facilities in the United States.

-- Darren Barbee