Nassau OTB Troglodytes and Phil Feldman on civil rico
jimmy hoffa pays kevin mccaffrey
kevin mccaffrey laura capione and phil feldman talk trash on the merits of paying protection money to teamsters local 707 aka union dues
nassau otb president joseph g cairo is also nassau county republican leader and republican suffolk county legislator kevin mccaffrey is also president of teamsters local 707. joseph g cairo did endorse kevin mccaffrey at a meeting of teamster local 858 years ago at st mary's church in carle place
nassau otb employees are owed a duty of fair representation which appears to be impossible with this cast of characters, intertined cashflows, etc
Former College Basketball Player Sues Adidas Over Payments & prepares analysis of nassau otb, teamsters, local 707 etc
Suit alleging sports-clothing maker violated racketeering laws is new fallout from federal probe of payments to colleges . politics does not pay as well?
Suffolk, Nassau OTB probe ethics conflict
by David Winzelberg
Published: November 24th, 2013
At least one employee of Nassau County Off-Track Betting is questioning whether the head of his employee union, a member-elect of the Suffolk County Legislature, should have a say in Suffolk OTB business.
Teamsters Local 707 President Kevin McCaffery, whose union represents about 200 Nassau OTB workers, was elected earlier this month to serve as a Suffolk legislator representing the 14th District. In a letter last week, Nassau OTB cashier Jackson Leeds alerted the Suffolk County Ethics Board to McCaffery’s possible conflict of interest.
“As a Suffolk County legislator, his duties are to the people of Suffolk County,” Leeds wrote. “He cannot simultaneously represent the interests of employees of Nassau OTB, a Nassau County public benefit corporation.”
McCaffery told LIBN he doesn’t think the two counties’ OTBs are in competition with each other and he doesn’t see his role as union leader for Nassau OTB workers as a conflict with issues surrounding Suffolk OTB.
“If anything, I have the background of dealing with Nassau OTB, which gives me more insight on the subject than any other legislator out there,” McCaffery said.
When asked if the legislator-elect’s union job appeared to be a conflict of interest, Nassau OTB chief Joseph Cairo said, “If you really want to stretch it. But I don’t see anything that’s apparent to me.”
Cairo added that he’ll instruct the Nassau agency’s counsel to review the situation.
Leeds, a 10-year veteran of Nassau OTB, complained that both union officials and county OTB management have been too focused on the 1,000 video lottery terminals planned for each county’s OTB and they’re not paying enough attention to current operations.
“They never worked behind a window,” Leeds told LIBN. “They’re out of touch with the bettors of Nassau County.”
Internet wagering and dwindling handles – the overall money being wagered – have prompted a consolidation in Nassau OTB’s operations in recent years; there were 15 betting offices in Nassau in 2003, and now there are eight. Suffolk OTB, which has seven branch offices, filed for bankruptcy last year.
These days, according to some analysts, OTB offices exist largely for political patronage – another reason, according to Leeds, that the Nassau union chief shouldn’t mix one business with the other.
“Union leaders should not be politicians,” he said. “OTBs are run by politicians. Being political and doing public good aren’t always incompatible, but they often are.”
This isn’t the first time a Long Island legislator’s OTB ties have become an issue.
In May 2000, Gregory Peterson, then-president of the Nassau OTB, sued to prevent Nassau County Leg. Roger Corbin from voting on appointments to the Nassau OTB’s board of directors. Because Corbin was employed as a branch manager for New York City OTB and a member of Teamsters Local 858, which then represented all employees of Nassau OTB, Peterson alleged Corbin’s legislative role posed a conflict of interest.
A New York Supreme Court judge issued an injunction preventing Corbin from voting on OTB appointments, but Corbin appealed and the lower court’s decision was reversed. The Nassau County Board of Ethics also chimed in, determining by a 3-2 vote that voting on OTB appointments didn’t create a conflict because Corbin didn’t influence policy or engage in labor negotiations.
With McCaffery, some observers say it’s best to proceed with caution.
Anthony Figliola, vice president of Uniondale-based government relations firm Empire Government Strategies, said the legislator-elect may want to recuse himself from any votes concerning Suffolk OTB until the Suffolk County Ethics Board offers an opinion.
“OTB is a political football,” Figliola said. “It’s better to stay out of it, especially if you want to get things done in the Legislature.”
Brian Bowen in May in Chicago. After losing eligibility to play at NCAA programs, the former University of Louisville player moved to Australia to play professional basketball. PHOTO: STACY REVERE/GETTY IMAGES
Fallout from a federal probe into alleged corruption in college basketball entered a new chapter Monday as a former University of Louisville player sued Adidas America Inc. on allegations that the sports-clothing maker violated federal racketeering laws by paying families of high-profile recruits.
The player, former high school basketball star Brian Bowen Jr., alleges that the U.S. arm of German shoe company Adidas AG ADDYY -1.05% , its executives and consultants broke the law in their efforts to influence the families of top high school basketball players and encourage them to attend Adidas-sponsored universities.
His lawsuit follows the convictions of an Adidas executive, an Adidas consultant and a sports agent on federal criminal fraud charges last month related to payments they made to families of prominent players, including to the father of Mr. Bowen Jr.
Unlike the criminal case, which argued that the universities were the victims of the Adidas executive’s activities, Mr. Bowen Jr.’s civil racketeering suit posits a new argument in the debate regarding college basketball and amateurism rules: that Adidas caused “foreseeable economic injury” to the player by allegedly arranging payments to the player’s family and thus invalidating his eligibility to play in college.
“Because of this criminal scheme and through no fault of their own, Brian and other student athletes lost their eligibility to play college basketball at any school, lost their eligibility to receive financial aid necessary to continue their education, and lost the singular opportunity to develop physically and athletically into NBA draft picks at an elite NCAA Division I basketball program,” said Mr. Bowen Jr.’s law firm, the McLeod Law Group, in a statement.
A spokeswoman for Adidas said the company believed the civil-suit allegations had no merit and that the company was committed to ethical and fair business practices.
The sports-clothing maker wasn’t accused of wrongdoing in the federal criminal probe, but said in a statement after the guilty verdict in the federal case that the company has “strengthened our internal processes and controls and remain committed to ethical and fair business practices.”
Mr. Bowen Jr.’s father, Brian Bowen Sr., testified in the criminal trial that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars without his son’s knowledge in exchange for steering him to the University of Louisville, an Adidas-sponsored school. Mr. Bowen Sr. wasn’t charged in the case in exchange for his testimony, and isn’t named as a defendant in the civil case.
After losing his eligibility to play at Louisville, as well as any other National Collegiate Athletic Association program, Mr. Bowen Jr. moved to Australia earlier this year to play professional basketball for the Sydney Kings.
Adidas, along with top competitors Nike Inc. and Under Armour Inc., are prolific sponsors of athletic programs at U.S. universities, in hopes of driving demand for their products among young athletes and to position their clothes and shoes in high-profile tournaments in basketball and football, especially.
In the most prominent college sponsorship agreements, athletic companies enter into contracts with university athletic departments, rather than specific sports or teams.
Through his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in South Carolina, Mr. Bowen Jr. seeks to prohibit Adidas, its associates and affiliates from “engaging in sponsorship of NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs,” as well as seeking damages, relief, attorney’s fees and other costs for the plaintiff.
Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com
