Exclusive: Fully two years before whistleblower Craig Simmons alerted the U.S. Department of Labor to alleged malfeasance at the $3 billion SAG Pension & Health Plans, fellow employee Gary Mathis made virtually identical allegations to the federal agency, Deadline has learned.
Mathis and Simmons both filed claims and wrongful-termination suits, with decidedly different outcomes. Mathis’ claims were rejected by an arbitrator, but Simmons’ claims went public, with coverage so intense it led to the resignation of Bruce Dow, the benefit plans’ longtime CEO. The Simmons arbitration resulted in a confidential settlement, and that Dol probe is ongoing.
Mathis says that while the investigation into his charges led to the subsequent inquiries, “I got nothing out of it,” he told Deadline, which has obtained the Labor Department complaint he filed in 2009 (read it here). “Craig reached out to me when he was going through his lawsuit, and I met with him and with the FBI.
Mathis and Simmons both filed claims and wrongful-termination suits, with decidedly different outcomes. Mathis’ claims were rejected by an arbitrator, but Simmons’ claims went public, with coverage so intense it led to the resignation of Bruce Dow, the benefit plans’ longtime CEO. The Simmons arbitration resulted in a confidential settlement, and that Dol probe is ongoing.
Mathis says that while the investigation into his charges led to the subsequent inquiries, “I got nothing out of it,” he told Deadline, which has obtained the Labor Department complaint he filed in 2009 (read it here). “Craig reached out to me when he was going through his lawsuit, and I met with him and with the FBI.
- 11/21/2014
- by David Robb
- Deadline
Allegations of widespread embezzlement at the SAG Pension & Health Plans that ruined the career of the benefit plans’ longtime chief administrator Bruce Dow quietly have been settled. “That case is over,” said Robin Dal Soglio, the attorney who represented Dow and the plans in a confidential arbitration of the matter. The case that started with a bang has ended with a thud.
The allegations made headlines when Craig Simmons, the plans’ executive director of human resources, alleged in 2011 that Dow was sending the plans’ insurance business to his wife and that she pocketed part of the premiums, that Dow underreported the amount of money allegedly embezzled by a former employee, that Dow paid his brother-in-law for a no-show job and that Dow used insider information to benefit his church.
In his initial 2012 lawsuit (read it here), Simmons alleged that he was wrongfully terminated in March 2011, because he wouldn’t cover...
The allegations made headlines when Craig Simmons, the plans’ executive director of human resources, alleged in 2011 that Dow was sending the plans’ insurance business to his wife and that she pocketed part of the premiums, that Dow underreported the amount of money allegedly embezzled by a former employee, that Dow paid his brother-in-law for a no-show job and that Dow used insider information to benefit his church.
In his initial 2012 lawsuit (read it here), Simmons alleged that he was wrongfully terminated in March 2011, because he wouldn’t cover...
- 11/17/2014
- by David Robb
- Deadline
The SAG Pension & Health Plan’s former head of human resources and information technology, Craig Simmons, sued the Plan for defamation and invasion of privacy Wednesday, alleging that the Plan published false allegations about Simmons in a letter sent to SAG members on or about December 22, 2011. This is the second lawsuit filed by Simmons against the Plan. In his first suit, filed in March, he alleged wrongful termination a year earlier, in retaliation for reporting alleged illegal conduct by the organization’s CEO, Bruce Dow. Photos: Top 10 Legal Disclaimers in Hollywood In response to those allegations, the Plan
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- 12/20/2012
- by Jonathan Handel
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Craig Simmons, the former human resources director for the Screen Actors Guild --Producers Pension & Health Plans, sued the plans for wrongful termination on Thursday. Simmons has drummed up a firestorm of controversy with allegations involving fraud and embezzlement at the plans. He has been threatening to sue SAG-pphp for months. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Simmons made good on those threats. In the filing, Simmons continued to level accusations at SAG-pphp CEO Bruce Dow, claiming that his former boss covered up embezzlement at the nonprofit and used the...
- 3/23/2012
- by Brent Lang
- The Wrap
Craig Simmons, the SAG Pension & Health Plan’s former head of human resources and information technology, sued the Plan for wrongful termination Thursday, alleging that he was discharged a year ago after reporting alleged illegal conduct by the organization’s CEO, Bruce Dow. The suit was not unexpected. Since his termination, which Simmons says occurred on March 25, 2011, he has made public a letter he sent to the Plan’s trustees and a complaint he filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. The Plan responded by having an outside investigation conducted, which resulted in a Dec. 22 statement from the
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- 3/23/2012
- by Jonathan Handel
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: I’ve learned that whistleblower Craig Simmons has been telling federal authorities what he knows about the Screen Actors Guild Pension & Health Plan scandal. During October 2011, November 2011, and December 2011, he testified under oath during three sessions in Los Angeles with the FBI, IRS, Securities & Exchange Commission, Department Of Justice, and Department Of Labor inside the Federal Building in Westwood. My information is that the authorities were taking copious notes while Simmons spoke. Insiders also tell me that federal investigations are now ongoing into not just one embezzlement and cover-up inside the SAG P&H Plan but also another fraud and cover-up there which makes two scandals altogether. I understand the FBI asked Simmons not to go public about the probes and he has not spoken publicly about his whistleblowing. [See Simmons' letter here to the SAG P&Hp 36 Board Of Trustees, and Simmons' letter here to the Department Of Labor, which led to the federal probes.] So Deadline is the first to break this important news. My understanding is that when Simmons went in to testify,...
- 3/15/2012
- by NIKKI FINKE
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: I’ve learned that whistleblower Craig Simmons has been telling federal authorities what he knows about the Screen Actors Guild Pension & Health Plan scandal. During October 2011, November 2011, and December 2011, he testified under oath during three sessions in Los Angeles with the FBI, IRS, Securities & Exchange Commission, Department Of Justice, and Department Of Labor inside the Federal Building in Westwood. My information is that the authorities were taking copious notes while Simmons spoke. Insiders also tell me that federal investigations are now ongoing into not just one embezzlement and cover-up inside the SAG P&H Plan but also another fraud and cover-up there which makes two scandals altogether. I understand the FBI asked Simmons not to go public about the probes and he has not spoken publicly about his whistleblowing. [See Simmons' letter here to the SAG P&Hp 36 Board Of Trustees, and Simmons' letter here to the Department Of Labor, which led to the federal probes.] So Deadline is the first to break this important news. My understanding is that when Simmons went in to testify,...
- 3/15/2012
- by NIKKI FINKE
- Deadline Hollywood
March 15Th Update: New info reaching me is that this visit took place on Wednesday, March 7th, and not on Friday, March 9th, as I’d previously reported. Exclusive: Feds Formally Investigating Allegations Of SAG Pension & Health Plan’s Pair Of Embezzlements And Cover-Ups Exclusive: SAG sources tell me that federal government agencies “raided” the SAG Pension & Health Plan offices last Wednesday Friday. Unmarked cars arrived around 5 Pm, stayed for five hours and left with several dozen boxes. Insiders believe the feds were either FBI or Department of Justice. All, including the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission, had been contacted regarding the alleged embezelment claims surrounding SAG’s P&H Plan and the Craig Simmons filings. It now looks like this entire matter is being investigated by federal officials. I’ve asked SAG for confirmation, but on matters of the P&H Plan the guild normally...
- 3/14/2012
- by NIKKI FINKE
- Deadline Hollywood
Exclusive: SAG sources tell me that federal government agencies “raided” the SAG Pension & Health Plan offices last Friday. Unmarked cars arrived, stayed for several hours and left with multiple boxes. Insiders believe the feds were either FBI or Department of Justice. All, including the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission, had been contacted regarding the alleged embezelment claims surrounding SAG’s P&H Plan and the Craig Simmons filings. It now looks like this entire matter is being investigated by federal officials. I’ve asked SAG for confirmation, but on matters of the P&H Plan the guild normally points out that it’s separate from the union. I’m out of town but will have more on this Wednesday. Related: SAG Health & Pension Plan Fund Scandal: Hundreds Sign Petition For Impartial Probe Bad Health & Pension News For SAG Members...
- 3/14/2012
- by NIKKI FINKE
- Deadline TV
Members of the Screen Actors Guild are being reassured that their benefits packages are safe and secure amid allegations that the pension plan’s CEO Bruce Dow covered up an embezzlement scheme and used the funds for personal expenses. The charges first bubbled up in Department of Labor complaint submitted last September by ousted plan executive Craig Simmons, but gained traction after an online petition demanding an “independent” investigation into the charges garnered over 560 signatures in recent weeks. In response, the board of trustees of the Screen Actors Guild Producers Pension and...
- 12/24/2011
- by Brent Lang
- The Wrap
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