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bobcat12
04-24-2007, 01:10 PM
Did anyone here about the black lineman for Asplundh that was attacked by two white tree trimmers in seattle wa? Well it happened and they tried to kill him for protecting an apprentice lineman. He was the foreman and tried to stop them from jumping on an app, they we arguing over whoo was more important lineman or tree trimmers on the storm they were working. Hey to me that is crap because they are all union workers and now there is a 12 yr journeyman out of work and the company is not helping him at all. The only people that has tried to help him is the hall. So if you think one minute the company is for you then you are wrong especailly if they are double breasted like Asplundh. They tried to gouge out his eyes and the brother has been off work for 4 months. Well I have helped so if they is anyone that wants to the contact Local 47 and they will help you help him. What is this trade turning to?

topgroove
04-25-2007, 08:54 AM
my first phone call would've been 911 my second phone call would be to my lawyer and my third would be to OSHA. Federal laws contain workplace safety rules that prohibit violance in the workplace. not only should the the asaulters been fired on the spot, they should be in jail.

PA BEN
04-25-2007, 09:07 AM
I live and work not far from Seattle and havn't heard a word about this crime. Where did you get your info? If this story is true, it could and should stir alot of shit.

bobcat12
04-26-2007, 02:48 PM
This is true if you want you can google "hate crime on powerline worker" it was in the seattle times. I know it happen because we talked about it last saturday at the Union meeting in riverside Ca at the hall. We also took up a collection for the guy and so did alot of the other yards in the area. We are pissed because asplundh has not even given the guy worker's comp. Or even called him to see if he is ok. I went by his house to see him and he was very happy to see another union brother. They guy is a 12yr journeyman and really sharp from what alot of the guys were saying at the hall. The guys that did it are in jail with a 15 month sentance. I just wanted to post it here because they have been trying to keep it very quite and not let it get out. ALso he said he talked to someone from "puget Sound Energy" and they were calling to see if he was ok. Also this company has laid off alot of local hands and brought in a bunch of canadians to work and made them foremans over a crew, and they no nothing about the system or working energized lines. These are just some of the things that are going on in Local 47 in california. I will keeep you guys updated on any new information.

Work safe and may god bless every lineman

PA BEN
04-26-2007, 06:43 PM
I googled and found nothing, went to Seattle times web site did a search nothing. Should local 77 have some say about this? Sounds a little fishy:rolleyes:

Bull Dog
04-26-2007, 07:49 PM
Ya Pa i thought this was a al shapton right off the bat. Mabey the guy is on the level but sounds fishy to me also.

Hemingray Insulators
04-26-2007, 08:29 PM
i cant find anything on it either. and if i'm not mistaken, isn't Asplundh ONLY tree trimming? i wasn't aware they had LINEMEN :confused:

TXUNIONWKR
04-26-2007, 11:22 PM
Hate-crime case targets 2 power-outage workers :mad:

By Sonia Krishnan
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

Two contractors working in Bellevue to restore power during last month's outage will be arraigned today under the state's hate-crime law on charges of assaulting a co-worker.

King County prosecutors last Thursday filed malicious-harassment and assault charges against Randy Welborn, of Fairview, Ore., and Randall Stencel, of Washougal, Clark County, saying they taunted Desmond Lindsey with racial slurs and punched him in the head and face, according to court records.

Welborn and Stencel are white. Lindsey is black.

Lindsey, of California, was treated by the Bellevue Fire Department for injuries after Welborn "tried to gouge his eyes out," said Michael T.J. Hogan, senior deputy prosecuting attorney for King County.

The three men were working for Pennsylvania-based Asplundh Tree Expert — a company contracted by Puget Sound Energy to help with power restoration — and were staying at the Courtyard Marriott hotel on Northeast Eighth Street, Hogan said.

The argument occurred early Dec. 23, outside the hotel lobby, Hogan said. Welborn and Stencel "appeared to be extremely intoxicated," he said.

Tempers flared when the topic of power "line" workers versus "tree" workers came up, according to charging documents.

Welborn then began talking about "white pride and the KKK still being alive" and knocked Lindsey down, according to the documents.

Stencel encouraged the attack, telling Welborn, "Let's just beat him," and joined the assault, according to the charging papers.

At one point, Welborn pushed his thumbs into Lindsey's eyes, preventing him from seeing or defending himself, according to the charging papers.

Bellevue police responded and arrested Stencel, 52, and Welborn, 48. Welborn is being held in King County Jail on a $20,000 bond; Stencel was freed after posting bail of $2,500.

No age or hometown was available for Lindsey.

Three other Asplundh workers witnessed the argument leading up to the assault but left before the alleged beating took place, Hogan said.

The county handles about a dozen malicious-harassment cases a year, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office.


Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com

TXUNIONWKR
04-26-2007, 11:28 PM
2 men plead not guilty in race-related assault

By Peyton Whitely
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

Two men accused of racially harassing and beating their supervisor in Bellevue pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday.

The pleas were entered by Randy Welborn, 48, and Randall Stencel, 52, before King County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kessler.

Both men are being prosecuted under a state hate-crime statute that makes a race-related assault a felony.

Each man is accused of malicious harassment and assault following a dispute that took place in the lobby of the Courtyard Marriott hotel at 110th Avenue Northeast and Northeast Eighth Street about 3 a.m. Dec. 23.

Both men worked as tree trimmers doing contract work through the Asplundh Tree Expert Co. for Puget Sound Energy after the December windstorm, according to court documents.

The incident started as Welborn and Stencel began making comments about "the Mexicans taking all the jobs," Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mike Hogan said during the men's arraignment Thursday.

The comments led to a supervisor approaching the men and asking them to stop their remarks, Hogan said.

Instead, the men, who are white, began taunting the supervisor, Desmond Lindsey, who is black, Hogan said.

Welborn called Lindsey racial names, talked about "white pride" and the Ku Klux Klan, according to the charges, and then began punching Lindsey in the head. Stencel told Welborn to beat Lindsey, the charges continued, and joined the attack, with Welborn then pushing his thumbs into Lindsey's eyes.

Bellevue police were called and the men were arrested. Both men were believed to be intoxicated, Hogan added.

Lindsey did not appear in court and is believed to have returned to his home in California, Hogan said.

Asplundh spokeswoman Kristin Wild said Thursday that the company had no comment other than the case is under investigation by its risk-management section and that it could not say whether the men have been fired.

Stencel, of Washougal, Clark County, who had been released after posting a $2,500 bond, refused comment when approached outside the courtroom.

Welborn, of Fairview, Ore., remains in King County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail, with Kessler denying a motion to reduce bail.

A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 17.


Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com

WAlinehand1970
04-27-2007, 12:38 AM
I was on that storm, working out of the Redmond yard, for Hawkeye, and this is the first time I have heard about this!!

PA BEN
04-27-2007, 08:58 AM
Thanks for finding that Tx. It's funny it didn't come up with the search I did but o'well. I think the IBEW should come out with a steatment condemning this as a hate crime. I know tempers flair durning long hr.s of storm work and it doesn't take much to start a fight, but the kkk stuff went to far.:mad:

racinsprintz10
04-27-2007, 10:36 AM
yeah ,tempers flare with regards to work. this was just a couple of drunk hillbillies getting their rocks off by beating someone who they probably felt inferior to. These two derelicts should be out of the IBEW and in jail.

TXUNIONWKR
04-27-2007, 10:54 AM
I checked the King County Superior Court records online :D Their judgement was issued on 4-3-07

topgroove
04-27-2007, 11:07 AM
Applicability of Workers' Compensation in Workplace Violence Cases
Employers' liabilities under workers' compensation. The role of the workers' compensation system is significant in workplace violence but varies from state to state. In California, as in most states, for an employee's injury to be compensable, it not only must be sustained in the course of employment (during the performance of service) but also must arise out of the employment. Stated another way, an assault is compensable where the subject matter of the dispute leading to the assault involves the work itself or where the work brought the injured employee and the perpetrator together and created the situation that resulted in the altercation. Under such circumstances, workers' compensation is generally the exclusive remedy, and the worker is precluded from filing other civil claims against the employer.
For example, where employment places the victim in a location where he or she is shot by a bullet intended for another individual, the victim's exclusive remedy is the Workers' Compensation Act. An employee may file tort claims, however, for an injury resulting from intentional conduct by the company against the worker, for an injury caused by a co-employee's willful and unprovoked physical act of aggression or intoxication, or for an injury caused by a co-worker acting outside the scope of employment.
An employer's willful attack on an employee is not a risk or a condition of employment, so an employer's intentional assault on an employee is compensable under workers' compensation and may also be redressed in a civil action for damages. Furthermore, where an employee acts as the employer's agent in harming another employee, the employer can be liable for damages in a civil action.
The fact that an injury occurs in the workplace does not establish that it is compensable. An injury that grows out of a personal grievance between the victim and a third party is not considered to arise out of the employment if the assault occurred merely by chance during working hours at the place of employment or if the employer's premises did not place the injured employee in a peculiarly dangerous position. Where a third party intentionally injures the employee because of some personal motivation, there must be some work connection to establish compensability. Although injuries resulting from purely personal animosity unconnected with the employment are generally not compensable, the injuries may be held compensable if the employment increases or contributes to the risk of the assault, e.g., a situation where the assailant intends to injure the employer by committing a violent act against an employee.
Workers' compensation and the perpetrator. An employee who commits a violent act in the workplace, and who is injured while committing that act, may or may not be entitled to workers' compensation benefits. California workers' compensation law bars recovery of benefits in the following circumstances:
Where the injury is intentionally self-inflicted;
Where the employee willfully and deliberately causes his or her own death;
Where the injury arises out of an altercation in which the employee is the initial physical aggressor; or
Where the injury is caused by the commission of a felonious act or of a crime for which the employee has been convicted.
The third exception bars recovery only when the injured employee was the initial physical aggressor, who is not necessarily the person making the first physical contact. Accordingly, if two employees are injured during a fight, only the employee who is the "initial physical aggressor" will be barred from recovering workers' compensation benefits.

TXUNIONWKR
04-27-2007, 12:42 PM
This is a little confusing if you read both of the articles from the Seattle Times. Are all three tree trimmers? Asplundh does have linemen too. The second article states that the man attacked was their supervisor. But the tree trimmer vs linemen part is gone. Was the supervisor a lineman or tree trimmer? Not that this matters it still should not of happened. Just trying to sort it out because bobcat12 said it was a lineman.

Bull Dog
04-27-2007, 12:46 PM
Well this is one for the books! Two red necks get boozed up and go off on a brother. Remember its only a hate crime if its white on black. If it was two black guys beat up a white guy it would not be a hate crime. The law is bs and should be reversed beacuse of the way its applied to only one race. Im not going to pass judgement on anyone this time. Just had a situation here were two black guys tortured a white guy for days they have it on video calling him racist names no hate crime was filed. The guy is lucky hes not dead but the law looked the other way. See white people are NOT a proted class like other groups ie blacks gays mexicans ect. Were just ok to beat up in a racist manner. I think any crime is a hate crime period. The liberals in this world will ruin america with this crap and are well on there way to getting the job done.

wudwoker51
04-27-2007, 04:03 PM
Sounds like Asplundh is using the Walla Walla referral system. Yes they are now doing power work in addition to line clearance. What a piece of $#%@ outfit but they are huge, so odds are they will be around for awhile which is unfortunate. Believe me nothing good will come out of it.

lager
04-29-2007, 12:11 PM
Here's the link to both articles:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003508573_harass04e.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003510447_harass05e.html?syndication=rss

tramp67
04-29-2007, 01:50 PM
Sounds like Asplundh is using the Walla Walla referral system. Yes they are now doing power work in addition to line clearance. What a piece of $#%@ outfit but they are huge, so odds are they will be around for awhile which is unfortunate. Believe me nothing good will come out of it.
My thoughts exactly! I've worked for them twice, from now on I'll sit on the books rather than put up with their b.s.!:eek: Companies like them do nothing but give the IBEW a bad reputation. Never worked anywhere before or since where the foremen would force the apps to drink on the job so they won't rat out the rest of the crew!!

LuVR6T
05-07-2007, 02:47 PM
Also this company has laid off alot of local hands and brought in a bunch of canadians to work and made them foremans over a crew, and they no nothing about the system or working energized lines.

Knowing nothing about the system is understandable if they're new to it, as for Hot work... they must be east coast Canadians, I heard they have hot and cold lineman.

Rubber up and stick it brothers

woody
05-08-2007, 11:29 PM
Yup...the whiteman is shortchanged...man what else ya gotta say! A black man was beat up bad enough for two people to go to jail. I've heard white people complain that they could'nt go to college because they were white. Could'nt get in the linetrade because they were white. But excuse me... could they ever think about serving a term of service for their country! Lots do... but fewer serve than have in the past. Give me a break and wake up to reality that is happening now... the hispanics are going to be the new majority(not minority) within this decade. The jobs are out there...are people willing to do enough to seek them? P.S. Alaska Indian...82nd AIRBORNE. woody