FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday March 25, 2008		 CONTACT: Mark Drake

FRANKEN CAUGHT CONCEALING PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO PAY DISABILITY BENEFITS COVERAGE IN NEW YORK STATE

RPM Request Reveals Yet Another Anti-Worker Penalty Against Al Franken Inc.


St. Paul- Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey today issued the following statement after it was revealed through a public information request that Al Franken failed to pay disability benefits coverage for his employees for two years. The revelation comes on the heels of news that Franken was fined $25,000 for failure to pay workers’ compensation for his employees.

 

"The Republican Party of Minnesota's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with the state of New York has revealed that Al Franken was fined for a two-year failure to provide disability benefits coverage for his employees. Given that Al Franken Inc. cut a check paying the fine on March 6, 2008, the documents also make clear that Franken deliberately withheld this damaging information from the press and the public. Coupled with his earlier $25,000 fine for failure to pay worker's compensation for his employees, Franken continues to destroy his credibility with Minnesota's working families."

Click Below To Read The Documents From The State Of New York’s Workers’ Compensation Board Regarding The RPM’s Freedom Of Information Law Request:

FrankenFOIA.pdf

Flashback: Franken Fined $25,000 For Failure To Pay Workers' Comp:

 

"DFL Senate candidate Al Franken owes a $25,000 penalty to the New York State Workers' Compensation Board for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance for employees of his namesake corporation from 2002 to 2005, state officials said." (Kevin Duchschere, "Franken Faces $25,000 Workers' Comp Penalty," Star Tribune, March 5, 2008)

 

Flashback: Lien Filed Against Franken For Failure To Pay Withholding Taxes:

 

"Alan Franken Inc. appears in New York records one other time, when it failed to pay withholding taxes for July 1996. A lien against the corporation was filed in Nassau County in June 1997 for $2,948.30, and the case was closed a short time later, said Tom Bergin, a spokesman with the New York Department of Taxation and Finance." (Kevin Duchschere, "Franken Faces Penalties For Lack Of Workers' Insurance," Star Tribune, March 5, 2008)