SEIU Keeps Pressure On Sunrise Senior Living (Sunrise executives participated in insider trading)

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/washbizblog/2007/10/seiu_keeps_pressure_on_sunrise.html

The Service Employees International Union Master Trust, the union's $1.7 billion pension fund, today made clear they plan an active agenda for Tuesday's annual meeting of Sunrise Senior Living, the McLean assisted living company.

Though it's not among Sunrise's largest shareholders, the group has been among its most active. SEIU officials have raised questions about whether Sunrise executives participated in insider trading and options backdating as the company was forced to restate around $120 million in earnings.

Sunrise announced a week and a half ago the preliminary results of an investigation by a special committee of the board into the allegations of accounting misconduct.

The committee concluded that Sunrise executives did not intentionally manipulate earnings or engage in inappropriate conduct by awarding stock options or trading the company's shares. Sunrise declined to comment on the SEIU release.

At the annual meeting Tuesday - scheduled for 9 a.m. at the McLean Hilton - the SEIU is asking all shareholders to show up and vote on several measures. They include:

* Changing the way Sunrise's board is elected. Currently, several but not all directors are elected annually. Sunrise wants all directors to stand for annual election to make it easier to force change among the board.

FULL story at link.

[patrice]

1. Senior living and Long-term Care will soon be central social issues.

The "industry" also has a chronic national staffing shortage and those receiving Medicare funds will have to shut their doors without enough of the lowest paid workers to provide services to residents.