Fred Feinstein (former NLRB General Counsel, turned SEIU consultant, turned University of Maryland adjunct professor) just received a public spanking for an ethics violation. It seems he decided to put the weight of his new employer behind the SEIU in its ongoing squabble with National Union of Healthcare Workers. The problem is he failed to disclose that the SEIU paid him nearly a quarter-million dollars as a consultant in 2007-2008. Feinstein attempted to downplay the incident by noting:

“I wasn’t as conversant as I should have been with the guidelines for using letterhead,” Feinstein said. “It was an unfortunate oversight. But this is part of a pretty intense battle, no holds barred, and I think it’s important to understand that context.”

Yeah, no holds barred. Like the kind of fight that would get a former NLRB General Counsel to inject himself into a battle in which he clearly has an (undisclosed) financial interest. I can see how that makes the conduct so much more understandable.