AG Tong seeks to remove labor union as distributor of Sandy Hook fund

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is seeking to remove a labor union that was designated to be the distributor of a fund to assist the first responders and teachers in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.

According to a CT Mirror report, Tong”™s office will file an equitable deviation complaint to remove administration of the fund from the John J. Driscoll United Labor Agency ”” a nonprofit organization founded by the Connecticut AFL-CIO ”” and transfer it to The Newtown-Sandy Hook Foundation, which will be responsible for dispersing the fund”™s remaining $104,000.

Elizabeth Benton, a spokeswoman for Tong, told the CT Mirror that following a review by Tong”™s office “it became apparent the ULA was not the appropriate entity to maintain and administer the Sandy Hook Workers Assistance Program. The Attorney General”™s Office has a statutory duty to ensure that charitable funds are held properly and the charitable intent is carried out and to take appropriate action when it is determined that charitable funds are not being properly handled.”

Lucie A. Connell, executive director of the Newtown-Sandy Hook Foundation, said her organization has served many first responders but rather focused primarily on mental health assistance for the victims”™ families, children who survived the shooting, and the school”™s staff.