IN RE: JIMI RICHARDS,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 125
Issued: February 2, 2001
OEA Case No. PR011412AT
Jimi Richards, a member of Local 728, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2000-2001 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). Richards alleges that Local 743 secretary-treasurer Richard Black failed to post the results of the local union's nomination meeting within five days, as required by Article II, Section 6(a) of the Rules. Black effectuated the posting requirement of the Rules by mailing notices containing the nomination meeting results to local union stewards with instructions to post the notices on their bulletin boards.
Election Administrator representative J. Griffin Morgan investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
The facts here are not in dispute. The local union held its nomination meeting on Saturday, January 6, 2001. On Monday, January 8, 2001, Black gave instructions to his staff to draft the notice, run labels, stuff envelopes and mail the notices to the local union's approximately 350 stewards.
Black, however, mistakenly thought he had five business days to post the notices, rather than the five calendar days required by the Rules. See Definitions, 11; Article II, Section 6(a). He thus did not have the notices mailed to the stewards until Wednesday, January 10, 2001. The protestor did not receive his copy of the notice until Friday, January 12, 2001, one day late. He did not post the notice until Sunday, January 14, 2001, because he did not work on January 13, 2001.
Black's failure to mail the notices quickly enough for their timely posting is a technical violation of the Rules. The protestor, however, was unable to articulate any resulting harm to his delegate candidacy.
We shall accordingly direct that in the future Black post all notices required by the Rules in a timely fashion, but shall order no other remedy.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within two (2) working days of receipt of this decision. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Administrator in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal, and shall be served upon:
Kenneth Conboy
Election Appeals Master
Latham & Watkins
Suite 1000
885 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Fax: 212-751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon all other parties, as well as upon the Election Administrator for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 727 15th Street NW, Tenth Floor, Washington, DC 20005, all within the time period prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
Election Administrator
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2001 EAD 125
DISTRIBUTION LIST VIA UPS NEXT DAY AIR:
Patrick Szymanski
IBT General Counsel
25 Louisiana Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001
Bradley T. Raymond
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik,
Raymond, Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway
Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
J. Douglas Korney
Korney & Heldt
30700 Telegraph Road
Suite 1551
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Barbara Harvey
Penobscot Building
Suite 1800
645 Griswold
Detroit, MI 48226
Betty Grdina
Yablonski, Both & Edelman
Suite 800
1140 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tom Leedham c/o Stefan Ostrach
110 Mayfair
Eugene, OR 97404
IBT Local 728
2540 Lakewood Ave. SW
Atlanta, GA 30315
Jimi Richards
2875 Acworth Due West Road
Kennesaw, GA 30152
J. Griffin Morgan
500 West Fourth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27120