IN RE: WILLIAM WALKER,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 184
Issued: February 22, 2001
OEA Case No. PR011811ME
William "Cookie" Walker, a member of Local 115, 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"). His protest allegation is ambiguously worded, and can be read to allege that either Leo Reilly, Sr. or Leo Reilly, Jr., father and son and both Local 115 members, vulgarly threatened retaliation against him for his support of one of the candidate slates in the ongoing Local 115 delegate election.
Election Administrator representatives Bill Kane and Francis Sheridan investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Walker works at Heraus Electro-Nite Co. in the Philadelphia area. He alleges that during the second week of January, on an unspecified date, he distributed literature in support of the candidates he supports during non-work time. He says that when his co-worker Reilly, Jr. found a copy of the literature at his workstation, he began yelling, screaming, and creating a scene, and that Reilly, Jr. called Reilly, Sr., who is the chief shop steward.
Walker described two different versions of what happened next in his initial and second interview with our investigator. In his first interview, he claimed that when Reilly, Sr. arrived, he read the literature in his son's possession and then vulgarly stated within Walker's earshot that he would "get" the people who wrote the campaign material. In his reinterview, Walker claimed that it was Reilly, Jr. who made this threat, including the statements quoted in Walker's protest. Walker also claimed that two other members were close enough to hear the threat, but both deny doing so. Both Reillys also deny making the alleged statements.
Most recently, as a supplement to his protest, Walker claims that he has received anonymous threats because of his campaign activities. He offered no evidence linking those threats to the Reillys or anyone else.
We cannot credit Walker's claims, given the shifting nature of his testimony, the lack of corroboration and the denials of the Reillys. Accordingly, because there is insufficient factual foundation for the protest, we DENY it.
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 184
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
William Walker
3812 Green Acres Road
Philadelphia, PA 19194
IBT Local 115
2833 Cottman Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19149
William B. Kane
242 Old Haymaker Road
Monroeville, PA 15146