IN RE: JOHN HULL and PHIL SEGUIN,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 269
Issued: March 26, 2001
OEA Case Nos. PR030514CA and PR0307112CA
John Hull and Phil Seguin, members of Local Union 938 and candidates for delegate on opposing slates, filed pre-election protests pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2000-2001 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). Each protest alleges that the opposing slate improperly accessed the local's membership list for campaign purposes.
Election Administrator representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Hull, lead candidate on the 938 Members slate, alleges that many members received recorded telephone messages from James P. Hoffa urging them to vote for the Hoffa Canadian Unity slate led by Ray Bartolotti. Seguin, a candidate on Bartolotti's slate, alleges many members received a mailing from Hull's slate. Each speculates the opposing slate made these contacts by improperly obtaining members' addresses or telephone numbers from the local.
Investigation shows Bartolotti's slate obtained members' telephone numbers from the accredited campaign of International General President candidate James P. Hoffa. Pursuant to Article VII, Section 3 of the Rules, the Election Administrator released a copy of the membership list for the entire International Union to the Hoffa 2001 campaign. Todd Thompson, manager of that campaign, permissibly transferred the list to a vendor that, using computer databases, matched names and addresses with telephone numbers. The campaign then arranged with another vendor for computer-assisted telephone calls to the local's members delivering Hoffa's recorded campaign message. Under this arrangement, no candidate or agent of the Bartolotti slate had access to the membership information.
Investigation also showed that Hull's slate obtained mailing labels for selected portions of the local from the accredited campaign for International General President candidate Tom Leedham. As with the Hoffa campaign, the Election Administrator released the International's membership list to the Tom Leedham Rank and File Power campaign. Matt Ginsburg, manager of that campaign, permissibly transferred approximately 4,000 address labels to Hull's slate. Hull committed by affidavit not to release the list for any purpose other than advancing Leedham's campaign. Hull reports that he kept this commitment, and no evidence was presented to the contrary.
There is no evidence that membership information under the control of the local union was accessed by either slate. Accordingly, we DENY these protests.
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 (fax: 202-454-1501), all within the time 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 269
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
John Hull
3231 Eglinton Avenue East
Apt. 1705
Toronto, ON M1J 3N5
Canada
IBT Local 938
275 Matheson Blvd. West
Mississauga, ON L4Z 1X8
Canada
Ray Bartolotti
c/o Watson Kucey
Labour Lawyers
3555 Lakeshore Blvd. West
Toronto, ON M8W 1P4
Canada
Ray Bartolotti
63 Centennial Parkway South
Stoney Creek, ON L8G 6T1
Canada
Michael J. Goldberg
73 Harrowgate Drive
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003