Protest Decisions

IN RE: DARRELL HALL,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 450
Issued: September 13, 2001
OEA Case No. PR082711MW

Darrell Hall, a member of Local Union 89, 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"). He alleges that Local 89 used its newsletter to support the candidacy of James P. Hoffa in violation of the Rules.

Election Administrator representative Lois Tuttle investigated the protest.

Findings of Fact and Analysis

The May-June edition of Local 89 Teamster, the local's newsletter, includes the following letter to the editor from Johnny Short, chief steward at Morgan Foods:

A little history of James R. Hoffa and James P. Hoffa at Morgan Foods in Austin, Indiana.

My grandfather, Charlie Reynolds, back in 1955 worked at Morgan Foods when Jimmy Hoffa, President of Teamsters organized the workers at Morgan Foods. My grandfather told me stories about it. He said that Hoffa was for the working men and women to get more benefits. He also said he met Mr. Hoffa one evening when he was tying his mule to the fence at Morgan's when he was going to work. And he said Hoffa said, "We are all as one brothers and sisters as Teamsters" and shook his hand. My grandfather said he was a good man.

Now 45 years later, James P. Hoffa comes to Morgan Foods. I, Johnny Short, took a tour with President Hoffa at Morgan factory and he was really amazed at how the canning factory ran. Mr. Hoffa talked to every member he came upon. After the tour, Mr. Hoffa told me to be a good Teamster is to get more involved in union activity and to vote because it is our right.

After talking to James P. Hoffa, I think that Mr. Hoffa is the man for the future of Teamsters. I, Johnny Short, have been at Morgan Foods for 25 years and I can honestly say the only two General Presidents of Teamsters that have visited Morgan Foods has been Mr. James R. Hoffa and Mr. James P. Hoffa, which means a lot to all members.

Investigation shows the newsletter containing the foregoing was mailed to members June 19, 2001. On August 23, Hall requested that the local publish his own letter to the editor, which praised Tom Leedham's candidacy. When the local rejected his letter, Hall filed this protest on August 27.

Publication of Short's letter violated the Rules. Article VII, Section 8(a) bars use of a union-financed publication "to support or attack any candidate or the candidacy of any person." Short's declaration that "Mr. Hoffa is the man for the future of Teamsters" is an obvious campaign endorsement, and, by publishing the letter, the local ignored fundamental fairness and the Rules' prohibitions on use of union resources for campaigning. An appropriate remedy for such a violation would be equal space for opposing candidates in the next edition of the newsletter[1] or, if the next edition would not be published before the election, a mailing of responsive campaign material to every member.[2]

However, the local contests the timeliness of this protest. Article XIII, Section 2(b) requires protests to "be filed within two (2) days of the day when the protestor becomes aware or reasonably should have become aware of the action protested or such protests shall be waived." The local asserts that Hall received the offending newsletter in late June but waited more than two months to file his protest. While we have often noted that time limits for filing protests are prudential and not jurisdictional,[3] we decline to suspend the time limits in this case. Short's letter was improperly published by the local some four months before mailing of ballots in the International officer election. Were we to hold the instant protest timely filed and order the usual remedy, Hall's responsive letter would reach members' homes about the same time as ballots. Such critical timing would be directly attributable to Hall's delay in filing his protest and, on the facts presented here, we decline to allow dilatory conduct to reap such a reward.

Although the local violated the Rules by publishing Short's letter, we DENY Hall's protest as untimely.

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 15^th Street NW, Tenth Floor, Washington, DC 20005 (facsimile: 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 450

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

Hoffa Unity Slate

Todd Thompson

209 Pennsylvania Ave. SE

Washington, DC 20003

Matt Ginsberg

Tom Leedham Campaign

P.O. Box 6678

Arlington, VA 22206

James L. Hicks, Jr., P.C.

Suite 1100

2777 N. Stemmons Freeway

Dallas, TX 75207

Darrell Hall

459 Washburn Lane

Taylorsville, KY 40071

Irwin H. Culter, Jr.

Adrienne Berry

Segal Stewart Cutler Lindsay Janes

& Berry

1400-B Waterfront Plaza

325 West Main Street

Louisville, KY 40202-4251

Lois Tuttle

Office of the Election Administrator

727 Fifteenth Street, N.W.

10^th floor

Washington, D.C. 20005