IN RE: SCOTT SULLIVAN,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 474
Issued: September 27, 2001
OEA Case No. PR091211WE
Scott Sullivan, principal officer of Local Union 174, 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") against Hobe Williams. The protest alleges Williams used union resources to campaign and lied during our investigation of another protest.
Election Administrator representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Our decision in Rodriguez, 2000 EAD 45 (November 3, 2000) addressed a claimed interference with collection of accreditation signatures. Williams told the investigator of that case that he "took vacation time" to travel to Los Angeles in August 2000 to protest at the Democratic National Convention. For a brief period while there, he also solicited accreditation signatures for the Tom Leedham Rank & File Power slate ("Leedham slate") at a UPS facility.
Sullivan produced records demonstrating that Williams did not use vacation time to travel to Los Angeles. Rather, he requested and was granted paid sick time for the absence. Williams' leave request, dated August 9, 2000, reads as follows:
Subject: Vacation
I would like to take the following days as sick days: 8/11, 8/14, 8/15 & 8/16. I'm planning to attend the Democratic convention protests.
The leave request is endorsed by Pat Frey, "OK per sick day accrual."
Sullivan defeated Leedham slate member Bob Hasegawa in the election for principal officer of the local late in the year 2000. Sullivan took office in January 2001. The sick leave request described here was granted under the Hasegawa administration.
Sullivan contends that the local under Hasegawa "set a practice of advancing sick leave to his employees who are supportive of his and Leedham's campaign, for the purpose of circumventing the Rules." Sullivan notes that Williams had sufficient banked vacation time to cover the Los Angeles trip.
Sullivan finally argues that Williams lied in the investigation of 2000 EAD 44 by stating he was on vacation.
Article VII, Section 11(b) prohibits an individual from campaigning "on time that is paid for by the union." However, "campaigning during paid vacation, paid lunch hours or breaks, or similar paid time off" does not violate the Rules.
The evidence establishes that Williams' solicitation of accreditation signatures during his Los Angeles trip did not violate the Rules because he was on paid leave during that activity.
Investigation shows that local policy at the time permitted paid sick time to be used for purposes other than illness or injury. Additional sick leave requests Williams made demonstrate he and the superiors who granted his leave requests treated sick time as paid personal leave. Thus, Williams requested sick time to "go fishing for a few days." In another instance, he requested specific dates for "scheduled vacation," asking that the time be split between his banked vacation and sick time.
Sullivan was unable to produce any evidence to demonstrate that Williams' use of his banked time violated existing local policy or practice.
We find, therefore, that Williams' solicitation of accreditation signatures in Los Angeles in August 2000 did not violate the Rules because he was using paid time off similar to vacation days at the time. Further, because sick and vacation time were treated similarly under existing local policy, we find he did not lie to our investigator when he said he was on vacation at the time of the solicitation. Finally, we find no evidence to suggest that the Hasegawa administration established the practice regarding permissible uses of sick leave to circumvent the Rules.
Accordingly, we DENY this protest.
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 (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 474
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
Todd Thompson
209 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20003
Matt Ginsburg
30 Third Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11271
James L. Hicks, Jr., P.C.
Suite 1100
2777 N. Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 75207
IBT Local 174
553 John Street
Seattle, WA 98109
Hobe Williams
19080 N.E. Wood-Duvall Rd.
Woodinville, WA 98072
Bob Hasegawa
3121 16th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 38144
Jeffrey Ellison
65 Cadillac Square
Suite 3727
Detroit, MI 48226