IN RE: EDGAR ESQUIVEL, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2011 ESD 122
Issued: February 21, 2011
OES Case No. P-087-011911-FW
Edgar Esquivel, member of Local Union 952, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2010-2011 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). The protest alleged that the notice of results of nominations meeting was posted to obscure the protestor's slate of candidates.
Election Supervisor representative Michael Miller investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Local Union 952 conducted its nominations meeting on January 12, 2011. Pursuant to Article II, Section 6(a) of the Rules, the local union posted "a list of all nominated candidates, by name (and by slate affiliation, if known at the time.)" The 1-page notice listed candidates comprising two slates in side-by-side columns. The first slate listed was the Kelly-
Metcalfe 952 Membership Slate Save Our Union Slate; the second slate was the Reform952 Members for Sandy Pope. The protest, filed January 19, complained that the notices on bulletin boards at UPS Aliso Viejo were posted so that the first slate was visible but the second was obscured by adjacent postings.
On January 20, a local union business agent repositioned the notice on the boards in question so the entire notice was visible. The business agent used 2 push pins to secure the notice so that no portion of it would slip behind adjacent postings. On this basis, we deem the protest RESOLVED.
During the investigation of this matter, the protestor raised a second allegation. He stated that his slate, the Reform952 slate, was listed in the second column on the notice of nominations meeting results. Protestor Esquivel contended his slate should have been listed first on the notice because it won the slate ballot placement lottery conducted at the candidates meeting immediately following the nominations meeting. Article II, Section 10(b) of the Rules states that "[t]he order of placement of the slates on the ballot shall be determined by lot." (Emphasis supplied). Although the best practice is to list slates on the notice of nominations meeting results in the order they will appear on the ballot in order to minimize voter confusion, the local union did not violate the Rules by listing them in the order it did. Accordingly, we DENY this aspect of the 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 Supervisor 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
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, New York 10022
Fax: (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon the parties, as well as upon the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L, Washington, D.C. 20006, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2011 ESD 122
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
braymond@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa
Hoffa Hall 2011
1100 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Ste. 730
Washington, D.C. 20036
hoffadav@hotmail.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
P.O. Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210-0128
ken@tdu.org
Barbara Harvey
1394 E. Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, MI 48207
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Fred Gegare
P.O. Box 9663
Green Bay, WI 54308-9663
kirchmanb@yahoo.com
Scott D. Soldon
3541 N. Summit Avenue
Shorewood, WI 53211
scottsoldon@gmail.com
Fred Zuckerman, President
Teamsters Local Union 89
3813 Taylor Blvd.
Louisville, KY 40215
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Robert M. Colone, Esq.
P.O. Box 272
Sellersburg, IN 47172-0272
rmcolone@hotmail.com
Carl Biers
Box 424, 315 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
info@SandyPope2011.org
Julian Gonzalez
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
350 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10001-5013
jgonzalez@lcnlaw.com
Edgar Esquivel
770 South Yorba
Orange, CA 92869
eesquivel@csu.fullerton.edu
Patrick Kelly, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 952
140 S. Marks Way
Orange, CA 92868
team952@aol.com
Robert Baptiste
Baptiste & Wilder
1150 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20036
rbaptiste@bapwild.com
Michael Miller
P.O. Box 25385
Los Angeles, CA 90025
miller.michael.j@verizon.net
Christine Mrak
2357 Hobart Avenue, SW
Seattle, WA 98116
chrismrak@gmail.com
Maria Ho
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
mho@ibtvote.org
Kathryn Naylor
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W. Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
knaylor@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Ste. 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com