OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: TONY JONES, ) Protest Decision 2015 ESD 16
) Issued: August 4, 2015
Protestor. ) OES Case No. P-024-073015-ME
____________________________________)
Tony Jones, member and president of Local Union 413, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2015-2016 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). The protest alleged that the Ohio Conference of Teamsters provided impermissible support for a Hoffa-Hall 2016 fundraiser, in violation of the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative Dan Walsh investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
From 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. on July 28, 2015, Hoffa-Hall 2016 held a fundraiser in the Starboard Room at the Maumee Bay Lodge and Conference Center in Oregon, Ohio, near Toledo. The fundraiser followed the second of three days of proceedings of the annual meeting of the Ohio Conference of Teamsters, held at the same facility using the same conference room that the campaign used for its fundraiser.
Protestor Jones alleged in his protest filed July 30 that the Ohio Conference of Teamsters, a union entity, supplied the meeting space for the campaign which, if true, would violate the Rules’ provisions prohibiting union support for a campaign.
Investigation showed that Diana “Corky” Hymore, a member and officer of Local Union 20 in Toledo, arranged for the reception space about a week ahead of the event with Barb Ferman, a conference venue staffer, agreeing to pay $125 plus tax for the room. In addition, Hymore contracted for snacks and bartender service. She instructed Ferman that the fundraiser event should be billed to her personally and not to the Ohio Conference of Teamsters. Invoice terms were “pay[able] on departure at desk.” Ferman put the 4:00 p.m. fundraiser in the Starboard room because the proceedings for the Ohio Conference of Teamsters were scheduled to conclude in the same room by 2:00 p.m. that day. The total cost of the reception came to $273.31, which Hymore paid with personal check #11351 dated July 29, 2015. The same day, Hymore forwarded copies of the invoice and her check to the Hoffa-Hall campaign, asking that her payment of expenses be treated as a campaign contribution. The Hoffa-Hall campaign supplied copies of the check and invoice to our investigator; the check was drawn on a joint checking account that listed Hymore as an account holder with her husband.
William Lichtenwald, president of the Ohio Conference of Teamsters, stated that the Ohio Conference did not host the fundraiser and did not pay for the room rental. He said the event was hosted by Hoffa supporters and paid for by a union member.
Karen Hosley, accounts manager for the conference venue, told our investigator that her records showed a room was rented for a Ken Hall Fundraiser at the lodge on July 28, 2015 and paid for by check #11351 in the amount of $273.31. Hosley provided a copy of the Ken Hall fundraiser invoice that reflects that check #11351 paid for the charges. The copies Hosley provided matched those supplied separately by the campaign.
We conclude on these facts that no union funds were used to support the campaign fundraiser. 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 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:
Kathleen A. Roberts
Election Appeals Master
JAMS
620 Eighth Avenue, 34th floor
New York, NY 10018
kroberts@jamsadr.com
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, 1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 375, Washington, D.C. 20036, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Kathleen A. Roberts
2015 ESD 16
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
braymond@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa
1701 K Street NW, Ste 350
Washington DC 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
Teamsters United
315 Flatbush Avenue, #501
Brooklyn, NY 11217
info@teamstersunited.org
Louie Nikolaidis
350 West 31st Street, Suite 40
New York, NY 10001
lnikolaidis@lcnlaw.com
Julian Gonzalez
350 West 31st Street, Suite 40
New York, NY 10001
jgonzalez@lcnlaw.com
David O’Brien Suetholz
515 Park Avenue
Louisville, KY 45202
dave@unionsidelawyers.com
Fred Zuckerman
P.O. Box 9493
Louisville, KY 40209
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Tony Jones
11479 Alspach Road NW
Canal Winchester, OH 43110
gonefishing413@gmail.com
Walt Lichtenwald
blteamsters@aol.com
Diana “Corky” Hymore
corkeyteamsters@aol.com
Dan Walsh
950 Duxbury Court
Cincinnati, OH 45255
dwalsh@ibtvote.org
John Pegula
1434 Greendale Dr.
Pittsburgh, PA 15239
jpegula@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Suite 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com