Protest Decisions

OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR

for the

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS

IN RE: FRANK HALSTEAD,                   )           Protest Decision 2016 ESD 249

                        )           Issued: June 16, 2016

            Protestor.                                           )           OES Case Nos. P-282-050616-FW   

____________________________________)                                  

Frank Halstead, member and delegate candidate in Local Union 572, 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 Middleton slate used union and employer resources in violation of the Rules by placing “robo calls” to employees on land-line work phones, which they received while working.

            Election Supervisor representative Deborah Schaaf investigated this protest. 

Findings of Fact and Analysis

            The protestor presented evidence of one instance where a Middleton slate robo call was recorded on an employer-provided land-line.  Neither the protestor nor the person whose employer-provided voicemail contained the message could identify any additional evidence that robo calls had been directed to members at work.

            Investigation showed that the Hoffa-Hall 2016 campaign generated a list of Local Union 572 members’ home phone numbers for use in placing robo calls, which are recorded calls distributed in bulk by a commercial vendor engaged for that purpose.  In purchasing the “phone match” service, the campaign instructed the vendor to exclude employer and cell phone numbers.  The campaign then funded a recorded call to members’ home numbers of Middleton requesting their support.

We requested and received the list of phone numbers the campaign used to transmit the robo call.  We did not divulge to the campaign the identity of the person who received the robo call in question or that person’s phone number before receiving the list.  The work phone number of the person on whose voicemail the Middleton robo call was received did not appear on the list the campaign provided.  We conclude that the message that appeared on the member’s work voicemail came to be there not because of a direct call by the campaign to that number but through some other means, which might be a standing call forwarding arrangement from another number to the work number or because a person who received the call at a residential voicemail box forwarded it electronically to the work voicemail box.

            On the facts presented, we find no evidence that the campaign directed a robo call to a work phone number.  Therefore, we DENY this protest.

            The campaign requested a finding that the protestor fraudulently caused the Middleton robo call message to be transmitted to the work voicemail in question to support the conclusion that the campaign violated the Rules.  Insufficient evidence exists to support this conclusion, and we DENY the campaign’s request as well.

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, 34^th 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 17^th 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

            2016 ESD 249

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