OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: SEAN MASON, ) Protest Decision 2021 ESD 94
) Issued: March 26, 2021
Protestor. ) OES Case No. P-111-031621-SO
____________________________________)
Sean Mason, member of Local Union 385, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2020-2021 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). The protest alleged that shop steward Brian Heath violated the Rules by campaigning on employer-paid time.
Election Supervisor representative Dolores Hall investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Local Union 385 will elect 10 delegates and 3 alternate delegates to the IBT convention. Two full slates and 1 independent candidate are competing for these positions. The OZ Teamsters United Local 385 slate is headed by Mason, the protestor here. The Teamsters Unite! Stronger Contracts slate is comprised in part by employees of the local union.
Ballots were mailed to members on March 2, 2021. On March 16, protestor Mason campaigned in the employer’s parking lot where members park their vehicles at the UPS facility in Daytona FL. Shop steward Heath approached Mason as he was speaking with two members and said, “Make sure he tells you that he was terminated for dishonesty.” Heath then turned and walked back to the building. Mason told the members he was addressing that he was terminated for taking bereavement leave to attend his father’s funeral.
The protest alleged that Heath’s statement constituted campaigning and that he made it while on employer-paid time.
We agree that the statement constituted campaigning, even though Heath did not accompany it with distribution of flyers or a request that the members vote for a particular candidate. Nonetheless, the statement, made in the context of Mason’s campaigning, was delivered to influence the members not to support Mason’s candidacy. Accordingly, the statement’s purpose or effect was to negatively influence Mason’s effort to win election.
While Heath’s statement constituted campaigning, investigation showed that it was not made on employer-paid time. The two members to whom Mason was campaigning prepared and sent text messages documenting Heath’s statement immediately after he made it. One message was time-stamped 10:09 a.m.; the other, 10:11. Heath’s computer-generated timesheet for that day showed that he clocked out at the end of his shift at 10:03 a.m. Heath told our investigator that he works until he has completed his assigned tasks. On March 16, he saw Mason in the parking lot and decided to approach. After he made his statement, he turned to walk to his vehicle, which was parked on the opposite side of the building from the employee parking lot. His route to his vehicle took him through the building. While Mason apparently believed Heath was returning to work, he actually was walking to his car.
On these facts, we find that Heath’s statement constituted campaign activity on personal time. Accordingly, we DENY 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. Any party requesting a hearing must comply with the requirements of Article XIII, Section 2(i). All parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely in any such appeal upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Supervisor. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal, and shall be served upon:
Barbara Jones
Election Appeals Master
IBTappealsmaster@bracewell.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, all within the time prescribed above. Service may be accomplished by email, using the “reply all” function on the email by which the party received this decision. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Barbara Jones
2021 ESD 94
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS NOTED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
braymond@teamster.org
Edward Gleason
egleason@gleasonlawdc.com
Patrick Szymanski
szymanskip@me.com
Will Bloom
wbloom@dsgchicago.com
Tom Geoghegan
tgeoghegan@dsgchicago.com
Rob Colone
rmcolone@hotmail.com
Barbara Harvey
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Kevin Moore
Mooregp2021@gmail.com
F.C. “Chris” Silvera
fitzverity@aol.com
Fred Zuckerman
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
ken@tdu.org
Sean Mason
Seanlmason16@gmail.com
Teamsters Local Union 385
Michael McElmury, Trustee
mmcelmury@teamster.org
Dolores Hall
dhall@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
EllisonEsq@gmail.com