OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: GALE HESCOTT, ) Protest Decision 2021 ESD 179
) Issued: December 1, 2021
Protestor. ) OES Case No. P-204-110121-SO
____________________________________)
Gale Hescott, member of Local Union 657, 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 Becky Butler, union steward, violated the Rules by distributing campaign flyers inside the UPS facility at Round Rock, TX.
Election Supervisor representative Dolores Hall investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Protestor Hescott stated that she saw respondent Butler holding a pack of O'Brien-Zuckerman 2021 campaign flyers. Hescott further asserted that she saw flyers for the same slate in various locations within the UPS facility.
Photos showed O’Brien-Zuckerman 2021 flyers in various locations. However, the photos lacked probative value. They were closeup shots and did not show anything that would identify the surrounding environment. Thus, it could not be determined from the photographs whether the flyers were inside the UPS facility and, if so, whether the flyers were in work areas rather than break areas. Further, no evidence established the provenance of the photos (i.e., date(s) they were taken, identification of photographer, and how the protestor acquired the photos), facts critical to assessing the merits and timeliness of the protest.
No photo depicted Butler distributing campaign flyers anywhere – inside or outside the facility – nor did any person allege to our investigator she/he witnessed such distribution.[1]
Butler told our investigator she received a packet of flyers at a parking lot campaign event supporters of the O'Brien-Zuckerman 2021 slate held at UPS – Round Rock more than a month before the protest was filed. She denied distributing them inside or outside the facility, however. Instead, she said she placed the flyers in her locker, where they remained at the time our investigator interviewed her.
If indeed the photos the protestor supplied showed work areas inside the UPS facility, investigation did not reveal how the flyers came to be in those locations, whether placed there by a campaigner with the purpose of advocating for the slate, discarded by person(s) who received them during parking lot campaign activity, or by some other means.
Absent proof that respondent Butler violated the Rules, 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 179
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
Fred Zuckerman
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
ken@tdu.org
Scott Jenkins
scott@oz2021.com
Gale Ava Hescott
Hescott123@gmail.com
Teamsters Local Union 657
Frank Perkins
fperkins@teamsters657.com
Dolores Hall
dhall@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
EllisonEsq@gmail.com
[1] The protest stated in her filed protest that “I saw her [Butler] bringing flyers of O’Brien and Zuckerman in the United Parcel Hub.” Neither the protester nor anyone else witnessed Butler distributing cush material.