Morgan, 2026 ESD 81
OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: MORGAN, RUDY ) Protest Decision 2026 81
)
Protestor. ) Issued: May 18, 202
)
______________________________) OES Case No. P-144-041326
INTRODUCTION
Rudy Morgan, member of Local Union 58 (“Local 58”), filed a post-election protest with the Office of the Election Supervisor (OES). That protest alleges that Local 58 Secretary-Treasurer Walter LaChapelle (a) improperly distributed “unofficial” results of delegate elections before the results were certified by OES, and (b) LaChapelle engaged in post-election conduct that was unbecoming of an officer of Local 58. For the reasons detailed below, we DENY the protest.
Election Supervisor Deborah Schaaf investigated this protest.
RELEVANT BACKGROUND
Local 58 is entitled to 2 delegates and 1 alternate delegate to the IBT International Convention. Local 58’s approved delegate election plan required all ballots be returned for receipt no later than March 31, 2026. Local 58 engaged Merriman River Group of Hamden, Connecticut to oversee the delegate nomination process and conduct the election and tabulate the results. That process resulted in LaChapelle and Thomas Alcomendas each garnering approximately 80% of votes and being elected delegates to the Convention. Justin Baptista received approximately 83% of the cast votes for alternate delegate and defeated Evan Pinchot in that contest.
Within days of the March 31 ballot deadline, and before OES’s final certification, LaChapelle distributed the election results to Local 58 members. Those results included the total votes cast for each nominee, as well as the percentage of votes garnered by each. Pinchot subsequently sent LaChapelle a text message in which Pinchot claimed that the “union is corrupt” and made other assertions regarding election improprieties.[1] LaChappelle replied to that text and essentially accused Pinchot of being a sore loser.
Morgan subsequently emailed his post-election protest to OES. In that email, Morgan alleged that LaChapelle inappropriately circulated the election results to Local 58 members before they had been certified by OES, and that LaChapelle’s ’s post-election behavior “raises serious concerns about the integrity of the election process and … further undermines member confidence in the fairness of the delegate election and reflects poorly on the entire process.”
FINDINGS
Morgan’s protest is controlled by Article XIII, Section 3 of the Rules for the 2025-2026 IBT International Union and Delegate and Officer Election (the “Rules”) because it was filed after the Local 58 election. Section 3 provides, in relevant part:
Post-election protests shall only be considered and remedied if the alleged violation may have affected the outcome of the election, except that any timely protest alleging improper threats, coercion, intimidation, acts of violence or retaliation for exercising any right protected by these Rules shall be considered and remedied without regard to whether the alleged violation affected the outcome of an election.
All post-election protests shall be filed by sending the Election Supervisor and the Union(s) involved a clear and concise written statement of the alleged improper conduct, including a statement explaining how such conduct may have affected the outcome of the election.
Article XIII, Section 3(b) and 3(c).
Morgan fails to provide any explanation as to how LaChapelle’s distribution of the election results may have affected the outcome of the Local 58 delegate election. Further, Article II, Section 12 of the Rules requires that:
Upon completion of the vote count, the officer, agent or Election Supervisor representative in charge of the count shall immediately announce to all candidates and observers present the results of the count, including the number of ballots cast, the number of challenged and void ballots, and the number of votes received by each candidate.
Thus, LaChapelle’s distribution of the election results – including vote totals and percentages for all candidates – to Local 58 members before OES certification is consistent with the requirements of the Rules. Further, although Chapelle’s response to Pinchot’s text message may have been disappointing (albeit understandable), it fell far short of constituting coercion, intimidation, or threatening an act of violence or retaliation for exercising a right protected by the Rules.
For these reasons, we find no violations of the Rules and DENY the post-election protest.
APPELLATE RIGHTS
Pursuant to Article XIII, Section 3(f), any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within three (3) working days of receipt of this decision. 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:
Election Appeals Master
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. 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. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Timothy S. Hillman
Election Supervisor
cc: Barbara Jones, IBTappealsmaster@bracewell.com
2026 ESD 81
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE):
Rudy Morgan
Walter LaChapelle
Walter.Lachapelle@teamsters58.com
Evan Pinchot
Richard Hooker
John Palmer
James L. Donovan Jr.
Edward M. Gleason, Jr.,
David Suetholz
Will Bloom
Ken Paff
Thomas Kokalas
Hon. Timothy S. Hillman
Paul Dever
Deborah Schaaf
Greg Friedholm
Kelly Hogan
[1] Specifically, Pinchot asserted that the union “spend our union dues for marketing campaigns and find a way to put their name on a ballot twice essentially as well as find a way to lock votes out.”