IN RE: MURPHY JONES,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 161
Issued: February 13, 2001
OEA Case No. PR020713AT
Murphy Jones, Gary Sloop, and Ron Williams, candidates for delegate on the Home Team slate, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2000-2001 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). They allege that Local 391's bookkeeping department intentionally delayed mailing a letter to Jones requesting the payment of dues for May, August, and September 2000 in order to cause Jones to be declared ineligible to run as a delegate candidate.
Election Administrator representative J. Griffin Morgan investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Before Local 391's nomination meeting on January 13, 2001, Jones requested that we verify his eligibility to run as a delegate candidate in the local's delegate election. An investigation revealed that Jones had not paid dues for May, August, and September 2000. Ultimately, however, for reasons not material here, we verified Jones' eligibility through December 2000 on January 11, 2001. No party has challenged this determination.
On January 30, 2001, Ann Roberts of Local 391's bookkeeping department mailed a letter to Jones requesting payment for the three months' dues. She sent similar letters to other Local 391 members with unpaid dues. All of these letters were dated January 17, 2001. Discussions with Roberts reveal that she began drafting the letters on January 17, 2001 but did not have an opportunity to finalize them until January 30, 2001, when they were mailed, because she was waiting for information necessary to complete the letters. There is no evidence of any improper motivation for this delay in mailing.
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. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Administrator 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:
Kenneth Conboy
Election Appeals Master
Latham & Watkins
Suite 1000
885 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Fax: 212-751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon all other parties, as well as upon the Election Administrator for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 727 15th Street NW, Tenth Floor, Washington, DC 20005, all within the time period prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
Election Administrator
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2001 EAD 161
DISTRIBUTION LIST VIA UPS NEXT DAY AIR:
Patrick Szymanski
IBT General Counsel
25 Louisiana Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001
Bradley T. Raymond
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik,
Raymond, Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway
Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
J. Douglas Korney
Korney & Heldt
30700 Telegraph Road
Suite 1551
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Barbara Harvey
Penobscot Building
Suite 1800
645 Griswold
Detroit, MI 48226
Betty Grdina
Yablonski, Both & Edelman
Suite 800
1140 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tom Leedham c/o Stefan Ostrach
110 Mayfair
Eugene, OR 97404
IBT Local 391
Attn: Mike McGaha
3100 Sandy Ridge Rd.
Colfax, NC 27235
Murphy L. Jones
954 Pauls Creek Rd.
Cana, VA 24317
J. Griffin Morgan
Elliot, Pishko, Gelbin & Morgan
500 West Fourth St.
Winston-Salem, NC 27120