IN RE: DANNY JOHNSON,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 257
Issued: March 23, 2001
OEA Case No. PR030613SO
Danny Johnson, a Local 41 member and business agent, 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"). Johnson alleges that Lucy Funderburk, a campaign worker for the Dennis Speak Team slate, took UPS company documents for the explicit purpose of using them for the Dennis Speak Team's campaign. Johnson also alleges that Dennis Speak and his son, Dennis Dwayne Speak, badgered Dana Stockton, who works at Consolidated Freightways ("CF"), to steal the CF seniority list to obtain home telephone numbers of Local 41 members.
Election Administrator representative Dolores Hall investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact
Johnson stated he had no firsthand knowledge of the incident involving Funderburk, who is a union steward at the UPS Lenexa, Kansas facility. Johnson stated that another steward, Susan Barthol-Turner, told him that Funderburk was seen with the seniority list and asked by one of the UPS hourly employees whether she was getting ready to call people to work overtime. Johnson said he was told that Funderburk replied that she was taking the list to use for a phone bank. Johnson stated he knew of no one who had been contacted from the list.
Funderburk stated she asked Barthol-Turner whether she could use the list to find out whether members received ballots. Barthol-Turner stated that she did not know but would call someone to find out. The person she called told her that this would be improper and contacted Johnson, who filed the protest. Both Funderburk and Barthol-Turner state that the seniority list never left UPS property, and Speak stated he received no such list. We credit Funderburk's and Barthol-Turner's uncontroverted statements and, consequently, find that the list was never removed from UPS' property or used in phone banking.
Concerning the second allegation, Johnson charges that Dennis Speak and his son badgered Stockton, a CF steward, to get her to steal a CF seniority roster to be used for a phone bank. Contact with all parties involved -- Speak, Johnson, Stockton, and Eldon Williams, business agent for CF -- revealed that Speak had approached Stockton to run as a delegate on his slate in September 2000. Stockton declined. She stated that Dennis Dwayne Speak approached her between September 2000 and December 2000, asking whether she could get a copy of employees' names and telephone numbers. Stockton admitted that he did not tell her why he wanted the list, but she stated that she knew the purpose. Stockton also stated she reported the incident to Williams, who had Stockton prepare a written statement for Local 41 president Phil Young. Young called the elder Speak into his office and admonished him to refrain from speaking to Stockton. Stockton stated she has had no further contact with either Dennis Speak or his son.
Analysis
With respect to the first issue, we found no credible evidence that the UPS seniority list was removed by Funderburk or used in phone banking.
With respect to the second issue, we find that any allegedly improper communications between Dennis Speak and his son and Dana Stockton occurred at least two months before this protest was filed. No one has alleged that the communications occurred in 2001. The Rules state that pre-election protests are waived if they are not filed "within two (2) working days of the day when the protestor becomes aware or reasonably should have become aware of the action protested." We deem untimely Johnson's protest concerning events occurring wholly in 2000.
For the foregoing reasons, 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 (fax: 202-454-1501), all within the time 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 257
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 41
4501 Van Brunt Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64130
Danny Johnson
IBT Local 41
4501 Van Brunt Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64130
Dennis Speak
6907 North Brookside
Liberty, MO 64068
Dolores Hall
1000 Belmont Place
Metairie, LA 70001