IN RE: BRIAN BOSSENBERGER,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 308
Issued: April 17, 2001
OEA Case No. PT040511SO
See also Election Appeals Master decision 01 EAM 70 (KC)
Brian Bossenberger, a member of Local 991, filed a post-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 3 of the Rules for the 2000-2001 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). He alleges that 250 excess ballots were printed in the local union's delegate election and were unaccounted for on March 24, 2001, the date of the ballot count.
Election Administrator representative Dolores Hall investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
In early February 2001, Charles Sullivan, secretary-treasurer of Local 991, arranged with Griffice Printing Co. ("GPC") to print 1900 ballots for the local's delegate election and deliver them to Mobile Mailing Service ("MMS"). GPC was told the date the ballots were to be printed and delivered in order to allow observers to be present at each step in the process. David Smith, independent candidate for delegate, went to GPC on the ballot print date, but did not remain during the printing process. GPC provided certification that 1900 ballots were printed and delivered to MMS.
MMS was told to mail the ballots on March 1, 2001, utilizing labels provided by the IBT. MMS was also told to retain any remaining ballot packets for later use when requests for duplicate ballots were received or it was necessary to re-mail ballots returned because of bad addresses. Local 991 provided address labels to MMS for these duplicate and/or remailed ballots each time a request was received from a member. On April 9, MMS provided certification that 1,674 ballots were mailed on March 1, 52 re-mails/duplicates were subsequently mailed and 172 ballot packets remained in their possession. This count is short by two ballots, not sufficient to affect the outcome of the election.
On March 24, 2001, Election Administrator representative Dolores Hall supervised the Local 991 ballot count. Hall, Powe, Smith, Frank Davis, and another observer picked up the ballots. They all traveled together in one vehicle and were collectively in control of the ballots from the time they were picked up at the Post Office until they were processed at the union hall. Davis, an observer for Bossenberger, assisted with processing the ballots and certified as to the accuracy of the count, as did Smith, who remained for the entire count. There was no evidence of any irregularity.
On April 5, arrangements were made and candidates notified that the Post Office boxes would be closed on April 17, 2001, should they desire to be present. At that time, all remaining election material was to be collected, including the extra ballot packets and records from MMS, placed with material from the ballot count, and the box sealed. At present, the box containing the election material from the date of the ballot count, is being held in a secure location within the Local 991 hall.
Bossenberger was not present for any phase of the election process. He acknowledged that he filed his protest based on hearsay from Smith and Davis. Smith, however, told Hall that he wanted to go on record that he is not a party to the protest and he had no problem with the way the election was handled. Davis acknowledged that he questioned Powe as to why the mailer still had the ballot packets. He stated he did so, however, because he was present as Bossenberger's observer and Bossenberger asked that Davis verify the ballots remaining from the extra 250 that were printed.
Powe, Local 991's election committee chairperson, confirmed she was asked about the extra ballots on the date of the ballot count by Davis and recalled telling him that the extra ballots were still at the mailer who was responsible for sending out the extra ballots in response to requests received from members. Powe told our investigator that Local 991 has not been able to conduct an election in recent years without a protest being filed by Bossenberger. She stated she just completed an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor in December 2000. For this reason, the local determined that, in the conduct of the delegate election, no ballots would be kept at the union hall. Instead, arrangements were made for the printer to take the ballots to MMS, which retained possession of all ballots until mailed, including the re-mails and duplicates. Powe stated she could not account for the extra ballots on the date of the ballot count because she would not pick up the extra ballots until the candidates and/or their observers could accompany her to do so.
Based on the foregoing, we DENY the protest for lack of evidence of any election irregularity.
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 308
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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
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Tom Leedham c/o Stefan Ostrach
110 Mayfair
Eugene, OR 97404
IBT Local 991
112 S. Broad St.
Mobile, AL 36602
Brian Bossenberger
2541 Renfroe Road
Pace, FL 32571
Dolores Hall
1000 Belmont Place
Metarie, LA 70001