IN RE: Raul Rodriguez,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 337
Issued: May 1, 2001
OEA Case No. PR040311WE
Raul Rodriguez, member of Local 630, 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"). He alleges that Fishking Processors, Inc. ("Fishking") and Local 630 retaliated against Local 630 member and disqualified candidate Milton Esquivel.
Election Administrator representative Dolly Gee investigated this protest.
Rodriguez alleges that Fishking retaliated against Esquivel by changing his lunch schedule on March 2, 2001, and by making negative comments about his union activity, and that Local 630 failed to assist him in challenging Fishking's conduct.
We DENY the protest against Fishking as untimely, since the protest was filed one month after the alleged retaliation by Fishking, which occurred the day after the ballot count.[1] Moreover, Esquivel admitted to our investigator that the alleged comments made about him by a Fishking supervisor were not directed to him at all, or were unrelated to delegate election matters. We also DENY the protest against Local 630, since we find no evidence that the local has failed to process Esquivel's grievance related to these matters in a fair manner.
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, N.W., 10th Floor, Washington, D.C. 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 337
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY UPS NEXT DAY AIR UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
|
Patrick J. Szymanski General Counsel International Brotherhood of Teamsters 25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W. 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 Rd. Suite 1551 Bingham Farms, MI 48025 Barbara Harvey Suite 1800 Penobscot Building 645 Griswold Detroit, MI 48226 Tom Leedham c/o Stefan Ostrach 110 Mayfair Lane Eugene, OR 97404 Gabriel Sandoval O'Melveny & Myers 400 S. Hope St. Suite 1060 Los Angeles, CA 90071 |
Betty Grdina Yablonski, Both & Edelman Suite 800 1140 Connecticut Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Raul Rodriguez Milton Esquivel 13882 Stage Coach Circle Victorville, CA 92392 IBT Local 630 750 South Sanford Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90021 Fishking Processors, Inc. 1324 E. 15th Street Los Angeles, CA 90021 Dolly Gee Sommers Suite 2000 Christine Mrak Kenneth P. Young Wohlner, Kaplon, Phillips, Young & Cutler 15760 Ventura Blvd. Suite 1510 Encino, CA 91436 |
[1] On the merits, we note that Rodriguez's claim that the change in lunch period was intended to prevent delegate election campaign activity by Esquivel is frivolous, since the change occurred after the election. Moreover, we also note that the lunch period change affected twenty employees on Esquivel's shift, not Esquivel alone, as Rodriguez suggests.