ELECTION APPEALS MASTER
IN RE:
THOMAS BOOTH, Protestor.
06 Elec. App. 071 (KC)
This matter is an appeal from the Election Supervisor's decision 2006 ESD 347 issued September 7, 2006.
A hearing was held before me on October 6, 2006. The following persons were heard by way of teleconference: Jeffrey J. Ellison, Esq. on behalf of the Election Supervisor, Joe Kaplan, Esq. on behalf of Rene Medrano and Al Estrada, Rene Medrano, Secretary-Treasurer of IBT Local 896, Al Estrada, Robert McNamara, Esq. on behalf of Tom Booth and Mr. Booth, the protester.
The protest in this case alleges an act of retaliation by Rene Medrano, the Secretary-Treasurer of Local 896 against the protester Thomas Booth, who ran and lost as an insurgent candidate for delegate. Booth claims that he was replaced as chief shop steward in furtherance of Medrano's threat by the Local's Executive Board because of his candidacy. The evidence supporting Booth's claim appears to consist solely of a statement he states Medrano made to him "sometime in 2004" to the effect that "you may want to think about running for delegate and what will happen to you." Medrano denies making such a statement.
There is apparently no evidence that Booth complained to anybody about the statement at the time it was allegedly made.
There is apparently no evidence that he in any way memorialized the statement at the time that it was allegedly made.
No specific date, place or context is given.
The alleged statement was allegedly made approximately two years before the election.
Tellingly, the August 12, 2006 letter from Booth to the General Executive Board makes no reference to the purported statement of Medrano.
Indeed, the protest to the Election Supervisor was made three months after his removal from office, allowing a strong inference that the election claim is a convenient afterthought, and this matter has nothing to do with the election process and everything to do with the disciplinary process in which Booth now finds himself enmeshed.
Accordingly, the decision of the Election Supervisor is in all respects affirmed.
SO ORDERED:
__/s/______________________
Kenneth Conboy
Election Appeals Master
Dated: October 9, 2006