IN RE: MICHAEL CEOFFE, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 217
Issued: May 2, 2006
OES Case No. P-06-064-011706-ME
Michael Ceoffe, a member and delegate candidate from Local Union 249, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2005-2006 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). The protest alleged that local union election official Richard Peluso incorrectly determined the ballot order of the candidates on each competing slate, in violation of the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative William B. Kane investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Local Union 249 is entitled to 5 delegates and 5 alternate delegates for the IBT convention. At the nominations meeting held January 15, 2006, 2 complete slates were nominated for these positions. Richard Peluso, retained by the local union to run the delegate and alternate delegate election, convened a candidates' meeting immediately following the nominations meeting. At the candidates' meeting, Peluso conducted a lottery for ballot placement of the 2 slates. Once that placement was determined, Peluso also required each slate to determine by lottery the order that candidates would appear under that slate's heading on the ballot.
Ceoffe filed this protest, alleging that a lottery to determine the order of candidates within a slate violated the Rules; he asserted that the Rules permit each slate to determine the order in which candidates will be listed on the ballots.
Shortly after Ceoffe filed the protest, William Shatkoff, local union president and candidate for delegate on the slate opposing Ceoffe's slate, agreed that Peluso had violated the Rules by requiring slates to submit to a lottery to determine the order of candidates under each slate heading.
When our investigator contacted Peluso, he conceded his error. Peluso then contacted the representative of each slate, obtained the order of candidates each slate preferred, and, on January 19, produced a sample ballot that reflected each slate's preferences for the order of candidates within each slate.
The ballot mailed to all members of the local union listed each slate's candidates in the order preferred by each slate.
Article II, Section 10(b) of the Rules provides the following, in relevant part:
The order of placement of the slates on the ballot shall be determined by lot. The members of each slate shall determine the order of each candidate's name within the slate listing.
As the listing of candidates under each slate's name complied with this provision of the Rules, we deem this protest RESOLVED.
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 Supervisor 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
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, New York 10022
Fax: (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon the parties, as well as upon the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1725 K Street, N.W., Suite 1400, Washington, D.C. 20006-1416, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2006 ESD 217
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2198
braymond@teamster.org
Sarah Riger, Staff Attorney
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2198
sriger@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa, Esq.
Hoffa 2006
30300 Northwestern Highway, Suite 324
Farmington Hills, MI 48834
David@hoffapllc.com
Barbara Harvey
645 Griswold Street
Suite 3060
Detroit, MI 48226
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
P.O. Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210
ken@tdu.org
Daniel E. Clifton
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
275 Seventh Avenue, Suite 2300
New York, NY 10001
dclifton@lcnlaw.com
Stephen Ostrach
1863 Pioneer Parkway East, #217
Springfield, OR 97477-3907
saostrach@gmail.com
Michael Ceoffe
3459 Ligonier Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Richard Pelluso
112 Sharehill Drive
Glenshaw, PA 15116-1212
Wayne Shatkoff
President, Local Union 249
P.O. Box 40128
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Fax: 412-682-3732
William B. Kane
242 Old Haymaker Road
Monroeville, PA 15146
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com