IN RE: JOSEPH VERCILLO, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 224
Issued: May 4, 2006
OES Case No. P-06-211-031306-MW
Joseph Vercillo, a member of Local Union 726, 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 726 failed to fulfill its obligation to supply duplicate ballots to members who did not receive ballots in the delegate and alternate delegate election, in violation of the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative Joe Childers investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Local Union 726 designated its full-time attorney, James Green, Jr., to conduct its delegate and alternate delegate election. The local union retained Legacy, Inc., an accounting firm, to conduct the tally of ballots.
Green's duties included fielding requests for duplicate ballots from members who had not received ballots in the initial mailing. The protest alleged that Green did not return phone calls from such members or, in one instance, told a member it was too late to send him a ballot.
Although Green is a full-time employee of the local union, his office is housed in a law firm at a separate location. Shortly after ballots were mailed in the delegate election, he realized that his existing work volume would impede his ability to fulfill requests for duplicate ballots. Accordingly, he contacted our regional director for the Midwest Region, Bill Broberg, to seek permission to delegate the duplicate ballot responsibility elsewhere. Following consultation with Broberg, Green was permitted to assign responsibility for filling duplicate ballot requests to Legacy, which already had the task of retrieving and remailing ballots returned to the post office as undeliverable. However, Green was still required to field the requests for duplicate ballots.
Investigation showed that Green completed his task as modified in the following manner. Members seeking duplicate ballots left their requests on his voicemail. He collected these requests two to three times per week, reduced them to a written memo, and faxed the memo to Jim Giemzik at Legacy. The memo listed the name and contact information of each person requesting a duplicate ballot. Giemzik confirmed to our investigator that he received a memo from Green two to three times per week. On each occasion, Giemzik contacted the requestor, obtained the correct mailing address, and mailed the duplicate ballot. Over the course of the election, Giemzik filled 72 requests for duplicate ballots in this manner.
The protest identified Christopher Kulovitz as the member to whom Green allegedly said that it was too late to mail a duplicate ballot. Kulovitz's name appeared on one of Green's memos to Giemzik. Giemzik's records demonstrate that a duplicate ballot was mailed to Kulovitz on March 7. The tally of ballots in the local union's delegate and alternate delegate election was conducted March 20.
Although the local union election plan designated Green as the person responsible for processing requests for duplicate ballots, we are satisfied that the combined work of Green and Legacy's Giemzik substantially complied with the plan's requirement to process duplicate ballot requests in a reasonably prompt manner.
Accordingly, we DENY this 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 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. 20007-5135, 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 224
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
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
Joseph Vercillo
10935 S. Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60655
James W. Green, Jr.
230 W. Monroe Street
Chicago, IL 60606
Thomas Clair, Secretary-Treasurer
IBT Local Union 726
Chicago, IL 60612
William Broberg
1108 Fincastle Road
Lexington, KY 40502
wcbroberg@aol.com
Joe F. Childers
201 West Short Street, Suite 310
Lexington, KY 40507
childerslaw@yahoo.com
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com