IN RE: JACK VLAHOVIC, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 289
Issued: June 2, 2006
OES Case No. P-06-281-050906-CA
(See also Election Appeals Master decision 06 EAM 45)
Jack Vlahovic, member of Local Union 155 and independent candidate for alternate delegate, filed a post-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 3(a) of the Rules for the 2005-2006 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). He asserted that because the Election Supervisor's decision in Eligibility of Murphy, 2006 ESD 254 (May 19, 2006), that the winner of the delegate election, Michael Murphy, was ineligible to serve as a delegate, the election should be re-run.
Election Supervisor representative Maria F. Giardini investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Local Union 155 conducted an election for one delegate and one alternate delegate. Two full slates competed in the election; in addition, two independent candidates ran for alternate delegate.
The tally of ballots was conducted April 4. The slate comprised of Michael Murphy and Charles Scorgie, delegate and alternate delegate candidates respectively, won the election.
Protestor Vlahovic filed a post-election protest decided in Vlahovic, 2006 ESD 260 (May 22, 2006), that argued that ballots marked both for a slate and for an independent candidate should be voided and not counted. The Election Supervisor denied the protest because Article II, Section 11(g) of the Rules required that ballots marked in that manner be counted for the slate, as the election committee did. No appeal was taken from this decision.
Eligibility of Murphy, supra, held ineligible the winning delegate candidate because he failed to satisfy the 24-month continuous good standing requirement. No protest challenged Murphy's eligibility, either when he was nominated or later. Instead, his ineligibility was discovered during the Election Supervisor's review of all elected delegates' eligibility that Article III requires. The Election Supervisor ordered that the ranking alternate delegate assume the delegate seat left vacant because of Murphy's ineligibility. As the alternate candidate on Murphy's slate, Scorgie, polled first among alternate delegate candidates, the delegate seat is his, subject to verification of his eligibility. No appeal was taken from this decision.
Protestor Vlahovic now challenges the election and demands it be re-run. He argues that Murphy was at all times ineligible and should have been barred from the ballot. Because of his ineligibility to run, Murphy further was ineligible to form a slate. Vlahovic argues that, had Murphy not been on the ballot, the competing delegate candidate would have won the election and the delegate seat would then be occupied by a winning delegate candidate rather than the alternate delegate candidate on Murphy's slate.
In essence, Vlahovic's current protest contests the Election Supervisor's remedy of promoting the alternate delegate to assume the seat left vacant by Murphy's ineligibility. Vlahovic's recourse under the Rules was an appeal of the Election Supervisor's decision, not a new protest. Nonetheless, Vlahovic's argument lacks merit for the following reasons.
Neither Vlahovic nor any other member exercised the opportunity the Rules provide, immediately following the nominations meeting, to protest the eligibility of any candidate. Had Murphy's eligibility been challenged at that time, his name would have been removed from the ballot. Because no protest was filed, Murphy appeared on the ballot; he thereafter won the election and his fellow slate member won the alternate delegate contest.
When a local union elects a delegate who is subsequently unable or not permitted to serve in that position, for any reason, the remedy the Rules require is to promote the ranking alternate delegate to the delegate position. The Rules define an "alternate delegate" as "a member elected by secret ballot vote to represent his/her Local Union at the International Convention in the event that one or more of the Local Union's duly elected delegates is unable or not permitted to attend any session of the Convention." Rules, Definition 3 (emphasis added). As we noted in Eligibility of Murphy, the proper procedure in this case is to have the duly elected alternate delegate represent Local Union 155 at the IBT convention because the elected delegate, Murphy, is not permitted to serve as delegate. The Rules provide no basis for conducting a new election under these circumstances.
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 289
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
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
Jack Vlahovic
604 49th Street East
North Vancouver, BC V7L 1J8
CANADA
Michael Murphy
11650 225th Street
Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6E4
CANADA
Thomas Milne, Secretary-Treasurer
IBT Local Union 155
490 East Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5T 1X3
CANADA
Maria Giardini
400 Fourth Avenue, SW
Suite 3000
Calgary, AB T2P 0J4
CANADA
mgiardini@davis.ca
Gwen Randall
400 Fourth Avenue, SW
Suite 3000
Calgary, AB T2P 0J4
CANADA
grandall@davis.ca
J. Griffin "Griff" Morgan
Elliot, Pishko, Morgan
426 Old Salem Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
jgmorgan@epmlaw.com
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com