IN RE: CERTAIN FUNDRAISING BY FRANK GILLEN
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 312
Issued: June 28, 2006
OES Case No. P-06-232-032206-ME
On March 22, 2006, the Election Office received an anonymous letter, with a return address for Friends of Dan Virtue, which 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 Frank Gillen, president of Local Union 500, did not maintain adequate records for a fundraiser he held in support of his candidacy for International office, as required by the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative William B. Kane investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
This protest was filed anonymously and asked several questions with respect to certain fundraising activities by Gillen. No Rules violations were alleged. Although a return address identified the protestor as "Friends of Dan Virtue," Virtue denied knowledge of this protest and further denied that he has established or is aware of an entity by that name. As such, we were unable to obtain any information in support of the protest from the protestor. The protest
Gillen is a candidate for Eastern Region vice president on the Hoffa Slate. CCERs filed by Gillen showed receipts of $37,205 from the following sources:
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$29,720 - Beef and beer event on February 18, 2006. |
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$ 7,485 - Sale of t-shirts. These t-shirts were sold by Joe Lamonica, a retired IBT member, who is currently without employment. |
Our forensic accountants audited the Gillen campaign and concluded that the campaign had properly accounted for the February 18 fundraiser. Records reviewed by the accountants included the receipts for event expenses and individual donor records. Accordingly, we find no violation of the provisions of Article XI that require candidates for International office to maintain records and report fundraising activities.
With respect to the fundraising of Lamonica, Article XI, Section 1(b)(10) of the Rules provides as follows:
Nothing herein shall prohibit the donation of services by an individual, who is not an employer, to a candidate rendered on the individual's personal free time without compensation in any form by an employer or labor organization and without accompanying contributions of supplies or of services of others who are compensated by an employer or labor organization for such services.
We find that Lamonica performed his fundraising services as a volunteer and therefore did not violate the Rules.
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. 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 312
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
Dan Virtue
President, Local Union 776
2552 Jefferson Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110
Frank Gillen
President, Local Union 500
3460 North Delaware, #301
Philadelphia, PA 19134
William B. Kane
242 Old Haymaker Road
Monroeville, PA 15146
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com