IN RE: HOFFA 2006, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 313
Issued: June 30, 2006
OES Case No. P-06-252-040506-HQ
(See also Election Appeals Master decision 06 EAM 55)
Hoffa 2006 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 candidate Don DiLeo failed to file CCERs as required by the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative Steven R. Newmark investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
DiLeo is a candidate for Eastern Region vice president and has been since at least November 30, 2005, when he sent a letter announcing his candidacy to some 25 union leaders. That letter was the subject of our decision in Hoffa 2006, 2006 ESD 160 (March 27, 2006), in which we directed DiLeo to send a second letter to the same address list, requesting that they place his announcement of candidacy on the literature tables in the union offices.
DiLeo has not filed any CCER report of contributions received and expenditures made in support of his candidacy. Investigation showed that DiLeo is responsible for filing such reports for CCER reporting periods 3 and 4. Under Article XI, Section 2(d) of the Rules, CCER No. 3 documents contributions and expenditures for the period October 1, 2005 through January 31, 2006 and was required to be filed by February 15, 2006. The cost of producing and distributing DiLeo's announcement of candidacy was incurred during this reporting period. Our decision in Hoffa 2006, supra, established that DiLeo paid this cost from personal funds, which is a contribution to his campaign he was required to report on CCER No. 3.
CCER No. 4 documents contributions and expenditures for the period February 1 through June 1, 2006; the filing deadline was June 15, 2006. Even had DiLeo not received contributions or made expenditures during this period, he remained a candidate and was required to file the CCER.
DiLeo was nominated for Eastern Region vice president at the IBT convention on June 27, 2006; he accepted the nomination and received sufficient votes in the secret ballot election conducted pursuant to Article III, Section 5(g) of the Rules to qualify for the election of International officers to be conducted in Fall 2006.
DiLeo contends he was exempt from the CCER requirement because he had not received contributions from others.
Article XI, Section 2(a)(1) requires that CCERs be filed by "[e]very Union member who is a candidate for International office, including any member who has received or solicited any contributions, whether of money or of any other thing of value, or made any expenditures, where the purpose, object or foreseeable effect of any such contribution or expenditure is to influence the election of that member as an International Officer, whether or not such member is as yet declared, accredited or nominated as a candidate."
Except for certain uncompensated services provided by volunteers, all monetary and non-monetary contributions made to a candidate for International office must be reported on the CCER for the appropriate reporting period, even if the contributions are made by the candidate from personal funds. If a member or candidate donates goods to a candidate, slate or an independent committee for campaign activity, the fair market value of the goods must be determined and applied against the member's contribution limit. There is no de minimus exception to the obligation to report such contributions. Hoffa Unity Slate, 2000 EAD 73 (December 26, 2000) (violation not to list expenses for fax distribution of press release).
DiLeo is not exempt from the obligation to file CCERs. The expense he incurred in making his announcement of candidacy for International office was a reportable expenditure; further, his payment of that expense from personal funds was a reportable contribution to his own campaign.
Accordingly, we GRANT the protest.
Remedy
When the Election Supervisor determines that the Rules have been violated, he "may take whatever remedial action is deemed appropriate." Article XIII, Section 4. In fashioning the appropriate remedy, the Election Supervisor views the nature and seriousness of the violation as well as its potential for interfering with the election process.
We order DiLeo to file the required CCER for reporting periods 3 and 4 no later than Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Should DiLeo fail to make the filings we order by that date, we will assess a fine of $250.00 for each working day until he has completed both filings. We further order DiLeo to meet each CCER filing deadline for the balance of the International officer election, unless he applies to our office in advance of any such deadline for an extension of time to file. Any such application for extension of time may be granted only for good cause.
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 313
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
Don DiLeo
P.O. Box 2025
Union, NJ 07083
Steven Newmark
Office of the Election Supervisor
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
1725 K Street, N.W., Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20006
snewmark@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com