IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF RICHARD ISBRECHT, Local Union 877.
Protest Decision 2011 ESD 120
Issued: February 18, 2011
OES Case No. E-039-021011-AT
Gerald Cain, member of Local Union 877, filed an eligibility protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2010-2011 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). The protest alleged that Richard Isbrecht was ineligible to second the nominations of Mark Pako and Joseph Maccie for alternate delegate to the IBT convention.
Election Supervisor representative Maria Ho investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
The Rules state that to be eligible to nominate or second the nomination of a candidate for delegate or alternate delegate, a member must be in good standing "with his/her dues paid through the month prior to the nominations meeting." Article II, Section 5(h).
At Local Union 877's nominations meeting held February 9, 2011, Isbrecht seconded the nominations of Mark Pako and Joseph Maccie for alternate delegate. Isbrecht's dues are paid through check-off authorization with his employer, Conoco Phillips. Isbrecht took a medical leave from work beginning in Spring 2010. In May 2010, the local union placed Isbrecht on withdrawal after he missed his April and May dues payments and his employer gave notice that he was on leave. A member on withdrawal status is excused from the obligation to pay dues during the months he/she remains on withdrawal.
Local Union 877 typically returns a member to active status from withdrawal when the member's check-off payments resume; the first check-off payment after the member returns to work is normally applied to the current month.
Isbrecht's TITAN record shows that he was on withdrawal status with his dues paid through March 2010 at the time of the nomination meeting. The TITAN record shows that on February 11, 2011, two days after the nominations meeting, Isbrecht returned to active status and a check-off payment for January 2011 dues was credited to him. Had Isbrecht validly been on withdrawal status at the time of the nominations meeting, he would not have been in good standing and would have been ineligible to nominate or second a nomination.
However, investigation showed that Isbrecht's check-off payments resumed in January 2011, the month before the nominations meeting. A remittance for Isbrecht's January dues was made by the employer on January 7, 2011, but local union mistakenly posted this payment to another member's TITAN record. The January dues payment was not posted to Isbrecht's record and he was not returned to active status until the discovery of the error on February 11, two days after the nominations meeting. Because of the posting error, we credit Isbrecht as being in good standing with his dues paid through January 2011 on the date of the nominations meeting.
Accordingly, we find was Isbrecht ELIGIBLE to second the nominations of candidates for delegate or alternate delegate, and we DENY the protest challenging the validity of the nominations of Pako and Maccie.
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, 1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L, Washington, D.C. 20006, 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
2011 ESD 120
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
braymond@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa
Hoffa Hall 2011
1100 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Ste. 730
Washington, D.C. 20036
hoffadav@hotmail.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
P.O. Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210-0128
ken@tdu.org
Barbara Harvey
1394 E. Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, MI 48207
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Fred Gegare
P.O. Box 9663
Green Bay, WI 54308-9663
kirchmanb@yahoo.com
Scott D. Soldon
3541 N. Summit Avenue
Shorewood, WI 53211
scottsoldon@gmail.com
Fred Zuckerman, President
Teamsters Local Union 89
3813 Taylor Blvd.
Louisville, KY 40215
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Robert M. Colone, Esq.
P.O. Box 272
Sellersburg, IN 47172-0272
rmcolone@hotmail.com
Carl Biers
Box 424, 315 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
info@SandyPope2011.org
Julian Gonzalez
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
350 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10001-5013
jgonzalez@lcnlaw.com
Gerald Cain
408 Drumpoint Road
Brick, NJ 08723
Richard Isbrecht
1010 Seward Avenue
Westfield, NJ 07090
Mark Pako
294 County Route
Californ, NY 07830
Joseph Maccie
117 William Street
Cartaret, NJ 07008
Gary "Doc" Doherty, President
Teamsters Local Union 877
411A North Wood Avenue
Linden, NJ 07036
J. Griffin Morgan
Elliot Pishko Morgan
426 Old Salem Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
jpmorgan@epmlaw.com
Maureen Geraghty
426 Old Salem Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
mg@geraghtylawfirm.com
Maria Ho
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
mho@ibtvote.org
Kathryn Naylor
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W. Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
knaylor@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Ste. 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com