December 4, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Victor Farvet
12790 S.W. 25th Terrace
Miami, FL 33175
Bradley T. Raymond
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik, Raymond,
Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway, Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Re: Election Office Case No. P-1298-LU390-SEC
Gentlemen:
Victor Farvet, a member of Local Union 390, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”) alleging that on November 21, 1996, five unidentified individuals entered the terminal of Consolidated Freight (“CF”) in Miami, Florida, campaigned on behalf of general president candidate James P. Hoffa and made an offensive remark about Mr. Farvet, who is a Carey supporter.
This protest was investigated by Regional Coordinator J. Griffin Morgan.
Mr. Farvet does not know, and the investigation did not uncover, the identity of any of the individuals who allegedly campaigned at CF on November 21.
Mr. Farvet has no personal knowledge of the alleged incident. He states that Local Union 390 members Clifford Murph and Carlos Montans told him the following. On Thursday, November 21, while Messrs. Murph and Montans were working in the terminal
of CF, five men entered and began campaigning for Mr. Hoffa. The time was between
Victor Farvet
December 4, 1996
Page 1
10:00 and 11:00 p.m. and the men campaigned for approximately 20 minutes. The identities of the campaigners, four of whom were wearing Hoffa T-shirts and one of whom was wearing a UPS shirt, were unknown to Messrs. Murph and Montans. As the campaigners departed, the man wearing the UPS shirt said, “[T]ell Victor to kiss my ass.” Messrs. Murph and Montans responded that they were not messengers, that the campaigner should tell Victor himself, and that the campaigners should leave.
Messrs. Murph and Montans confirm that the incident occurred as described above.
Mr. Farvet states that he informed the Carey campaign of the incident and was advised to file a protest, so that there would be a record of the incident in the event Mr. Farvet became the victim of future violence or intimidation. Mr. Farvet reports that there have been no further incidents since the November 21 incident complained of here.
The Rules, at Article VIII, Section 11(f), prohibit retaliation and the threat of retaliation by any person against a member for exercising any right guaranteed by the Rules. The right to engage in political and campaign activities includes the right to be free from threats of violence. Lopez, P-456-LU743-CHI (April 10, 1996) (finding “I’ll kill you”
to violate the Rules, in light of ongoing animosity between the parties); Smith, P-600-
LU150-CSF (April 30, 1996) (finding remark “you’ll be taken out of here in a body bag”
to violate the Rules); Kelly, P-600-LU705-CHI et seq. (March 27, 1991) (finding an aggressive threat to “kick their ass” made in a menacing manner to be harassment, in violation of the Rules).
On the present record, the Election Officer finds no evidence of violence or threats of violence that would violate the Rules. Neither Mr. Murph nor Mr. Montans report that they felt threatened, and Mr. Farvet admits that the purpose of this protest is to provide a record for use in the event of future incidents.
For the forgoing reasons this protest is DENIED.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one day of receipt of this letter. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Officer in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing and shall be served on:
Kenneth Conboy, Esq.
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, NY 10022
Fax (212) 751-4864
Victor Farvet
December 4, 1996
Page 1
Copies of the request for hearing must be served on the parties listed above as well as upon the Election Officer, 400 N. Capitol Street, Suite 855, Washington, D.C. 20001, Facsimile (202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Barbara Zack Quindel
Election Officer
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master
J. Griffin Morgan, Regional Coordinator