November 3, 1997
James P. Hoffa
November 3, 1997
Page 1
Ron Carey
General President
International Brotherhood of
Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
Bradley T. Raymond, Esquire
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik,
Raymond, Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway
Suite 200
Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334
James P. Hoffa
November 3, 1997
Page 1
James P. Hoffa Slate
c/o Patrick J. Szymanski, Esquire
Baptiste & Wilder
1150 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20036
Ron Carey Campaign
c/o Gene Moriarty
Post Office Box 77067
Washington, D.C. 20013
Ron Carey Slate
c/o Richard Brook, Esquire
Cohen, Weiss and Simon
330 West 42nd Street
New York, New York 10036
James P. Hoffa
2593 Hounds Chase
Troy, Michigan 48098
James P. Hoffa
November 3, 1997
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. PR-022-RCS-NYC
Gentlemen:
James P. Hoffa, a candidate for general president, 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”) against Ron Carey, general president and a candidate for re-election in the rerun election, and the Ron Carey Slate. The protester challenges a letter which he received sent by Mr. Carey to unidentified supporters, claiming that the letter failed to include a disclaimer about who is prohibited from contributing to the Carey Campaign.
The Carey Campaign responds that the letter was sent only to active IBT members and that no such disclaimer is required by the Rules.
James P. Hoffa
November 3, 1997
Page 1
The protest was investigated by New York City Protest Coordinator Barbara C. Deinhardt.
In early October, the Ron Carey Campaign sent a letter dated October 3, 1997 and signed by Ron Carey to a mailing list of active IBT members whom the Campaign had previously identified as Carey activists. The letter describes current campaign activities, discusses the improper conduct that occurred in the last election, makes a plea for volunteer campaign workers, solicits contributions, and contains a contribution return envelope. The contribution return envelope has a specific explanation of the contribution rules:
The Carey Campaign will not accept any employer, non-member, or union contributions.
Under the election rules the campaign cannot accept any contributions from retired members, and no member may contribute more than $1,000 in total to all candidates.
We cannot accept contributions without the name and local union number of each contributor.
Following spaces for name, address, phone number, local union number and type of contribution, the envelope states:
Because of the Rules for the rerun election, we must collect all of the above information before we can accept a contribution. Please read the contribution rules and make checks payable to: Ron Carey Slate '97.
Relying on Moriarty, PR-009-JHC-NCE (October 23, 1997), the protester states that the Rules require that such a solicitation letter include “a disclaimer about who is prohibited from contributing to [Ron Carey’s] campaign.” In Moriarity, however, the fundraising appeal was admittedly sent to inactive IBT members and contained language inaccurately stating that non-employer non-members were permitted to contribute to the campaign. Here, the solicitation was sent only to members and contained no such misstatement. While the contribution return envelope contained a disclaimer, there is no requirement in the Rules or in the Rerun Plan that all fundraising solicitations contain specific explanation of the campaign financing provisions of the Rules or the Rerun Plan.
Accordingly, the protest is DENIED.
James P. Hoffa
November 3, 1997
Page 1
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one (1) 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, Esquire
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, NY 10022
Fax: (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served on the parties listed above as well as upon the Election Officer, 444 North Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 445, Washington, D.C. 20001, facsimile (202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Benetta M. Mansfield
Interim Election Officer
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master
Barbara C. Deinhardt, NYC Protest Coordinator