U.S. v. International Broth. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL-CIO

• Decision Date: 30 March 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-6324,AFL-CIO,97-6324
• Citation: 141 F.3d 405
• Parties: 157 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2833 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA,; The Commission of La Cosa Nostra; Anthony Salerno, also known as Fat Tony; Matthew Ianniello, also known as Matty the Horse; Anthony Provenzano, also known as Tony Pro; Nunzio Provenzano, also known as Nunzi Pro; Anthony Corallo, also know as Tony Ducks; Salvatore Santoro, also known as Tom Mix; Christopher Furnari, Sr., also known as Christie Tick; Frank Mazno; Carmine Persico, also known as Snake, also known as Junior, also known as The Snake; Gennaro Langella, also known as Gerry Lang; Philip Rastelli, also known as Rusty; Nicholas Marangello, also known as Nicky Glasses; Joseph Massino, also known as Joey Messina; Anthony Ficarotta, also known as Figgy; Eugene Boffa, Sr.; Francis Sheeran; Milton Rockman, also known as Maishe; John Tronolone, also known as Peanuts; Joseph John Aiuppa, also known as Joey O'Brien, also known as Joe Doves, also known as Joey Aiuppa; John Phillip Cerone, also known as Jackie the Lackie, also known as Jackie Cerone; Joseph Lombardo, also known as Joey the Clown; Angelo Lapietra, also known as The Nutcracker; Frank Balistrieri, also known as Mr. B; Carl Angelo Deluna, also known as Toughy; Carl Civella, also known as Corky; Anthony Thomas Civella, also known as Tony Ripe; General Executive Board, International Brotherhood OF Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America; Jackie Presser, General President; Weldon Mathis, General Secretary-Treasurer; Joseph Treroltola, also known as Joe T., First Vice President; Robert Holmes, Sr., Second Vice President; William J. McCarthy, Third Vice President; Joseph W. Morgan, Fourth Vice President; Edward M. Lawson, Fifth Vice President; Arnold Weinmeister, Sixth Vice President; John H. Cleveland, Seventh Vice President; Maurice R. Schurr, Eighth Vice President; Donald Peters, Ninth Vice President; Walter J. Shea, Tenth Vice P
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 405

141 F.3d 405

157 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2833

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO; The Commission of La Cosa Nostra; Anthony Salerno, also known as Fat Tony; Matthew Ianniello, also known as Matty the Horse; Anthony Provenzano, also known as Tony Pro; Nunzio Provenzano, also known as Nunzi Pro; Anthony Corallo, also know as Tony Ducks; Salvatore Santoro, also known as Tom Mix; Christopher Furnari, Sr., also known as Christie Tick Frank Mazno; Carmine Persico, also known as Snake, also known as Junior, also known as The Snake; Gennaro Langella also known as Gerry Lang; Philip Rastelli, also known as Rusty; Nicholas Marangello, also known as Nicky Glasses Joseph Massino, also known as Joey Messina; Anthony Ficarotta, also known as Figgy; Eugene Boffa, Sr.; Francis Sheeran; Milton Rockman, also known as Maishe; John Tronolone, also known as Peanuts; Joseph John Aiuppa, also known as Joey O'Brien, also known as Joe Doves, also known as Joey Aiuppa; John Phillip Cerone, also known as Jackie the Lackie, also known as Jackie Cerone; Joseph Lombardo, also known as Joey the Clown; Angelo Lapietra, also known as The Nutcracker; Frank Balistrieri, also known as Mr. B; Carl Angelo Deluna, also known as Toughy; Carl Civella, also known as Corky; Anthony Thomas Civella, also known as Tony Ripe; General Executive Board, International Brotherhood OF Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America; Jackie Presser, General President; Weldon Mathis, General Secretary-Treasurer; Joseph Treroltola, also known as Joe T., First Vice President; Robert Holmes, Sr., Second Vice President; William J. McCarthy, Third Vice President; Joseph W. Morgan, Fourth Vice President; Edward M. Lawson, Fifth Vice President; Arnold Weinmeister, Sixth Vice President; John H. Cleveland, Seventh Vice President; Maurice R. Schurr, Eighth Vice President; Donald Peters, Ninth Vice President; Walter J. Shea, Tenth Vice President; Harold Friedman, Eleventh Vice President; Jack D. Cox, Twelfth Vice President; Don L. West, Thirteenth Vice President; Michael J. Riley, Fourteenth Vice President; Theodore Cozza, Fifteenth Vice President; Daniel Ligurotis, Sixteenth Vice President; and Salvatore Provenzano, also known as Sammy Pro, Former Vice President, Defendants, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 97-6324.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued Feb. 23, 1998.

Decided March 30, 1998.

William W. Taylor, III, Zuckerman, Spaeder, Goldstein, Taylor & Kolker, Washington, DC (Michael R. Smith, Ronald H. Weich, Jonathan H. Levy, of counsel; Earl V. Brown, Jr., David L. Neigus, Office of the General Counsel, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Washington, DC, of counsel), for Defendant-Appellant.

Karen B. Konigsberg, Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York City, (Steven M. Haber, Assistant United States Attorney, Mary Jo White, United States Attorney, of counsel) for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before: WINTER, Chief Judge, PARKER, Circuit Judge, and SCHWARZER, ^* District Judge.

WINTER, Chief Judge:

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT") appeals from a decision by Judge Edelstein interpreting a consent decree ("Consent Decree" or "Decree") to require the IBT to pay for an Election Officer's supervision of a rerun of the 1996 IBT elections. The IBT argues that under the terms of the Decree, the government must pay the cost of supervision if it chooses to have the rerun supervised. We agree. The Decree provides that if the government chooses to

supervise the 1996 elections, of which the rerun is conceded to be a part, the government will bear the cost. Because the allegedly improper conduct that necessitated the rerun is not attributable to the IBT under the terms of the agreement, the government's argument that the IBT must pay for the rerun's supervision is unavailing.

BACKGROUND

The instant matter involves another dispute over the meaning of the Consent Decree entered into by the IBT and the government in March 1989. See United States v. IBT ("1996 Election Rules Order "), 86 F.3d 271, 272-73 (2d Cir.1996) (collecting cases). A history of the parties' extensive litigation over the Decree is included in an earlier opinion of this court, United States v. IBT ("1991 Election Rules Order "), 931 F.2d 177, 180-82 (2d Cir.1991), familiarity with which is assumed. In brief, the Decree, which arose from the settlement of the government's civil RICO action against the IBT, instituted various reforms designed to help end the influence of organized crime within the IBT. Among the provisions of the Decree is one stating that a court-appointed Election Officer shall supervise the 1991 IBT elections at IBT expense. With regard to the 1996 elections, however, Paragraph 12(D)(ix) of the Decree states that supervision is at the government's option and that, if the government chooses to exercise that option, the consequent supervision will be at the government's expense.

In the course of administering the Consent Decree prior to the 1991 elections, the district court rejected a claim by the IBT that "supervise" was a narrow term, limited largely to passive oversight. Instead, the court adopted the government's and Election Officer's view that "supervise" was a "proactive" term that allowed the Election Officer to regulate, manage, and carry out virtually every step in the process of electing IBT international officers. United States v. IBT, 723 F.Supp. 203, 206-07 (S.D.N.Y.1989). In practice, this ruling led to the Election Officer's involvement in many routine acts such as the printing, mailing, and counting of ballots. At the time, this broad interpretation pleased the government because it maximized the Election Officer's powers and because, under the provisions of the Consent Decree, the IBT paid all the costs of supervising the 1991 elections.

With regard to the 1996 IBT elections, the government exercised its option under Paragraph 12(D)(ix) to have the elections supervised by the Election Officer. While the broad interpretation of the term "supervise" described above continued to maximize the Election Officer's powers, it also increased the financial burden on the government because the Consent Decree now required the government to pay the costs of such supervision. As a result, the government paid for many routine expenses of the 1996 elections--again, for example, the printing, mailing, and counting of ballots--in addition to expenses that were directly incurred by the Election Officer.

After the 1996 elections resulted in the reelection of General President Ronald Carey, the Election Officer found that IBT funds had been embezzled and used to support Carey's reelection campaign. The Election Officer refused to certify the results and thereafter ordered a rerun. Subsequently, three non-Teamsters--Martin Davis, Michael Ansara, and Jere Nash--pleaded guilty to various federal charges relating to the 1996 elections, including conspiracy to embezzle union funds (Ansara, Davis, and Nash) and embezzlement of union funds (Davis). The district court appointed Kenneth Conboy as an election officer with power to decide whether to disqualify Carey from participating in the rerun. Conboy concluded that Carey, along with another IBT official, Director of Government Affairs William Hamilton, had participated in the scheme to embezzle IBT funds and, accordingly, Conboy disqualified Carey from the rerun. Conboy's decision was upheld by the district court, United States v. IBT, 988 F.Supp. 759 (S.D.N.Y.1997), and is now the subject of a separate appeal pending in this court.

Also subsequent to the Election Officer's decision not to certify the election results, Congress enacted appropriations legislation prohibiting government funds from being used to pay for supervision of the rerun.

The Election Officer reacted to this development by filing an application with the district court requesting that it enter an order ensuring full funding for the rerun's supervision. The Election Officer did not take a position as to who should be responsible for that funding. In response to the Election Officer's request, the district court held that although the rerun constitutes part of the 1996 elections, the funding obligation for supervision must nevertheless be borne under the Consent Decree by the IBT rather than by the government. United States v. IBT, 989 F.Supp. 468 (S.D.N.Y.1997). In the district court's view, because the IBT, through its agents Carey and Hamilton, engaged in the misconduct necessitating the rerun, the IBT is responsible for funding the rerun's supervision.

DISCUSSION

We review de novo a district court's interpretation of a consent decree. EEOC v. Local 40, Int'l Ass'n of Bridge, Structural & Ornamental Iron Workers ("Local 40 "), 76 F.3d 76, 80 (2d Cir.1996). Although consent decrees are judicial orders subject to enforcement by courts, they are also agreements between parties that "should be construed basically as contracts." United States v. IBT ("IRB Rules "), 998 F.2d 1101, 1106 (2d Cir.1993) (quoting United States v. ITT Continental Baking Co., 420 U.S. 223, 236-37, 95 S.Ct. 926, 934-35, 43 L.Ed.2d 148 (1975)). In enforcing a consent decree, a court is constrained to read and apply the decree " 'within its four corners' and may not look beyond the document to satisfy one of the parties' purposes." United States v. IBT ("Wilson, Dickens & Weber "), 978 F.2d 68, 73 (2d Cir.1992) (quoting United States v. Armour & Co., 402 U.S. 673, 682, 91 S.Ct. 1752, 1757-58, 29 L.Ed.2d 256 (1971)). A court is not entitled to expand or contract the agreement of the parties as set forth in the decree and must give the explicit language of the decree great weight. Local 40, 76 F.3d at 80; Berger v. Heckler, 771 F.2d 1556, 1568 (2d Cir.1985). In addition, "[a] cou...