U.S. v. International Broth. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL-CIO
| Decision Date | 30 July 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 1359,AFL-CIO,D,1359 |
| Citation | 970 F.2d 1132 |
| Parties | 141 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2305, 122 Lab.Cas. P 10,304 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, Charles M. Carberry, 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; Nunzio Provenzano, also known as Nunzi Pro; Anthony Corallo, also known as Tony Ducks; Salvatore Santoro, also known as Tom Mix; Christopher Furnari, Sr., also known as Christie Tick; Frank Manzo; Carmine Persico, 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; Carmen Parise, Appellant. 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 Philip 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 Trerotola, also known as Joey 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. She |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Steven C. Bennett, Asst. U.S. Atty., New York City (Otto G. Obermaier, U.S. Atty., Ping C. Moy, Asst. U.S. Atty., S.D.N.Y., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.
Charles M. Carberry, New York City, for appellee.
Before OAKES, Chief Judge, NEWMAN and McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judges.
Appellant ("Parise") is the former Secretary-Treasurer of International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT") Local 473, and the former President of Joint Council 41, an IBT affiliate. Both organizations are headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. He asks us to review an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (David N. Edelstein, Judge ), upholding disciplinary sanctions imposed on him. See United States v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, 777 F.Supp. 1133 (S.D.N.Y.1991) ["Parise I" ]. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the order of the district court.
The case law within our circuit swells with decisions emanating from the Teamsters Litigation. Our earlier decisions exhaustively discuss the genesis of the Consent Decree settling the government's charges against the IBT and its officials. See United States v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, 931 F.2d 177, 180-81 (2d Cir.1991); United States v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, 905 F.2d 610, 612-13 (2d Cir.1990) [hereafter Friedman & Hughes]. Accordingly, we need recount only those provisions of the Consent Decree that are necessary to understand the current dispute.
The Consent Decree provided for the appointment of three officers: an Elections Officer (not involved in this appeal), an Investigations Officer, and an Independent Administrator. The Investigations Officer investigates and brings disciplinary charges against allegedly corrupt IBT members. The Independent Administrator conducts hearings on the charges, and determines whether sanctions are warranted. Under Paragraph 12(A) of the Consent Decree, the decisions of the Independent Administrator are reviewed by the district court.
Pursuant to the Consent Decree, the Investigations Officer served charges on Parise on July 30, 1990. The charges accused Parise of bringing reproach upon the IBT, in violation of the IBT constitution, by (1) assaulting, threatening and harassing Jerry Jones, a Local 473 member; and (2) refusing to testify about his involvement in a beating Jones suffered at the hands of Frank Costanzo, another Local 473 member.
The Independent Administrator scheduled a hearing on the charges for December 18, 1990. Before the hearing began, however, Parise and the Investigations Officer signed a settlement agreement to resolve the charges (the "Proposed Agreement"). Under the Proposed Agreement, Parise would be suspended from the IBT for three months, beginning on January 8, 1991.
In the Proposed Agreement, Parise stated, in two paragraphs that lie at the heart of this appeal, his understanding of the authority of the Independent Administrator and the district court:
7. I agree that this agreement will be submitted to the Independent Administrator for his review and approval. If approved by the Independent Administrator, I understand he will submit it to the district court for that court to enter as an order.
8. I understand the Investigations Officer makes no representation as to the determination of the Independent Administrator or the court with respect to this agreement.
Without holding a hearing or making any factual findings, the Independent Administrator approved the Proposed Agreement. He then submitted the Agreement to the district court for its approval. The court refused to do so, advising the Independent Administrator that "In light of the severity With the agreement thus unravelled, the Independent Administrator scheduled a hearing on the charges for February 25, 1991. At Parise's request, the hearing was rescheduled for April 9, 1991. Meanwhile, although he was aware that the district court had rejected the Agreement, Parise voluntarily relinquished his IBT offices and membership on January 8, 1991. He resumed these positions three months later, on April 9, 1991.
of the charges against Mr. Parise, I find the terms of the ... agreement unacceptable. I am returning the ... agreement unapproved."
The scheduled hearing went forward on April 9, and the Investigations Officer presented a compelling case against Parise. Perhaps the most damaging evidence on the first charge were the tape and transcript of a conversation between Parise and fellow union member Jerry Jones. 1 Upset with Jones' alleged attempts to steer an upcoming IBT election free from his influence, Parise fired a verbal fusillade at Jones. 2 In various diatribes laced with colorful, macho expletives, Parise threatened to "bust [Jones'] head" and "have somebody give [Jones] a ... beating." He further told Jones that he would "never work again," and would not "get a ... job anyplace Teamsters are at." Parise concluded "[T]he day after [the election] win, lose, or draw you're fucked and I want you to know it."
The Investigations Officer presented convincing evidence on the second charge as well. Specifically, he introduced the transcript of a deposition in which Parise had relied on his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to refuse to testify about Frank Costanzo's assault on Jones. 3
Beginning his defense case, Parise's counsel moved to suspend the hearing, arguing that, despite the district court's disapproval of the Proposed Agreement, an associate of the Independent Administrator told him that the Agreement had resolved all charges against Parise. Counsel claimed that the associate told him that the district court's approval would be required only if the court sought to impose contempt sanctions when Parise later failed to comply with the Agreement. The Independent Administrator expressly rejected this claim:
It has never been my position that Judge Edelstein's signature was not necessary for approval of any agreements that have been entered into by the investigations officer and counsel for the respondent in any charge and there have been many of them. That's why I forward them automatically to Judge Edelstein.
* * * * * *
I have carried the notion right from the beginning that what I do has to then go to Judge Edelstein for approval and until he approves it it's a nullity.
Accordingly, the Independent Administrator denied counsel's motion and ordered the hearing to continue.
Parise then testified. Unable to challenge the tape and transcript of his philippic against Jones, he delivered ad hominem attacks on Jones, claiming that he had "urinated off the docks" in Cleveland, "antagonized people" and "spen[t] a great deal of ... time in saloons and coming back from lunch half tanked and just bothering everybody and anybody." Parise also attempted to downplay his failure to testify at the deposition, claiming that this decision was made "against [his] better judgment [because he] listened to [his] lawyers." He also testified that he did not The Independent Administrator determined that the Investigations Officer's evidence "conclusively proved" that Parise had "violently threatened" Jones, and that Parise would likely have carried out the threats had Jones not...
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US v. INTERNATIONAL BROTH. OF TEAMSTERS, No. 88 CIV. 4486 (DNE).
...1991, Order, slip op. at 4-5 (S.D.N.Y.1991); October 24, 1991 Memorandum & Order, 777 F.Supp. 1133, 1136 (S.D.N.Y.1991), aff'd, 970 F.2d 1132 (2d Cir.1992); October 16, 1991 Memorandum & Order, 777 F.Supp. 1130, 1132 (S.D.N.Y.1991), aff'd, 964 F.2d 1308 (2d Cir.1992); October 11, 1991 Memor......
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US v. INTERNATIONAL BROTH. OF TEAMSTERS, 88 CIV. 4486 (DNE).
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