U.S. v. International Broth. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL-CIO
| Decision Date | 30 August 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 1432,AFL-CIO,D,1432 |
| Parties | 144 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2175, 126 Lab.Cas. P 10,838 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA,; 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 known as Tony Ducks; Salvatore Santoro; Christopher Furnari, Sr., also known as Christie Tick; Frank Manzo; Carmine Persico, also known as The Snake, also known as Junior; 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 Messino; 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 Aiuppa, also known as Joe Doves, also known as Joey O'Brien; John Phillip Cerone, also known as Jackie Cerone, also known as Jackie the Lackie; Joseph Lombardo, also known as Joey the Clown; Angelo LaPietra, also known as The Nutcracker; Frank Balistrieri, also known as 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 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, Eleven |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Linda Imes, New York City (Leanore Barth, Adam Mitzner, Richards Spears Kibbe & Orbe, of counsel), for appellant Roadway Exp., Inc.
Ping C. Moy, Asst. U.S. Atty., S.D.N.Y., New York City (Roger S. Hayes, U.S. Atty. and James L. Cott, Asst. U.S. Atty., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee U.S.
Paul Alan Levy, Public Citizen Litigation Group, Washington, DC, for appellee Leroy Ellis.
Before: VAN GRAAFEILAND, CARDAMONE and McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judges.
Roadway Express, Inc. ("Roadway") appeals from the February 2, 1993 judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Edelstein, J.) and the opinion and order incorporated therein, which invalidated the 1991 discharge of a Roadway employee named Leroy Ellis and directed payment of $18,409.51 to Ellis as back wages and benefits. For the reasons set forth in subdivision A, infra, the panel unanimously reverses. In subdivision B, Judge Van Graafeiland, writing only for himself, sets forth additional grounds for reversal based on his belief that the procedure followed in the instant case violated appellant's right to due process.
On June 28, 1988, the United States brought a civil RICO action against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT" or the "Union") and some of its officers. The purpose of the suit, as repeatedly proclaimed by the district court, was to rid IBT of "the hideous influence of organized crime." Settlement negotiations were conducted and resulted eventually in a Consent Decree aimed primarily at ensuring that the Union's 1991 general election would be conducted in a fair, honest and open manner. "The remedial provisions in the Consent Decree provided for three Court-appointed officials, the Independent Administrator to oversee its provisions, an Investigations Officer to bring charges against corrupt IBT members, and an Election Officer to oversee the electoral process leading up to and including the 1991 election for International Officers (collectively, the 'Court Officers')." United States v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of Am., 742 F.Supp. 94, 97 (S.D.N.Y.1990), modified, 931 F.2d 177 (2d Cir.1991). 1 The Consent Decree, dated March 14, 1989, "[was] to run for a period of three years, ceasing after the IBT's 1991 elections for International Officers." 728 F.Supp. 1032, 1045.
The 1991 general election was conducted as scheduled in December 1991, and the results were certified by the Election Officer on January 22, 1992. Thereafter, on June 16, 1992, the Election Officer, responding to an election protest filed by Leroy Ellis on September 20, 1991, held that Ellis, a successful electoral candidate for union vice-president, had been discharged wrongfully on September 19, 1991. We hold that the Election Officer's authority to make this decision had expired with his certification of the 1991 election results in January.
Under Sec. B(3)(3) of the Consent Decree, after the certification of the 1991 election by the Elections Officer, the authority of these three court officers ceases and their functions are taken over by the [Independent Review Board]. On January 22, 1992, the Elections Officer certified the 1991 election, triggering the [Independent Review Board] phase of the Consent Decree. 998 F.2d 1101, 1105 (2d Cir.1993).
By the terms of the Consent Decree, the authority of the Elections Officer and the Independent Administrator terminates upon certification of the 1991 IBT election results, except for prompt investigation of certain post-election claims of election irregularity.
The certification of the election results marks a point of transition in the Consent Decree. The termination of the Court-Appointed Officers' authority is related to this event....
We reject appellees' argument that the Election Officer's authority had not expired, which is based on their contention that because the Election Officer did not determine Ellis' pre-election protest within five days after he received it, as required by Article XI, 1a(4)(a) of the Election Rules, he was entitled under Article XI, 1a(4)(b) of the Rules to defer his ruling and treat the protest as a post-election protest, as if it had been filed on election day. Article XI, 1b(2) provides that "[p]ost-election protests shall only be considered and remedied if the alleged violation may have affected the outcome of the election." Because Ellis was elected to the vice-presidency to which he aspired, the alleged impropriety in his discharge cannot be said to have affected the election's outcome.
Needless to say, if, as we hold, the Election Officer acted without authority in handing down his June 16, 1992 decision, the Independent Administrator's purported affirmance of this decision was equally invalid. The district court, therefore, erred in affirming the decision of the Independent Administrator, and the judgment appealed from must be reversed.
Upon reading the Independent Administrator designee's statement in his discussion of "PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS," that neither his actions nor those of the Election Officer are circumscribed by the due process provisions of the Federal Constitution, my reaction as a judge was one of instinctive disbelief. In the paragraphs that follow, I will explain why I believe my reaction was justified and why the disregard of due process requirements herein constitutes an additional reason for reversal.
Roadway is not La Cosa Nostra, the stated target of the government's RICO action and the Consent Decree. It is a large interstate trucking concern, a wholly owned subsidiary of Roadway Services, Inc., a publicly traded company with over 6,000 shareholders. According to Moody's 1992 Transportation Manual, Roadway owns approximately 40,000 trucks, tractors and trailers. Pursuant to the terms of its collective bargaining agreement with IBT, Roadway has the right to discharge its employee-drivers for cause. This is a property interest protected by the Fifth Amendment. See Brock v. Roadway Express, Inc., 481 U.S. 252, 260-61, 107 S.Ct. 1740, 1746-47, 95 L.Ed.2d 239 (1987).
On the night of September 18, 1991, Ellis, a Roadway driver, went to a Burlington Northern rail yard in Cicero, Illinois to drop off one trailer and pick up another. At about 1:45 a.m., while Robert Stein, a Burlington Northern Terminal Manager, was leaving the terminal facility in his car, he observed the Roadway trailer parked in the terminal yard with the driver apparently asleep in the cab. Because trucks were not supposed to be parked in the yard, Stein called the Assistant Terminal Manager on his car phone and instructed him to inform Roadway of what Stein had seen. Roadway's Driver Supervisor, with whom the Assistant Terminal Manager talked, identified the driver as Ellis and opined that Ellis probably was on his lunch break and would be leaving the yard shortly. However, at approximately 3:15 a.m., Stein observed the trailer parked in the same spot with the driver apparently still asleep. A Burlington Northern security guard then was instructed to investigate the matter. The guard woke
Ellis and directed him to leave. Despite Ellis' denial that he had been asleep, Roadway discharged him. The Government and the Independent Administrator contend that Ellis was fired because of his campaign...
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