U.S. v. International Broth. of Teamsters
| Decision Date | 09 January 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 88 Civ. 4486 (DNE).,88 Civ. 4486 (DNE). |
| Citation | 951 F.Supp. 1113 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, et al., Defendants. In re APPLICATION XXX OF THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW BOARD. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Bernstein & Maffeo, L.L.P., New York City (J. Bruce Maffeo, of counsel), for Gene Giacumbo.
Mary Jo White, United States Attorney for the S.D. New York, New York City (Beth E. Goldman, Assistant United States Attorney, of counsel), for the U.S.
Independent Review Board, Office of the Chief Investigator, New York City (Charles M. Carberry, of counsel), for the Independent Review Board.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. BACKGROUND .........................................................................1116
A. The IRB's Hearing and 1995 Opinion & Decision ...................................1118
1. The Charges Against Giacumbo ................................................1118
a. Charge One ...............................................................1119
b. Charge Two ...............................................................1121
c. Charge Three .............................................................1124
2. The Sanctions ...............................................................1125
B. IRB Application XXV .............................................................1125
C. This Court's Remand of Application XXV ..........................................1125
D. The IRB's Supplemental Hearing and 1996 Opinion & Decision ......................1126
E. IRB Application XXX .............................................................1127
II. DISCUSSION .........................................................................1128
A. Giacumbo's Objections to Application XXV ........................................1128
1. The Recusal of Judge Lacey ..................................................1128
2. The Sufficiency of the Evidence .............................................1131
a. Embezzlement ............................................................1131
b. Bylaw Violations ........................................................1135
i. Purchasing Computer Equipment For Local 843 ........................1135
ii. Purchasing a Laptop Computer From Local 843 ........................1137
iii. Charging Personal Expenses on Local 843's American Express Card ....1139
iv. Obtaining Only One Signature on Local 843 Checks ...................1140
c. The Allways Organizing Attempt ..........................................1142
3. The Appropriateness of the Sanctions ........................................1147
B. Giacumbo's Objections to Application XXX ........................................1150
1. Remand Procedure ............................................................1150
2. Supplemental Hearing Testimony ..............................................1152
a. Giacumbo's Claim that the IRB Ignored Testimony ..........................1152
b. Giacumbo's Claim that the IRB Mischaracterized Testimony .................1153
3. Union Democracy .............................................................1155
4. Giacumbo's Violations of the IRB's Initial Sanctions ........................1156
5. The Appropriateness of the Sanctions ........................................1157
III. CONCLUSION .........................................................................1160
This opinion emanates from the voluntary settlement of an action commenced by plaintiff United States of America against, inter alia, defendants International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT") and the IBT's General Executive Board embodied in the voluntary consent order entered March 14, 1989 (the "Consent Decree"). Pursuant to the Rules and Procedures for Operation of the Independent Review Board for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IRB Rules"), ¶ 0, the Independent Review Board ("IRB") has made an application to this Court seeking approval of its decision in this matter.
Application XXX presents for this Court's review the decision of the IRB1 regarding disciplinary charges brought against Gene Giacumbo ("Giacumbo"), a former President of IBT Local 843 ("Local 843" or "the Local") located in Springfield, New Jersey. From January 1, 1990, to December 31, 1992, Giacumbo was Local 843's President and principal officer. (Report of Charges from the Independent Review Board to Gene Giacumbo ("IRB Report") at 4 (Mar. 20, 1995).) In 1992, Giacumbo lost the Local 843 election. Id. During Giacumbo's tenure as president, Local 843 maintained a membership of approximately 500 Teamsters, the majority of whom were employees of the Anheuser Busch brewery in Newark, New Jersey. Id.
The events which gave rise to the instant charges against Giacumbo began with a December 22, 1993, letter (the "December 1993 letter") from Aaron Belk, the Teamsters Ethical Practices Committee Administrator, to the Chair of the Eastern Conference of Teamsters Ethical Practices Committee Panel (the "EPCP"). Id. The December 1993 letter contained a list of twelve allegations of wrongdoing by Giacumbo. Id. It did not, however, charge Giacumbo with violating any specific provision of either the IBT Constitution or the Local 843 Bylaws. Id. In response to the December 1993 letter, the EPCP held hearings concerning the charges against Giacumbo on March 14 and 15 and on April 4 and 5, 1994. Id. This hearing was not concluded, however, because the Giacumbo matter was transferred to the IRB with the consent of Giacumbo and the IBT. Id.
The IRB conducted an investigation into the allegations against Giacumbo, and subsequently levelled three charges against him. The charges against Giacumbo are contained in an investigative report issued by the IRB on March 20, 1995. (IRB Report at 31-34.) The IRB report charges Giacumbo as follows:
[Charge One:] While the principal officer of Local 843, you allowed employees of Allways Travel, including a friend of yours, to join Local 843 without negotiating any collective agreement of their behalf, but in an effort to assist their employer to obtain the IBT travel contract and to allow such members to be eligible to vote for you in the 1992 Local 843 election thereby bringing reproach upon the IBT in violation of Article II, Section 2(a) and Article XIX, Section 7(b)(1) and (2) of the IBT Constitution, to wit:
By allowing a friend and others who work on commission at Allways Travel to join the union in order for their employer to gain an edge in receiving an IBT contract, you ignored the stated objects of the Local as set forth in Article II, Section 2.01(A)(2) and (3) of the Local's bylaws. In addition, you waived the initiation fee for the employees of Allways Travel without the approval of the Local's Executive Board as required by Article IX, Section 9.01(B) of the Local Bylaws. Moreover, you tried to obtain health insurance for the Allways employees, not as a condition of employment with an employer, but by reducing yourself and the Local to an insurance broker who was searching for a policy from other Locals. By allowing the Allways employees, for whom the Local performed no collective bargaining representation, to join Local 843 only to pay dues at a time to ensure [that] they would be eligible to vote in the Local's election, you recruited individuals to join the union in order to be eligible to vote for you in the 1992 Local election.
[Charge Two:] While the principal officer of Local 843 you engaged in a pattern of violating financial control provisions in the Local Bylaws, the IBT Secretary Treasurer's Manual and the IBT Constitution thereby breaching your fiduciary duties and bringing reproach upon the IBT and violating Article IV, Section 4.02(D), Article V, Section 5.01(A)(8) and (9) and Section 5.01(E) and Article IX, Section 9.01(B) of the Local Bylaws, Section 4 of the IBT Secretary Treasurer's Manual and Article II, Section 2(a) and Article XIX, Section 7(b)(1) and Article XXIII, Section 3 of the IBT Constitution, to wit:
In 1992, while the Local's principal officer, you waived the $150 initiation fee for the employees of Allways Travel. The Local 843 Executive Board did not approve this waiver as required by Article IX, Section 9.01(b) of the Local Bylaws.
Between approximately June 1991 and October 1992, you caused the Local to purchase a total of $15,752.34 in computer equipment without the approval of the Local's members as required by Article V, Section 5.01(A)(8) of the Local Bylaws. In or about December 1992, you purchased a laptop computer and a portable printer from the Local without the approval of the Local's members as required by Article V, Section 5.01(A)(9) of the Local Bylaws.
In 1992[,] you charged approximately $824.60 in personal expenses to the Local 843 American Express card and later reimbursed the Local for these charges. This conduct was prohibited by Section 4.1 of the IBT Secretary Treasurer's Manual which states "[U]nder no circumstances should personal expenses be charged and/or run through the Local union books." (alteration in IRB Report) (emphasis omitted).
Between January 1990 and January 1992, while a full-time salaried Local officer, you received in addition to your salary a total of approximately $1,440 for attending Executive Board meetings in violation of Article V, Section 5.01(E) of the Local Bylaws.
Between August and November 1990, you issued seven Local 843 checks by signing your signature and the signature of the Local 843 Vice President on these checks. On or about October 16, 1991 you issued a check to yourself with only your signature....
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U.S. v. International Broth. of Teamsters
...and the district court has presented a detailed background of the facts leading up to this case, see United States v. IBT, 951 F.Supp. 1113, 1116-28 (S.D.N.Y.1997) ("Giacumbo II"). We assume familiarity with the foregoing renditions and will only briefly recapture their salient As part of i......