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Harvey for TDU charges Teamster IRB coddles top Hoffa aide

Carlos Scalf, executive assistant to Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa, was found guilty by the Independent Review Board of misappropriating over $69,000 from the union. The IRB made him return the money and suspended him briefly from all union positions. Oddly enough, however, he was allowed to retain his union membership in good standing. Others have been expelled for life for less. In a letter to the presiding judge on behalf of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union, attorney Barbara Harvey protested against what she charges is kid-glove treatment. Before the subject reached the judge, Hoffa fired Scalf. Short excerpts from Attorney Harvey's letter follow.

"...Without explicit acknowledgment, the settlement appears to be based on the premise that Scalf's repayment of all or at least a substantial portion of the sum that he wrongfully accepted justifies a "slap on the wrist" penalty of a 60-day unpaid suspension... Lesser union officials have gone to federal prison and been barred from all union positions for the 13-year period mandated by the LMRDA, section 502 for [offenses] such as Mr. Scalf has clearly committed without confessing them in the agreement. ...The Consent Decree under which the agreement has been submitted for Court approval provides an independent body of precedent showing penalties that are far harsher than those mandated by LMRDA section 502, including lifetime bans from union office, membership, and association with other Teamster members...
In April 2004, former RISE administrator Edwin Stier accused Scalf of interfering with his investigation into possible connections between the Chicago Mafia and Chicago Teamster locals. Stier reported the Scalf's interference forced him to terminate his investigation...

"[The New York Times reported] "In 2001, the IRB forced Richard Lyder, executive assistant to the union's secretary treasurer, to resign after it found that he had taken $3,400 in unauthorized meal expenses. He was barred from future dealings with the union." ...the IRB's standing as an institution having membership trust may be irreparably injured unless this application is supported by a factual record, presently absent, showing that Scalf's misconduct warrants the "slap on the wrist" that he has received, rather than the penalties required by the LMRDA and historically imposed under the Consent Decree when a high-level union fiduciary engages in... breaches involving fraudulent self-dealing and embezzlement of union funds."

Articles on the Teamsters:
At the Teamsters Independent Review Board (3/08-4/08)
Teamster elections: inspiration from the ground up (11/06-12/06)
AUD Conference: Confronting Corruption in Labor Unions (12-06)
Teamster Convention reveals fatal flaw in election rules (7/06-8/06)
Harvey for TDU charges IRB coddles top Hoffa aide (3/05-4/05)
RISE uncovers corruption before its demise (9/04-10/04)
RISE and Teamster reform at Cornell University (1/04-3/04)
Can the IBT police itself?(9/03-10/03)
The Transmogrification of Teamsters Local 854(9/03-10/03)
Is Teamsters Union safe for dissenters? An exchange (10/11 2002)
The vindication of Ron Carey (12/1 2001-2002)
"The Fox and the Chicken Coop" -- comments on the proposed Teamsters Ethics Code. (3/4 2000)
"Some Modest Proposals for a Teamster Code" (3/4 2000)

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