With any election come some form of scrutiny and Local 459’s recent Executive Board election was not immune. A series of charges and complaints was made by Austin Brown, a member who ran for office and lost. He has appealed a series of charges to the Local 459 Election Committee, the Local 459’s Executive Board, the OPEIU International Union, and most recently to the Department of Labor (DOL).
Some charges and complaints have been finalized. Initially Brown filed twelve charges against the past Local 459 President and the current President. A hearing officer was appointed by the International to hold a trial and rule on the allegations. Of the 12 charges:
- The hearing officer dismissed three prior to trial
- Brown withdrew four at the trial
- The hearing officer recently issued his decision on the remaining five charges, and all were dismissed
The hearing officer’s full decision can be found here. The International billed the Local more than $14,000 for the cost of the trial.
Brown also filed an additional six charges, which were reviewed, investigated, and dismissed by a Local 459 Trial Board. Brown has appealed the Trial Board’s decision, thus the decision will be presented to you, the membership, to vote on at a membership meeting.
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