THREATENED!!!STALKED!!TRACKING DEVICES ON THEIR VEHICLES!! PHONES MONITORED
HEY FEDERAL,STATE AND LOCAL COPS.IS ANY OF THIS LEGAL AND NOT A CRIME!!!
LAWSUIT:POWERFUL CARPENTERS UNION PURGED REFORMERS
Whistleblower Allies Endured Spying, Tracking, and Intimidation
Newark, NJ, December 1, 2020. Five terminated employees of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters suffered multiple acts of retaliation and discrimination at the hands of vengeful Union leaders, according to the lawsuit filed today in Superior Court of New Jersey in Essex County.
The illegal acts against the plaintiffs culminated in their termination, according to the complaint. Plaintiffs were all vocal supporters and allies of former Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters (NRCC) Executive Secretary John Ballantyne, whose efforts to reform the Union and root out corruption led to his dismissal (2018) and a federal investigation of Carpenters Funds Administrator George Laufenberg. Laufenberg was subsequently indicted for embezzling $1.5 million from the Union.
The lawsuit claims Union leaders violated the Conscientious Employer Protection Act (CEPA) and the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) through a pattern of retaliation culminating in the plaintiff’s termination because of their relationship with John Ballantyne and their participation in and support of his efforts to rid the union of corruption and discrimination. The plaintiffs are represented by Nancy Erika Smith, Esq., of the Montclair, N.J. law firm Smith Mullin.
“This is textbook retaliation taken to the extreme,” said Smith. “My clients were devoted Union employees who fought to change the Union’s regressive culture of racism and sexism. The bosses cynically used the pandemic to justify their removal. In fact, union jobs continued, and newly hired employees were not terminated while these five long-term dedicated employees were fired.”
The plaintiffs are:
- Anthony Verrelli is a State Assemblyman and a 31-year Union employee who worked with John Ballantyne to expose Laufenberg’s actions. He founded “Carpenters Who Care,” a program designed to aid members who were suffering from addiction and help them achieve sobriety
- Justin Ballantyne, John Ballantyne’s son and a Union employee for more than 15 years, was a vocal opponent of race and sex discrimination within the Union. He often spoke out against the all-too-common racist and sexist remarks made by his co-workers.
- Alex Lopez is a 20-year veteran of the Union and a close friend to John Ballantyne. He voted to approve the internal investigation into Laufenberg’s activities.
- Vanessa Salazar was a Union employee for almost 15 years and worked with John Ballantyne to expand the Union’s diversity and inclusion programs. She was Chairwoman of “Shades in the Trades,” which sought to increase the recruitment and retention of people of color and women.
- Susan Schultz was a 41-year employee of the Union and a vocal supporter of John Ballantyne’s efforts to rid the Union of discrimination. She chaired the “Sisters in the Brotherhood” program, a committee within the Union whose mission is to create a network of active female Union carpenters.
“In order to purge the Union of those who wanted more honesty, accountability, diversity, and inclusion, the Union leaders employed tactics against my clients which included spying, defamation and intimidation,” said Smith. “They were verbally threatened and stalked; tracking devices were surreptitiously hidden on their vehicles; their phones were monitored; and their every movement was scrutinized and questioned.”
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs had their budgets cut and were intentionally harassed. Without explanation, some were demoted and received pay cuts. Others were penalized by being assigned distant work locations that added hours to their daily commute. All were forced to relinquish passwords to their digital devices. They were deliberately frustrated in their jobs and set up to fail.
According to the Complaint, the Union’s former political director verbally attacked a plaintiff claiming to be “acting as the voice of the Union.” She lashed out at him, accusing him of being a “traitor to the organization” after seeing a Facebook photo of the plaintiff with John Ballantyne. She demanded the plaintiff end his relationship with John Ballantyne because Ballantyne had called for an investigation into Union activities.
The retaliation and abuse culminated on March 27, 2020 with the abrupt and arbitrary termination of all five plaintiffs, an action falsely and cynically attributed to the impact of COVID-19 on the Union’s work.
“There were no work stoppages caused by the coronavirus, union members with much less seniority were not laid off and members in other related Unions were only temporarily furloughed. The Union leadership saw in the pandemic an opportunity to clean house of troublemakers who wanted to move the Union forward, to change the decades-long white-men-only culture in which no one questioned leadership,” said Smith. “Rather than lead an honest and inclusive organization, these leaders were addicted to their power and to maintaining the self-serving status quo.”
Carpenters say they were fired for exposing union corruption, file whistleblower lawsuit
George R. Laufenberg, the indicted carpenters union benefits manager and former Port Authority commissioner who was the focus of an apparent internal struggle over allegations of wrongdoing that led to charges of retaliation on Tuesday.Star-Ledger file photo
Five former union members filed a whistleblower lawsuit Tuesday against the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and its executive secretary, claiming they were ousted after they tried to root out corruption within the politically powerful labor organization.
Among the five were Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli, D-Mercer, a union leader who had been closely associated with John Ballantyne, the former executive secretary-treasurer of the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters. Ballantyne was ousted himself in what he claimed was an act of retribution over his own push back against the union’s leadership.
According to the complaint filed Tuesday in Superior Court in Essex County, even before they were fired, Verrelli and others said they had their budgets cut and were intentionally harassed. Some were demoted and received pay cuts. Others were penalized by being assigned distant work locations that added hours to their daily commute.
Their attorney, Nancy Erika Smith of Smith Mullin in Montclair, said all were fired without warning by email one afternoon in March, calling it “textbook retaliation.” Verrelli, who was elected president of Carpenters Local 254 in 2017, was removed by union officials in August.
“They purged anyone affiliated with John Ballantyne,” said Smith.
Union officials denied there was any retaliation.
“It is unfortunate that former employees would make such accusations about our union,” said Frank Mahoney, a spokesman for the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters. “In the midst of a global pandemic, our council had to make the tough and unfortunate decisions many other unions, businesses, and organizations had to make regarding staffing levels.”
Mahoney said the council’s staffing levels decreased in every state it has geographic jurisdiction over, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
“Our goal is to always make decisions that are in the best interest of our hard-working members in the field,” he said.
The influential trade union has been the focus of mounting questions since Ballantyne, now chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, charged in an October 2018 lawsuit that he had been fired from his high-profile job after raising questions about then-Carpenters Funds administrator George Laufenberg.
Not long after, Laufenberg — a former commissioner on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — was hit with a five-count federal indictment mirroring many of the charges in Ballantyne’s complaint. He was accused of embezzlement in connection with $1.5 million in pension funds, deferred compensation payments, excess annuity fund contributions, as well as conspiracy to embezzle with a “low-show” employee, and making a false statement in an annual financial report.
Laufenberg earned an annual salary of about $300,000.
The criminal case has yet to come to trial.
Late last year, meanwhile, a federal grand jury in New Jersey sent out new subpoenas to entities tied to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, according to an internal memo, and were served on the union, its pension fund, its pharmacy benefit manager, a union accounting firm and a construction company.
Ballantyne’s own civil lawsuit has since been settled, its terms undisclosed.
In the complaint filed Tuesday, Verrelli said he had been called a “traitor to the organization.”
In addition to Verrelli, others named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit included Justin Ballantyne, the son of John Ballantyne and a union employee for more than 15 years; Alex Lopez, who voted to approve an internal investigation into Laufenberg’s activities; Vanessa Salazar, who sought to increase the recruitment and retention of people of color and women, and Susan Schultz, who chaired a committee to create a network of active female union carpenters.
Smith said all five were long-term employees who had been mentored by Ballantyne, and were fired as other recently hired employees kept their jobs.
“It’s all pretty brazen,” she said.
57 comments:
guilty as charged - look for another 1m plus settlement on the way-
no rhyme or reasons for the layoffs-no layoff plan or rationale as to why they selected these people
sproule and muller picked them - pure retribution
has the DOL gone in the tank on this case?- all of this and no action??
So brain dead Mike Hand still has a job and good Reps got whacked? Wow.
dear mr sproles do you relize the hardship you have caused the members of the eastern council money spent everywhere no wonder we are bankrupt you really need to do the right thing and resign you are not smart enough to keep fighting guys smarter then yourself your lawyers cant even bail you out
lol what a union could they be in anymore disray then they are hey sprolles are you traking the cars to all of your staff that we pay for even thou lmrda says were not supposed to
hey sprolles its not over yetyou can rat out frank or take the hit fatty
Anthony you will never have any respect from the membership of you settle the case!!! Go all the way!!!
You would have thought Mike Hand would of fought for the reps that lost their jobs here in the city. Who am I kidding? He don’t even fight for his own son, let alone him fighting for his reps. He wanted them gone all because they were friends with Edjr no bullshit Our reps should have sued him and fatass Sproules. It’s not too late boys. Those 2 could careless about nobody but the easy money being deposited into their account each week!! Think about it they make no and I mean NO decisions period. None. Easy job, care about no one and big pay with benefits. Can’t wait until they go away. Hand better not get any plaques either because there will be lots of hard working carpenters in line to piss on it. Sproules haha don’t even think about a going away prize from Philly. If it was our way you would get beat back to Jersey with our work boots.
all philly reps please contact the law firm thats handloing this its not to late
Ballantyne took the money, which came from us members, and let Team McCarron off the hook. Do not make the same mistake he did!!! Had Ballantyne told the I’ll see you in court they would’ve been finished. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE HE DID!!! Justin you have the chance to make these scumbags pay for their crimes on our behalf!!!
It’s a shame that EAS “leadership” would rather intimidate and punish their own Reps over personal grudges than actually working for the good of the membership. When they couldn’t make them quit, they finally found a convenient excuse to push them out. There’s still a few good Reps left, but it’s mostly ball washers and bullshitters now.
No Philadelphia reps that were let go on the lawsuit? Wonder why
Philadelphia Reps are not on the lawsuit because they were not doing their jobs as representatives. Just like the remaining reps in Philadelphia they do not represent anyone and they keep their mouths shut and do nothing but give out jobs and try to get to another paycheck. That is why you can fire them and they will not even represent themselves. This is such an easy lawsuit or settlement if they did just a little bit of their job and you have some pride and can represent yourself.
sprolles your being sued personally lol
I agree. Justin if you truly have the best interest for the brotherhood, PLEASE DONT SETTLE with these crooks. Be a hero to hundred of thousands of members. Take them to court all the way through. Please don’t be a sellout 🔨🔨
Name one good rep in Philadelphia that got whac that actually represents...... I don’t think so
How many of those socalled reps have been pulled inby fed already 2 or 3 look within your circle remember that song When the walls come tumbling down its long past started
the members across the country are watching
so what have we gotten under billy sprolles leadership,he has gotten himself and the leadership involved in another lawsuit from ilegal behavior on the members dime , oh that im shore will be settled out of court ,we got the george laufenbergh lawsuit that will be settled out of court oh on our dime ,we got multiple charges pending with the nlrb oh on our dime, we got hotel rooms being paid for at golfing events oh on our dime that need to be on the lm/2 at the end of year ,we got paid staff recieving cars such as his secreatary oh by the way nice job taking it off of her but our video evidence is prior to reading about it and there are stll hr suoervisor frank sezizally the male secreatary for spencer driving around in a council car just wondering why is the internatoal rep driving around in a council car hummm that members pay for oh that right mooney will fudge the books for you your bad decisons from drinking to much such as what s got you in trouble with this lawsuit, but also the corona spreader event the coveruups which include jon robinsons car accident , oh yeah he was fishing, good thing that mayor a local 255 carpenter was able to get you out of that i guess you also owed a favor to frank mahoney father an ex 255 member so his son is our spoikeman on lawsuits now that the members must pay for, the start of an ilegal extortion program called the mupp that looks like it will be ending soon the start of a map assement ilegally done with no vote, the black face delegate that you and cappeli hang out with and apointed to a delegates role and im a little sleepy right now but im sure i could come with more on a fresh brain oh and you can bet your ass the lawsuits are not done yet SO HAVE A GREAT 2020 SPROLLES YOU ARE AN EVERYDAY PETER MAGUIRE YOU AND YOUR FAT DRINKING BUDDY ROBINSON DRINK UP BOYS WE ARE PAYING ATTETION you should be proud of what you created hey maybe you can bring robinson a long in 2021 when your trying to run the dollarstore in egg harbor as lead cashier dont worry its still a cash cow you have terry mooney to cook the books
This is just another piece of evidence of continued pattern of illegal behavior.
It is EXACTLY why most of us who post info do so anonymously.
We know the retaliation.
Who gets the credit for promoting the 2 Philly leaders who are known in the trades and by the members as Dumb and Dumber? You left that one out.
Who wants to organise a RICO lawsuit against the UBC and the EAS?? It’s time we working members go after these dirt bags on our terms!!!
Nice try.
Get honest.
Dumb and dumber sold their dignity. Traded in any honor they were GIVEN. Im giving you a c+ for effort.
All Spencer. He runs the union not Doug. If Doug ran the union he would fix this mess. If he tried to replace these guys. Frank would bitchslap him
Wasn’t blaming the guy that GAVE DUMB AND DUMBER their jobs but thanks for bringing that up. Nobody should be GIVEN anything with members dues money. This isn’t someone’s company where you can do whatever you want. With a little bit of intelligence you would know the difference between promoting and hiring. The statement was referring to the promotions. Should this be added to Sproules accomplishments or give credit to one of his great bosses that departed.
I give you a F.
Frank’s a joke he could not bitch slap anyone. !!!!!
I disagree. None of our council staff which that is what they are, not reps are no good. Only they were hired as a favor not for their skills. They have no balls including Mike Handjob.
Frank is a joke outside the UBC, however inside the UBC Frank is the real General President. Doug and his son have to kneel before Frank anytime they are in is his presence!!! I have seen Frank in person correct Doug and tell him what the direction of the UBC is going to be in 2018.
All heil King Frank!!!!
Frank is a ball sucker. That could not tell Doug what to do on a good day. If dog told him to suck on his mule. Frank would drop to his knees.
You will see when Doug shit cans sprolles or gives him a promotion. Either way there’s no way. Sprolles keep running the eastern council And frank is probably loading faith in him now that he let the cat out of the bag on terry Mooney cooking the books for frank. Wait to the Feds. Sub pines accounting. Mooney. Because The drunk sprolles was running his mouth at the convention. Sprolles will be lucky to keep his book let alone run anything. Dol. subpoena. Terrymooney Work on the carpenters union. A lot of discrepencyd will turn up. The modern day Hoffa. Bill/aka (arsefacesprolles)
Let’s do some math how was it other locals 254 and New York City just to name a few
able to provide virtual meetings for their membership and 253 first meeting was in November....yes do the MATH. Here’s another equation how many reps does it take to explain the 10 cent deduction for the “you can” program how about zero were able to explain. (Pssst no one wants anyone to know that mup money grab was ruled against and probably a judgment can probably reverse all the money they took from members) that’s a lot of math. Just like to say not everyone couldn’t explain perhaps if Local 253 president was on a virtual meeting he could’ve explained.....oh that’s right he was playing covid sick. No worries however as the meeting was wrapping up screens were being minimized a chat box was on the screen it read “I’m starving, my spaghetti are cold” then under that “can you see my screen” .....you do the Math.
I have a answer they didn’t want to address it after they said “they” every Rep and E board member oh wait they are one and the same persons. Afraid if they share how this 10 cent came to be, that when it hits the street the one who addresses it will surely be reprimanded by their Masters. Why is it they couldn’t explain the 10 cents are doesn’t the membership deserve to know???
I don’t get it no one answered?
So stupid. The creation and collection of the MAP assessment is illegal as it was not approved by a majority of members voting by secret ballot at a special called meeting that was scheduled via proper written authorisation. The MAP can be challenged and those that oppose it will prevail. The best part is that the challenge to the MAP opens the door to challenging all the other assessments that are also being collected without individual member approval.
The beauty of all this.
And easily proven in a court.
Nothing done " virtually" holds any value or weight.
No decision. No vote. No plan.
A virtual ANYTHING can NOT BE CALLED TO ORDER. Period.
There is no way to insure that the " room" is secure.
Not sure about that.
Ref. Project Veritas recorded CNN jeff zucker ceo for 2 months.
Nothing " decided" in ANY VIRTUAL SETTING can stand.
There is no constitutional provision voted on by the members to allow this.
Our " scumbags" aka " leadership" is using covid as cover.
The remedy and precedent was set.
And has always been what was done in 1918/19 during the spanish flu epidemic.
All activities and decisions were suspended until such time that a meeting under roberts rules could be called to order in the proper format.
But they dont want you to know this.
Despite the fact that the morons posted it in one of their own " moments in history" pieces.
In their own magazine.
Because no one READ what the history stated in that article.
Bill Sproules is a frigging disgrace. Billy. Wait till i send Ray Heinemanns head spinning... Again... Someday ill teach you labor law and how to compose letters that make heinemann poop himself.
Loser.
What a disgrace I saw how pierce was stuttering and others tried to back him up
Why don’t you challenge it then?
Yeah. You may have noticed we added a new fund.
We call it " lids" fund.
It is for legal individual defense.
Oh wow. When did we vote on that?
You didnt.
You dont need to. We put out a letter to your delegates , many who are also paid council reps.
We told them if they didnt vote for this we would " require they seek other employment"
As for the delegates. We just mentioned that they will no longer pick and choose where they work.
Thats how it works ... Right JR Hocker?
Mike Giovannetti tells YOU where he wants to work next riiight?
For his " support" .
This is racketeering and nepotism.
Now the above is just an example of a " fund" ... There is no lids fund yet... Im merely pointing out the runaway abuse and how it works.
The delegate example. That was real and true, as explained by the delegate himself.
Little men with no honor who laugh all the way to the bank after rifling through your wallet.
Union?
Hardly.
" keep doing it til we get caught"
Is a bit different than
" labor above all"
It is on the slate. Dont worry.
There are quite a few.
It all neatly goes together.
Laufenberg.
The " retaliation suit"
Curious side note.
On the Lm2. Reps recieved a signifigant raise...
The market share hasnt improved.
The dow is breaking records.
Yet. They released reps
So. Now you have representatives being paid even more money to not represent you.
Let me guess. Due to covid cutbacks they are working " harder" ... Yeahh ok.
Contractor friendly is certainly working out for everyone BUT the union member.
Alas. Not to worry you poor contractors. Your provisionals are saving you and more will be on the way.
Let me ask you.
2 parties sign different sides of a contract.
Yet the union member is the only one bound to the contract?
Seems fair. I mean of course it does. You are " jn a union" for gods sake.
You have rights.
Responsibilities.
You are the backbone.
Sproulles. Hand. Pro tip.
When you break the backbone... The member body lies prostrate.
Unable to move.
Unwilling to " support" you.
When you remove the " backbone" how long do you expect to stand.
I mean you 2 have given your spine and balls away a long time ago. So you rely on the member backbone.
When that is gone.
So are you.
Maybe Pete Gowan 253/1342 can put more of his family and in-laws in place.
Sounds like another guy that thinks this is his own family business and he will spend our money on his family but nobody will stop him.
Curious please add to this I believe people before this were wronged and they got compensated. Now a whole set of new people have been wronged. Yes totally believe that but how does these collective of wrongs doing for us. They will get compensated do the courts ever scratch their heads and say wow that’s strange wonder if someone should look into this??????
Bluecross headquarters and brother in law trustee or delegate hard to keep up. Must be nice
Johnny cigars delfalco
Courts settle cases they don't conduct investigations. This is how rich criminals avoid criminal charges by negotiating a settlement with their victims in civil court that buys their silence. The UBC has used the same strategy every time.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/12/14/uaw-feds-agree-reforms-wake-corruption-crisis/6537239002/
The federal government and the UAW will jointly announce Monday they have reached a civil settlement to reform the union in the wake of an ongoing corruption crisis resulting in multiple criminal convictions.
Several possible reforms have been discussed, including appointment of an independent monitor and democracy in picking union leaders. Schneider has told the Free Press union democracy is “something I’m very interested in … as to having the members of the union pick their leadership.”
It's an area of particular interest to union activists, who have looked to the Teamsters' experience with union democracy as a way to keep the leadership accountable. The UAW currently picks its top leaders by a delegate system at its conventions, although local leaders are selected through direct elections. Union democracy is often described as one member, one vote, and could involve a national election if it were handled as it is at the Teamsters.
The time for member driven reform is now upon us. We cannot afford to wait for the Govt to take action to provide us relief from the McCarron crime syndicate, there isn’t enough time left.
It is time a separate Union be formed that is based on old Agreements and Bylaws that put the member first through secret ballot voting to elect Representatives and to approve contracts.
Because Alex Lopez was a just guy this guy did a lot of damage while he was a Rep.....trust me and now he deserves a monetary reward...
Alex Lopez maybe your pal Hamilton can back you up in your lawsuit.
Doesn’t matter no ones qualified even the ones that were groomed. They say yes to the contractors bully the membership. They don’t have the mental capacity to sit at the table with people with degrees from real institutions of education not guys that took a course and post it as a accomplishment of education.
Go do some side work with Andrew Hamilton POS
Lopez a real test tube Rep “hand picked”
Doesn’t Laura Sullivan (denis daughter) deserve justice from when you and Maria Marcelo railroaded her saying all she does is down load music and it was just a convenient job for her as a aspiring actress. How does it feel to have your livelihood cut at the knees.
“You mad bro?”
I will repay the misery you afforded many
Lopez maybe you can get a job at Frost King or become the factory steward.
Frost King makes weather stripping and insulation kits. The story goes as bunch of factory workers were being treated poorly they sought representation alex Lopez couldn’t get a company signed for his union brothers. But managed to sign them into amalgamated shop NJ council had they also represented Edison DPW and such.
It doesn’t matter UBC will do anything to bring money in their ponzi school of thought
Real Hand Job
Maria didn’t work to hard herself but I bet her and nancy know how to run financials better than Mike pierce
The maps came into play because the mups was being outed as an illegal extortion.
Sooo. They created a quasi legal extortion by implementing a maps ANDDDD a Pecs fund.
Neither were voted on by the members. They use the excuse that " delegates" voted on it.
Thats grand.... Except the ubc constitution says different.
It is illegal.
Pecs. Political Education fund.
Every member has the right to opt out of that.
As precedent set in one of the driving charges in the mups case.
1st Amendment.
No one can force you to donate to a political cause.
On the EAS webpage. You can write a letter and opt out of the pecs.
Btw. Make a copy.
Hang on to it.
Forward your letter to the NRLB.
If you " percieve" there is retaliation for opting out... You are protected.
Sure you have the johnny gumbas in north jersey... Guess what?
They will go to jail.
Its that simple.
Don’t worry he will
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