Judge Upholds Ruling In Teamster Dispute

A federal judge has upheld an election officer’s decision to disqualify Ron Carey from seeking re-election as Teamsters president.

U.S. District Judge David N. Edelstein, in a decision dated Tuesday, supported the November decision of Kenneth Conboy, a former federal judge. As special adjudicator, Conboy disqualified Carey after another election officer in August ordered a new election to be conducted in 1998.

Conboy found that Carey participated in the diversion of union funds to his campaign. Challenger James P. Hoofs lost to Carey by less than 4 percentage points in the December 1996 election.

After Conboy’s ruling, Carey said he was taking a leave as president after a federal auditor was named to oversee the union’s finances.