Teamster Leader Accused of Retaliation

A court-appointed officer has found that acting Teamsters President Tom Sever committed “very serious” violations of union election rules by retaliating against officers and staff aligned with a rival. The ruling from Michael Cherkasky found that Sever and his assistant Sam Carter reassigned staff and canceled union campaigns shortly after the campaign leaders declared their support for Tom Leedham, candidate for Teamsters president with backing from its reform wing. Cherkasky also found that Leedham himself suffered retaliation. In his letter dated Aug. 14 and obtained by the Associated Press, Cherkasky stopped short of disqualifying Sever from running for office. Sever could not be reached for comment and union spokesman Matt Witt declined to comment. Sever, who was the union’s No. 2 official under ousted president Ron Carey, is running for the post on a ticket topped by St. Louis labor leader John Metz. James P. Hoffa is considered the front-runner.