Close
X
Freedom Foundation

Get in touch

Freedom Foundation
Opt Out Today
  • Blogs
  • Staff
  • Donate
  • Join Us
  • Profiting from a Pandemic
  • Why We Fight
  • Cigars
  • SCOTUS Appeals
Freedom Foundation
Opt Out Today
Freedom Foundation

Contact Info

Freedom Foundation files campaign finance lawsuit against Teamsters Local 117

Press-Release-FEATURED.jpg Press Release Washington
  • Press
  • December 15, 2017

Olympia, WA –  The Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Thurston County Superior Court alleging Teamsters Local 117 attempted to conceal political activity worth tens of thousands of dollars – if not more.

The discrepancies come from a Teamsters-operated “separate segregated fund,” which the union created to preserve its tax-exempt status. This SSF is treated as a distinct, separate entity.  Federal law, however, generally requires these separate organizations to report the source of their funds and how they’re spent.

A loophole in the law allows the SSF not to file these disclosure forms with the federal government if the fund is reporting under state law, and the Teamsters Local 117 Segregated Fund specifically told the IRS it was claiming that exemption.

However, neither the union nor its segregated fund have filed any disclosure reports with the State Public Disclosure Commission during the past five years.

The scheme allowed the union to conceal from the public – and its own members – tens of thousands of dollars of political activity each year.

Among other things, the union employs a “political action director” paid more than $70,000 each year. It also engages in traditional political activity, such as phoning voters and knocking on their doors, and it contributes significant money directly to labor-friendly candidates and to support its chosen ballot measures.

“It is disturbing that the officials Washington State citizens trust to enforce political campaign disclosure laws choose not to pursue entities which engage in significant political activity,” said Eric Stahlfield, the Freedom Foundation’s senior litigation counsel.  “If the laws are complex, confusing, and draconian, the officials should focus on those entities which are deliberately trying to hide massive political efforts from the voters.”

Potential penalties are up to $10,000 for each violation, and $10 for each day the union and/or its segregated fund have not filed required reports. In addition, the union can be fined the amount of each contribution or expenditure not disclosed.

The Freedom Foundation previously asked the Washington State Attorney General’s Office to investigate the Teamsters 117. Because that request was ignored, state law permits the Freedom Foundation to pursue its own lawsuit.


The Freedom Foundation is a member-supported, Northwest-based think and action tank promoting individual liberty, free enterprise and limited, accountable government.

CONTACT:
Eric Stahlfield, Senior Litigation Counsel
(360) 956-3482
estahlfield@FreedomFoundation.com

Recent Blogs

Telling the truth even to those who don’t want to hear it
February 3, 2023
DeSantis supports teachers, not their union masters
February 2, 2023
Opt-out windows just another way unions flout Janus ruling
February 2, 2023
Union Politics, Dollars Upended the Ohio State House
January 26, 2023
Freedom Foundation Reaction to Washington State Supreme Court Hearing on Capital Gains Tax
January 26, 2023

Press Articles

  • Jul 06 — RedState — Janus at 4: Landmark Labor Ruling Helped but Still Needs to be Enforced More Aggressively

    Read The Article

  • Jun 28 — Ineptocracy Chronicles — Teacher Unions Fund Left Wing Politics

    Read The Article

  • Jun 25 — The Hill — States Should Protect Caregivers' Medicaid Funds from Union Skims

    Read The Article

  • Jun 15 — Legal Newsline — Freedom Foundation: 'Education Union Spent More Money on Political Activities than Worker Representation'

    Read The Article

  • Jun 09 — Southern California Record — LA Superior Court Court Reporter Accuses Union of Forging Her Signature on Membership Card

    Read The Article

  • General Inquiries

    Info@FreedomFoundation.com

    Media Inquiries

    avarner@freedomfoundation.com

    Follow Us

             

    Contact Locations

    Washington:

    360-956-3482
    P.O. Box 552 Olympia,
    WA 98507

    Pennsylvania:

    484-747-6072
    P.O. Box 1069 Kennett Square,
    PA 19348

    California:

    949-954-8914
    1442 E Lincoln Ave #440 Orange,
    CA 92865

    Oregon:

    503-951-6208
    P.O. Box 18146 Salem,
    OR 97305

    Ohio:

    380-207-3901
    P.O. Box 14210 Cincinnati,
    OH 45250

    © 2021 Freedom Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
    Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 94-3136961