When a local firefighter’s union in New Haven, Connecticut voted to leave a statewide union that they believed didn’t represent their interests, state union officials did everything they could to keep their hands on the local union’s money.

But with the Fairness Center’s free legal help, the local firefighters accomplished their goals—and exposed financial corruption in the process.

Local Firefighters Attempt to Cut Ties with Statewide Union

When Frank Ricci became president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 825, he and the executive board implemented a plan to improve the union’s finances. They assessed the services their statewide affiliate union, the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut (UPFFA), was providing and decided that the benefits didn’t justify the costs.

So, in 2016, the Local 825 executive board voted to end their membership in the statewide firefighters union.

That didn’t sit well with UPFFA officials, who tried to convince the local union to reconsider their decision and resume dues payments. When that didn’t work, statewide union officials hired a collections agency to recover $52,000 in dues they claimed Local 825 still owed. Someone even called Frank’s mother and told her he was going to jail if he didn’t pay.

Local 825 finds representation; statewide union retaliates

In March of 2018, Frank called the Fairness Center and we accepted Local 825 as the firm’s first Connecticut client. On Local 825’s behalf, we filed a lawsuit to affirm the local union’s separation from UPFFA and to bar UPFFA from collecting membership dues they were not entitled to.

UPFFA then charged Local 825’s leadership with “conduct unbecoming a union member” to remove them from their local union leadership positions, which would have derailed Local 825’s litigation. In response, the Fairness Center took on Frank and his colleague as clients, filing an injunction to halt the union charges to allow the larger case to continue. The injunction was granted and UPFFA’s retaliation failed.

Widespread Corruption Uncovered in Discovery

The discovery process and UPFFA officials’ depositions revealed that the statewide union had been mishandling members’ dues. In fact, UPFFA’s president had used union money to pay for vacations, expensive meals, baseball games, and other questionable expenses. UPFFA’s treasurer even admitted to knowingly misreporting $20,000 in political action committee funds.

Local firefighters win independence

In the end, after 130 court filings, Local 825 achieved a ruling that upheld its independence, exposed UPFFA officials’ financial misdeeds, and reached a settlement that required them to pay nothing to the statewide union.

“State union bureaucrats who don’t fight fires are trying to pick our pockets. We left the state union more than two years ago, and they aren’t entitled to a cent from us since then—especially after they betrayed our trust by misusing our money. Because the state union won’t honor our choice to leave, we’re asking the court to step in. We are risking our lives to fight for the community. We shouldn’t also have to fight state union bureaucrats.” – Frank Ricci

IAFF, Local 825 v. UPFFA has been settled.

Documents

• Complaint – March 6, 2018
• Plaintiff’s Motion for Temporary Injunction – June 5, 2018
• Amended Complaint – November 13, 2018
• Temporary Restraining Order – December 10, 2018
• Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment – January 7, 2019

March 6, 2018: “Local 825 only believed it was paying to educate state lawmakers on issues important to firefighters … but after cutting ties with the state union, they learned UPFFA was allegedly misusing their funds.”

May 7, 2018: “UPFFA betrayed the trust of IAFF Local 825’s firefighters by charging them legislative-only dues but then spending their dues money on non-legislative items…About which IAFF Local 825 did not know or agree.”

July 23, 2018: “Local 825 has a rich history of advocating for its members and prioritizing the safety of the community we serve. In the two years since that unanimous vote, however, the UPFFA has refused to honor our decision to leave. Instead, it utilized bully tactics and continued demanding thousands of dollars in dues payments that we do not owe.”

December 13, 2018: “It was a victory for the New Haven firefighters union in its lawsuit against the state union. A judge ruled the union, Local 825, is effectively disaffiliated from the Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association of Connecticut.”