On September 28, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, the Department filed suit against the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Local 72 (located in Cleveland, Ohio). The lawsuit seeks to nullify the union’s April 29, 2018 regular election of officers. The complaint alleges that the union denied members the right to vote when it failed to make reasonable efforts to update the membership mailing list, obtain better addresses for undelivered ballots, respond timely to member requests for replacement ballots, and count ballots from members missing secret ballot envelopes. The union also failed to maintain adequate safeguards when it provided inconsistent and inadequate notice regarding deadlines and the method of returning ballots. Lastly, the union failed to elect by secret ballot vote when ballot numbers could be matched to an outer envelope and a voter list was maintained linking the ballot numbers to members. The lawsuit follows an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati-Cleveland District Office.

Source: NILRR