Adjourn Guild Case Against Official Who Called Cops; Claim Hearing Officer Biased
By DAVID SIMS
An internal Civil Service Technical Guild hearing over complaints filed against Fred Newton, relating to an altercation between Mr. Newton and another union official at a June union meeting, was adjourned Sept. 10 after disagreements over the legality of the charges and a possible conflict of interest on the hearing committee.

MITCH FEDER: 'A kangaroo court.'

After a vote by the judicial hearing board, it was decided to postpone and convene at a later date.

Occurred at Raucous Hearing

The initial incident, at a June 4 executive board meeting of the Tech Guild, which is Local 375 of District Council 37, was sparked when Mr. Newton took pictures of Jacqueline Odina, second vice president of Chapter 37, as she was held back by other members when she lunged at Behrouz Fathi, the president of the union's New York City Transit chapter.

Over the course of two confrontations, Mr. Newton's camera was then taken away and he alleges he was struck twice by George Sona, a Tech Guild sergeant at arms, who was later arrested and has been charged with attempted assault and larceny.

MICHELLE KELLER: A conflict of interest?

David Grant, president of Chapter 30, brought a complaint July 15 against Mr. Newton that accused him of "speaking without recognition, taking pictures of specific members of the Body, and the continuous disrespect for officials acting to maintain good order." Mr. Grant went on to say that "Brother Newton's out-of-control behavior, which is continuous, has brought negative publicity to our Organization," referring to the criminal charges against Mr. Sona.

The complaint accused Mr. Newton of violating the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees International Constitution, Article X Section 2-J, for "deliberately interfering with any official of the Federation or of a subordinate body in the discharge of such official lawful duties."

The complaint was signed by several other members, including Mr. Sona and Ms. Odina, as well as Michelle Keller, second vice president of Local 375, all of whom are allies of the local's president, Claude Fort.

A Biased Hearing Officer?

At last week's hearing, Ms. Keller removed her name from the complaint so that she could sit as the chair of the judicial committee without any official conflict of interest. Mitch Feder, president of Chapter 25, who unsuccessfully challenged Mr. Fort for president last year, said that because Ms. Keller "co-authored the charges" against Mr. Newton, she had "an internal bias."

Neither Mr. Fort nor Ms. Keller returned calls seeking comment.

During the hearing, Mr. Newton attempted to rebut the complaint, which he said was untimely as he did not receive a copy of it until Aug. 19, well beyond the 15-day period demanded by the AFSCME International Constitution. That constitution also entitles the accused party to a month of legal preparation after receiving the charges, and the hearing was held less than three weeks after Mr. Newton got a copy of the complaint.

According to Mr. Feder, Mr. Newton's attempts to draw attention to these violations were ignored. "In the very beginning he wanted to make a point of procedural order, a move to dismiss, and he was totally shut down by [Ms. Keller]," he said. Mr. Feder later called a point of order which allowed Mr. Newton to speak. "It was a kangaroo court, until the very end, when they realized the man they accused had rights," he said.

Mr. Sona initially stated at the hearing that he had not touched or physically harmed Mr. Newton in the June 4 incident, but later admitted taking the camera away from him, after first alleging that a security guard had taken it, according to Mr. Newton. Mr. Sona's criminal hearing will take place on Sept. 25.

Mr. Feder asserted that the quick scheduling of the union hearing had been an attempt to convince Mr. Newton to drop his charges against Mr. Sona or produce a guilty finding against Mr. Newton that might help in Mr. Sona's criminal defense.