On Oct. 29, the Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters’ Independent Rev. Bd. charged Joseph A. Padellaro, a top aide to disgraced former IBT boss Ron Carey, with embezzling at least $12,650 and with breaching his fiduciary duty to IBT members. During his administration, Carey relied heavily on Padellaro to “clean up” locals that had been placed into trusteeship because of allegedly corrupt leadership.
IRB accused Padellaro of repeated double-dipping of hotel and airline expenses from 1995 to 1998. He allegedly bought airplane tickets that were paid for by the parent union and then asking various locals to reimburse him for the trips. IRB asked the IBT’s president, James P. Hoffa, to pursue disciplinary proceedings that could lead to a fine in the amount of the embezzled funds against Padellaro. He resigned from the union in May 1999, and thus, cannot be suspended or expelled.
Padellaro is the ex-secretary-treasurer of IBT Local 686 in North Andover, Mass, until he resigned from the post Feb. 1997. In 1994, he was appointed by Carey as his special assistant, at a salary of $90,000 per year, to coordinate the trusteeships of Teamsters locals. Between 1992 and 1998, Carey appointed Padellaro as trustee for a total of 16 IBT union locals and two joint councils. He held several of these trusteeship positions simultaneously.
Padellaro knew from his experience as an international trustee that double dipping in the reimbursement of expenses was fraudulent and a violation of the IBT constitution, IRB’s report charges. Padellaro‘s actions breached his fiduciary duties to members and brought reproach upon the IBT, IRB’s report states. Reportedly, because of the high position that he held in the union, a more severe penalty might be imposed. [N.Y. Times 10/30/99; BNA 11/2/99]