JURY VERDICT IN “TOP CHEF” UNION EXTORTION TRIAL “TAKES THE CAKE”

"If the law supposes that," said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, "the law is a ass - a idiot".

Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens (1838)

In a surprising turn of events, a federal jury in Boston has found members of the Teamsters Union not guilty on charges of extortion in an ugly case of union hardball tactics against the production crew and cast of the television show “Top Chef” while the show was filming in Boston in 2014.

I first wrote about this case in 2016 following the federal indictment of members of Teamsters Local 25 and one member entering a guilty plea to extortion.  Prior to finding the union members not guilty of extortion in attempting to force the show to hire non-union workers, the jury had been instructed by U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock that the prosecution had the burden of proving that the four Teamsters didn’t just want to replace non-union workers with union workers, but were instead trying to force Top Chef to hire Teamsters for truck-driving work the show neither wanted nor needed.  The judge further instructed jurors that replacing non-union workers would be a legal and legitimate labor objective.  Attorneys for the Teamsters had argued to the jury that the union members could not be convicted on federal extortion charges, even if they had made threats, if they had legitimate labor objectives in mind. To put this in perspective, let’s look back at my original post on the case, in which the Teamster Union’s tactics were described:

From the picket line outside the Milton restaurant, the members of Local 25 screamed racist, sexist and homophobic threats and slurs for hours as production crew and cast came and went.  Some of the worst conduct was directed toward the show’s host. When Lakshmi arrived at the scene, one of the union members rushed her car and screamed “We’re gonna bash that pretty face in, you f***ing whore!”  Local 25 members picketed the restaurant, physically roughed up members of the production crew, and slashed the tires of fourteen production workers.   In responding to local media reports of the incident at the time, a Local 25 spokeswoman stated, “As far as we’re concerned, nothing happened.”

U.S. Attorney William Weinreb expressed disappointment in the jury’s verdict. “The government believed, and continues to believe, that the conduct in this case crossed the line and constituted a violation of federal law. The defendants’ conduct was an affront to all of the hard-working and law-abiding members of organized labor. We will continue to aggressively prosecute extortion in all its forms to ensure that Boston remains a safe and welcoming place to do business.”

It bears mention that prior to the trial, an indicted official of Local 25 pled guilty to federal extortion charges in connection with union threats of physical violence and production disruption against the cast and crew of the top-rated culinary reality show.

In light of the egregious and undisputed facts of the union’s conduct, and the apparent strength of the government’s case at the time of the indictment, the not guilty verdict comes as a surprise.  The Northeast is a more union-friendly environment, and it is possible that may have had some influence on the jury.  As noted in my original post, there also was a local political angle.  However, if the existing labor law, as given to the jury in their instructions,  permits the type of thuggish behavior shown in this case, it begs the question of what conduct would be not be permitted?