Police labor groups to square off in court

Fracas between FOP, Teamsters leads to allegations of racketeering

Email | Print By Walker Duncan

Contention between law enforcement labor groups has led to allegations of racketeering in District Court.

A lawsuit, filed by attorneys from Neal & Harwell on behalf of the Fraternal Order of Police, accuses labor giant the International Brotherhood of Teamsters of racketeering, among other charges.

The IBT took over for the FOP as collective bargaining agent for the Metro Nashville Police Department in 2006. After the IBT took the position, the suit claims an effort arose seeking to decertify the Teamsters and again have the FOP serve as the bargaining agent. To do this, a vote for the bargaining agent would be required.

From here, the allegations are many and varied (and detailed more completely in the lawsuit found here). Central to the alleged scheme, however, was an effort on the part of the Teamsters to discover evidence of improprieties on the part of FOP members in the hopes of gaining the upper had in the impending vote.

To this end, the lawsuit claims that Calvin Hullet, a former Metro Nashville policeman and former president of the FOP – but at the time an employee of the IBT – conducted an investigation under the pretense of being a current Metro officer. The suit claims Hullet installed clandestine surveillance equipment at the FOP’s Youth Camp in Mt. Juliet.

The camp, which hosts multiple groups of underprivileged children throughout the summer, is overseen and run by FOP members.

Additionally, Hullet is accused of enlisting Gary Antol, a convict assigned to serve as caretaker of the camp, to help him gather evidence of improprieties on the part of FOP members. In exchange for his assistance, the complaint claims Hullet promised to have Antol’s sentence suspended.

On July 10, 2007, Hullet allegedly sent e-mails to “a high ranking MNPD official” claiming, among other things, that alcohol was being consumed on the camp grounds. A few days later, the suit claims, he called an official with the General Sessions Court asking if it would be possible to expedite a motion to suspend Antol’s sentence.

On July 14, Hullet was arrested outside the FOP camp, where he was allegedly hoping to retrieve the surveillance equipment.

Filing the lawsuit were Philip N. Elbert, W. David Bridgers, and Kristen Vanderkooi of Neal & Harwell.

A call to the Teamsters’ local office was not immediately returned. NashvillePost.com will update this story with any further details as they emerge.