Judge approves lawyer Neil Barofsky as UAW monitor

Barofsky previously was appointed to oversee Credit Suisse Securities and Credit Suisse AG following billion-dollar settlements.

May 12, 2021 12:12 PM

REUTERS

DETROIT — U.S. District Judge David Lawson appointed lawyer Neil Barofsky on Wednesday as an independent monitor to oversee the UAW as part of its six-year corruption case settlement with the federal government.

In a motion approving the government's request to appoint Barofsky, which was supported by the UAW, Lawson wrote that the court "finds that Neil Barofsky is qualified to serve in the role of Monitor, has sufficient knowledge and experience to do so effectively, and is free from any apparent conflict of interest."

Barofsky, a partner at law firm Jenner & Block, previously was appointed to oversee Credit Suisse Securities and Credit Suisse AG following billion-dollar settlements, prosecutors said. He also was an attorney in the Southern District of New York and was appointed inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program instituted by the U.S. Treasury after the Great Recession.

UAW Scandal timeline and key figures: In charges filed since July 2017, federal prosecutors have revealed that millions of dollars intended to train workers was instead spent by some UAW leaders on assorted luxuries. The charges have exposed fraud within the massive U.S. auto manufacturing union. Will this scandal spread? Here is a timeline and our list of key players.

“I am honored by this historic assignment and look forward to working with the UAW and the government in carrying out the Consent Decree," Barofsky said in an emailed statement.

The UAW did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As UAW monitor, he will have the power to bring charges against anyone in the union found to have committed fraud, corruption or illegal behavior, and he has the right to review all "nonconfidential financial data, books, records, audit findings and other similar records" and can disclose that information to members if deemed necessary. Barofsky will also have the right to sit in on all of the union's International Executive Board meetings except for matters "concerning collective bargaining strategy."

His team will oversee a referendum that could change how UAW leaders are elected, as members will vote on whether to adopt a one-member, one-vote system.

The independent monitor is among the key points in a six-year consent decree agreed to after prosecutors found evidence of rampant corruption among top union officers, including its past two presidents. Ex-President Dennis Williams on Tuesday was sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in the scandal, while ex-President Gary Jones awaits sentencing.