The US Justice Department launched a grand jury investigation into allegations that the head of the United Auto Workers pressured another high-ranking union official to secure benefits for his fiancée and her sister, according to internal communications within the labor organization.
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed the union’s court-appointed monitor as it probes the claims against President Shawn Fain, according to emails seen by Bloomberg News. The messages were sent to Fain, UAW Vice President Rich Boyer and members of the law firm representing the union.
Fain called the allegations “false” in a statement to Bloomberg and accused Boyer, whose complaints to the monitor drew early scrutiny to union leadership, of trying to influence the upcoming UAW election. Boyer didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment about Fain’s accusations against him.
Steven Fagell, an attorney with Covington & Burling, which represents the union, said in an email that the UAW broadly is not the subject of a grand jury investigation. The DOJ didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours. A representative for the monitor declined comment.
While probes by federal prosecutors can end without any charges being brought, the DOJ’s action intensifies pressure on the scandal-plagued union, which resolved a long-running corruption probein 2020 when it agreed to the appointment of the monitor to keep watch over the UAW’s governance. That prior investigation, conducted before Fain was elected, uncovered corruption in the upper ranks, including embezzlement of union funds and other efforts to cover up misuse of cash that sent two past union presidents and other UAW leaders to prison.
The new probe concerns claims that Fain sought a financial bonus for his fiancée and pushed for a worker’s compensation claim for her sister. He allegedly retaliated against Boyer for refusing to approve the benefits by stripping the official of his duties as chief negotiator with Stellantis NV, the maker of Jeep and Ram vehicles. The allegations became public last month in a report by the court-appointed monitor, but the DOJ investigation hasn’t previously been reported.
Neil Barofsky, an attorney with Jenner & Block, said in the monitor report that it had “substantiated the claim that President Fain acted improperly to obtain financial benefits for his fiancée, and that Vice President Boyer’s failure to approve the bonus may have contributed to Fain’s retaliatory action against him.”
The claims have led to an acrimonious fight between the two union leaders, who are set to face off in the UAW election this fall. Both Fain and Boyer have slates running and each is accusing the other of attempting to abuse their positions to benefit family.
“I’ve remained silent on the political infighting in our union over the past two years because it only distracts from our mission as a union and as a movement,” Fain said in a statement. “But the stakes are too high, and the membership deserves to know the truth.”
Fain told Bloomberg that his relationship with Boyer soured starting in the first month of his presidency after he refused the vice president’s request to hire family members to positions in the union. He said he took Boyer’s duties away from him not as retaliation but because Stellantis had not fulfilled hiring promises and a pledge to bring work back to a plant in Illinois.
Fain said he has hired a law firm to challenge the “trumped-up claims against me.”
Grand Jury Investigation
In an email sent June 18 to Fain, Boyer and lawyers for the union, a Jenner & Block attorney informed the UAW that it withheld certain details of its findings on the allegations against Fain “out of deference to a Grand Jury investigation DOJ has initiated into that issue.” The messages also informed the union that the monitor was subpoenaed by the DOJ.
“The Monitor intends to comply with the Grand Jury subpoena and, in doing so, intends to redact or otherwise withhold any materials that reflect attorney-client communications involving UAW counsel,” according to the email.
Fain pushed back against Barofsky last month, saying in an open letter that the monitor had issued a “false report,” which he claimed was politically motivated and stemmed from a dispute in February 2024, months after the union’s executive board approved a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Barofsky had criticized the position in a meeting with the union’s board in February of that year, which led to a heated argument with Fain.
The monitor’s allegations threaten to tarnish the reputation of Fain, who is trying to maintain the momentum from a successful 2023 strike against Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis that helped secure significant wage gains for workers. The bombastic leader won a close runoff earlier that year, the first direct vote by union members in the UAW’s 90-year history.
Fain is seeking reelection this year with his slate of candidates for other top offices and will run against Boyer to head the union, which represents more than 400,000 workers. The two have previously clashed over a number of personnel-related matters, including promotions for Fain’s allies in the union, the latest monitor report said.
Those events culminated in Fain’s decision in May 2024 to demote Boyer and remove some responsibilities from UAW Treasurer-Secretary Margaret Mock. Barofsky’s office said in a previous report that Fain should not have punished Mock, and called both moves part of a pattern of retaliation.
