Justice Department opens grand jury probe tied to UAW leader

The Justice Department has begun a grand jury investigation into allegations involving United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, Bloomberg News reported, citing internal union communications. The inquiry adds pressure on the UAW as Fain seeks reelection and the union remains under oversight from a court-appointed monitor.

According to Bloomberg, a federal grand jury subpoenaed the monitor while examining claims that Fain pressed another senior union official to approve benefits for his fiancée and her sister. Bloomberg reported that the communications were sent to Fain, UAW Vice President Rich Boyer and lawyers representing the union.

Fain denied the allegations in a statement to Bloomberg, calling them false. He accused Boyer, whose complaints helped draw attention from the monitor, of trying to affect the coming UAW election, Bloomberg reported. Boyer did not respond to multiple Bloomberg requests for comment on Fain’s accusation.

Steven Fagell, a Covington & Burling lawyer representing the UAW, said in an email cited by Bloomberg that the union as a whole is not the target of a grand jury investigation. Bloomberg reported that the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours, and that a representative for the monitor declined to comment.

Claims center on benefits and retaliation

The allegations concern whether Fain sought a financial bonus for his fiancée and pushed for a workers’ compensation claim involving her sister, according to Bloomberg. The claims also include an allegation that Fain retaliated against Boyer after Boyer did not approve the benefits by removing him as chief negotiator with Stellantis, the automaker behind Jeep and Ram vehicles.

The allegations became public last month in a report by the court-appointed monitor, Bloomberg reported. Neil Barofsky, a Jenner & Block lawyer involved in the monitor’s work, said in that report that the monitor had substantiated a claim that Fain acted improperly to obtain financial benefits for his fiancée, and that Boyer’s refusal to approve the bonus may have played a role in Fain’s action against him.

Bloomberg reported that a June 18 email from a Jenner & Block attorney told Fain, Boyer and UAW lawyers that the monitor withheld some details of its findings out of deference to a Justice Department grand jury investigation. The email also said the monitor intended to comply with the subpoena while withholding or redacting materials that reflected attorney-client communications with UAW counsel.

Union election fight intensifies

Fain and Boyer are expected to compete in the UAW election this fall, Bloomberg reported, with both men running slates and accusing the other of using union power to benefit relatives. Fain told Bloomberg that his relationship with Boyer worsened early in his presidency after he rejected Boyer’s request to hire family members into union jobs.

Fain said he removed Boyer’s duties because Stellantis had not met commitments on hiring and bringing work back to a plant in Illinois, Bloomberg reported. Fain also said he hired a law firm to contest what he called “trumped-up claims” against him.

The UAW agreed in 2020 to the appointment of a monitor to resolve a federal corruption investigation, Bloomberg reported. That earlier case, which predated Fain’s election, uncovered wrongdoing in the union’s leadership ranks, including embezzlement and efforts to conceal misuse of funds, and sent two former UAW presidents and other union officials to prison.

Fain won the UAW presidency in 2023 in the union’s first direct election by members, Bloomberg reported. The union represents more than 400,000 workers, and Fain has been seeking to build on the 2023 strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis that helped deliver major wage gains for members, according to Bloomberg.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.