Boston Judge Rules Against IAFF-FC Motion to Dismiss
Boston Judge Rules Against IAFF-FC Motion to Dismiss
Court sustains whistleblower status, dealing a damaging blow to IAFF-FC case.

The fact that our union's Financial Corporation lawyers filed a motion to strip an employee of federal legal protections for reporting possible financial malfeasance and ethical concerns should worry every IAFF member. Worse are the quotes from the Court ruling that describes the alleged ethical and legal violations.
For example on page 4 of the court ruling:
"Instead, because Natixis and Franklin Templeton declined to “pay to play” Becker insisted that Hughes discuss with Baystate the possibility of receiving “kickbacks” from Baystate, while IAFF-FC’s registered investment advisor application was pending with the SEC."
And then again on page 5:
"Nevertheless, on May 27, 2022, Baystate confirmed that it “was in fact willing to make kickback payments” to IAFF-FC while it awaited SEC approval, and that, while Baystate “could not legally make the payments” until the investment advisor application was approved, it would “simply falsely characterize the fees as ‘convention or marketing fees’” and “essentially pay the fees under the table.”

This case is far from over as new details, evidence, and allegations are almost certainly to follow once former Director Hughes' amended complaint is published by the Court.
Our union should not be accused of backroom deals, facing allegations of kickbacks, or proposing pay-to-play schemes on the backs of our members financial investments.
The IAFF and our IAFF Financial Corporation should be led by ethical people who earned our trust. Offering, proposing, or even considering doing business with a company that would attempt to "falsely characterize" commission fees to be paid "under the table" as "convention or marketing fees" should not be, but seems to be the way of our union's current regime.
Because Ed Kelly and his appointed team refused to listen to the expert with the regulatory knowledge, and securities certifications and licenses, our IAFF brand, and our wholly owned IAFF Financial Corporation have been reported to a federal agency and the witness has been affirmed by a federal judge to meet the standard of a Dodd-Frank Whistleblower.
The last time our IAFF brand was investigated by a federal agency, it was on the heels of then-GST Kelly's leaked audit report which vaguely alleged that the union had wrongly paid millions of dollars in compensation and benefits. That report, leak and the following internal investigation cost our IAFF members millions of dollars in legal fees and yet generated only more smoke and mirrors -- and no indictments, no arrests, no significant findings, and no malfeasance. Yes, there were clerical errors, there was bad, decades-old advice of legal counsel, and there were procedures and protocols that needed to be updated and fixed.
But the investigation by the federal government and the EPC (Ethical Practice Committee) reports themselves (which cost over a million dollars of our union dues) never led to any confirmation of actual intent or fraud by the IAFF, or our Executive Board.
Now we find our union again reported to a outside federal agency with audio recordings, interviews, and records of an alleged plan to, according to court documents, deliver a letter to the SEC that was "perceived to be false representations of the services the advisory firm would actually provide" with IAFF-FC COO "Becker and IAFF President Edward Kelly’s representative, Bernie Winne" going so far as to try to “coerce” the whistleblower "to support the letter, and threatened his job if he continued to resist."

This is not the mission, brand, or direction any of us want for our IAFF or our IAFF Financial Corporation -- yet it is where Ed Kelly put us.
Judge Angel Kelley made it clear when she said that, "A focus on the overall purpose demonstrated in the written correspondence...is in line with the core objective of the Dodd-Frank to encourage whistleblowers to come forward."
The IAFF whistleblower's lawsuit alleges three specific things:
- First, the IAFF-FC directed him to negotiate a deal that would cost our members money, in one case asking firms “to pay $250,000.00 up front to the IAFF-FC for the opportunity to do business with [it].”
- Next the IAFF-FC was offered a "20% concession fee" that would be falsely and possibly fraudulently documented as a convention or marketing fee to hide it from regulatory authorities.
- And then third, that Ed Kelly was personally warned about the consequences of this course of action and then terminated the whistleblower, going so far as to offer a severance payment that was “geared to ensur[e] his silence.”
This is the dangerous direction our union is headed, and we must change course. Our IAFF and brand of excellent service, public safety, trust, and honor is on the line.
I know that many of you are new labor leaders, you're busy, your local is busy, and you're fighting important battles for your union members at home. Sisters and Brothers, as a former local President, I know that you have the hardest job in the union with countless hours spent at all times of the day and week getting the job done.
But I must ask you, does this District Court Judge's ruling not scare you about the leadership and future of our IAFF? Are you not concerned about the hundreds of thousands of dollars of member's money being spent defending the alleged unethical and possibly illegal actions of a our unions leadership and top appointees?
I am... and I hope that you'll join me in the fight for what's right, ethical, and moral so we can deliver on the promise of true trade-unionism.
Stay safe and I'll have more to share soon.










