MIAMI, Fla. (April 12, 2001) — National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have forced Teamsters Local 769 to pay a monetary settlement for its direct involvement in a bloody attack on Rod Carter during the 1997 nationwide Teamsters strike against United Parcel Service (UPS).

Carter, a UPS driver who suffered severe injuries for choosing to work during the strike in order to feed his family, settled the racketeering and civil conspiracy case pending in Florida’s Circuit Court for Dade County against Local 769 for an undisclosed amount of money. (As part of the settlement, Carter and his attorneys are barred from revealing specific details of the agreement.)

“Rod and his family are very pleased with the settlement and feel that the union has finally been forced to pay a price for its involvement in the bloody assault,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal aid to victims of compulsory unionism abuse.

Carter, a linebacker for the 1989 University of Miami Hurricanes and former 10th round draft choice of the Dallas Cowboys, continued to work during the strike in order to support his family, despite the objections of union officials.

After Rod Carter appeared on the evening news to explain why he did not support the strike, he received a threatening phone call at his home. Phone records proved that the phone call was placed from the house of the Teamsters Local 769 president Anthony Cannestro, Sr.

The next day, a group of union militants tracked Carter down on his delivery route, drew him out of his UPS truck, and severely beat and stabbed him. After the bloody attack but before any arrests, at least one assailant was returned to the picket line to continue participating in strike activities. Union officials later used union funds to bail out the assailants and helped to line up legal representation (as had been promised in advance of the violation).

Carter filed a lawsuit against the Teamsters Local 769 union for encouraging and condoning the violence. The lawsuit charged the attackers and union officials with civil conspiracy, assault and battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and loss of consortium. And the suit charged the Local 769 with racketeering.

“The settlement in this case should send a message to union officials across America – violence does not pay,” said Gleason.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.