DOJ probing claims against UAW President Shawn Fain

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At issue are claims that UAW President Shawn Fain sought favors for his fiancée.The investigation follows a federal monitor's report alleging Fain retaliated against a union vice president.The monitor found Fain's retaliation was partly due to the vice president's refusal to approve bonuses at a training center where Fain's fiancée works.The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain amid claims that he sought favors for his fiancée.“We are going to fight back hard," Fain said in a statement on July 12. Fain also decried the investigation, blaming current UAW Vice President Rich Boyer for attempting to undermine his credibility before the two face off soon in a six-way race for the UAW presidency.Boyer, who has feuded with Fain since 2024, has long claimed Fain disciplined him after he objected to Fain trying to influence him over bonuses at his fiancée's workplace.The news of the investigation comes about two weeks after the monitor overseeing the union for the federal government published a scathing report in federal court, alleging that Fain did, indeed, retaliate unfairly against Boyer in 2024. At that time, Fain stripped Boyer of his duty overseeing the Stellantis Department — the sector of the union with about 40,000 members who work for the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram family of companies.The monitor, Neil Barofsky, found the retaliation was due, in part, because Boyer would not approve bonuses at the Stellantis National Training Center, where Fain's fiancée works. Fain is engaged to Keesha McConaghie, according to his online bio on the UAW's website.McConaghie is a financial analyst at the training center, according to her LinkedIn profile.Shawn Fain on investigation: 'I'm done being silent'In the statement distributed by his campaign, Fain sees the investigation as a political stunt."Let’s be clear about what’s going on here: Rich Boyer has fed the monitor false allegations about me and is now trying to weaponize these bogus allegations to steal the upcoming UAW election," the statement said. "He knows he can’t win a fair fight because he has no real platform to run on. I’m done being silent. Neil Barofsky has a political grudge against me because the UAW took an anti-war stance about what was happening in Gaza.”Fain also previously threatened to fight Barofsky in the parking lot outside of the union’s headquarters, believing the monitor had accused him of being antisemitic. Fain said he has retained a law firm to dispute “the monitor’s trumped-up claims" against him.Barofsky, who has the power to leverage punishment in his duty as monitor, wrote in a footnote in his latest report that he would be deferring punishment "pending further consultation with the parties to the Consent Decree."The monitor spent most of his latest report detailing other issues relating to retaliation against Boyer, and only briefly touched on the alleged malfeasance over the bonuses in question."The Monitor’s investigation 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 monitor wrote.But Barofsky declined to report the details that substantiate this accusation, saying instead he would offer the information to "the parties to the Consent Decree."The parties to the consent decree include the Justice Department and the U.S. District Court in Detroit.The consent decree is the legal agreement reached in 2021 between the UAW and a federal court following an ugly corruption scandal that landed several former union leaders in prison. The union agreed to undergo federal monitorship.The court appointed Barofsky, an independent attorney, and avoided entering a full federal takeover of the union.Barofsky was tasked by the court with overseeing the union and rooting out wrongdoing. He files reports in court about every six months on the status of the union.Boyer could not immediately be reached for comment, and the monitor’s office has not yet issued a statement.Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@freepress.com.