Among his contentions, the former CEO of Ferry Cap & Screw believes he was defamed when false rumors were spread regarding his role with Halstead Thermal Processing.

A former chief executive officer of Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co. has filed a lawsuit against the company accusing it of wrongfully discharging him after he complained about the “adverse and detrimental activities” of the CEO of a sister company.

Ex-CEO Joseph McAuliffe’s legal complaint alleges the problem began in January 2011 when parent company Doncasters Group Ltd indicated it was considering selling its fastener division, which is composed of Ferry Cap and Elyria-based Nelson Stud Welding, Inc.

McAuliffe took it upon himself to contact private equity groups and initiate a financial analysis of the potential sale of the company. The groups signed strict confidentiality agreements.

During the course of the process, McAuliffe claims to have uncovered information regarding the activities of Kenneth Caratelli, the CEO of Nelson Stud Welding, which was “likely to have a detrimental and adverse impact on Ferry Cap and Doncasters’ business.”

McAuliffe took his concerns to Bill Sickman, Doncasters’ human resources manager, in an effort to protect the companies’ interests. Rather than being rewarded, McAuliffe was told he was being terminated for disclosing Ferry Cap’s confidential information without authorization.

McAuliffe alleges he was actually terminated in retaliation for disclosing Caratelli’s malfeasance and believes Doncaster acted with “malice and reckless indifference” toward his fiduciary duty as CEO to protect the company.

In addition, he accuses Caratelli of convening a May 2, 2012 meeting of senior managers at Ferry Cap, where he told them McAuliffe was fired for improperly sharing private company information.

McAuliffe also accuses real estate broker Kevin M. Kelly of defamation. He claims Kelly spread a false rumor that McAuliffe was “being investigated for having an inappropriate ownership relationship with Halstead Thermal Processing,” a vendor located in the Lake Erie Screw building.

As a result of these disclosures, McAuliffe says he “has fallen into disfavor in the fastener industry,” and has lost job opportunities with Mayfran International and Precision Castparts Corp. McAuliffe admits to having had a $300,000-a-year salary as CEO of Ferry Cap.

McAuliffe is seeking damages for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, defamation, and intentional interference with a business relationship.

Doncasters, Caratelli, and Kelly have denied any wrongdoing. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year.

In other legal news…Judge James S. Gwin last week extended until 11:00 p.m. on March 15 a temporary restraining order forcing Ferry Cap’s union workers to work overtime. Judge Gwin indicated the company could not require any employee to work more than ten hours per day on weekdays and no more than eight hours per day on either Saturday or Sunday, but not both days. Ferry Cap believes some of its workers have violated their collective bargaining contract and is suing them.

The boarded-up house may be demolished. The bowing walls are not plainly visible from the street, but the sharply bowed roof beam is a clear indication of major structural problems.

The Board of Building Standards on Thursday unanimously voted to uphold the Division of Housing and Building’s public nuisance designation of the two-family house at 1214 Gladys Avenue.

The city was tipped off about the house’s unsafe condition on January 14 by Craig Lovejoy who reluctantly e-mailed photos of the structure to the division. “I really don’t like to have to be the one to bring this to your attention but it is only a matter of time before we have a complete collapse of the roof structure,” he wrote.

Assistant Building Director Jeff Fillar told the Board that the building inspector who investigated Lovejoy’s complaint was “a little befuddled” by the scene because he’d never seen anything quite like it before.

As images of the house’s bowed exterior walls, failed roof, and contorted presence were projected onto a screen, Fillar said one of his primary concerns was the potential collapse of the structure’s brick chimney onto the residence next-door.

Fillar said the condition of the house had noticeably worsened since the nuisance designation was issued on January 29. Both natural gas and electricity service to the home had been shut off as a precaution.

Fire Marshall Timothy Dunphy toured the exterior of property and told the Board it looked like the sill plate had slipped off of the concrete foundation. He peered through an open back door and saw collapsed kitchen floor joists.

Dunphy also noticed a large hole in the rear of roof, detected a strong odor of mold and suspected the existence of major water damage.

Homeowner James Bogner, who was appealing the nuisance designation, explained to the Board that he’d been battling illness for the last two years. He was diagnosed with diabetes and had his thyroid removed last March at the Cleveland Clinic. He had been the sole occupant of the house until he was forcibly removed.

Bogner didn’t offer any defense to the city’s claims. He said a structural engineer who examined the house found that the primary load-bearing basement support beam shifted off of its support posts.

Bogner didn’t know what it would cost to repair the damage, and seemed to think it was DIY project. He said he’d been accumulating support beams and purchased 12 housejacks. “I was gonna fix it myself,” he said.

Chairman Michael Molinski summed up the Board’s position: “This is a nuisance by definition. This house is a danger.”

A little bit of caution can help keep your property safe and ensure the only time you see a firetruck up close is at the Fourth of July parade.

Thanks to advances in technology, improvements to building codes, and increased consumer product industry regulation, the total number of house fires nation-wide has dropped significantly over the past 35 years.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, 370,000 house fires occurred in 2011, a number almost equal to half of the total incidents that occurred in 1977.

Each time a structure fire occurs in the city, the Division of Fire performs an investigation to determine its cause.

Below is a list of reports covering the last 13 fires of 2012. (Two other fires to occur during this period, one at 17437 Shaw Avenue and the other at 17225 Clifton Boulevard, are still under investigation.)

Some of these incidents could have been avoided with commonsense, while others could have happened to anyone.

Tip: When cooking outdoors with a grill or smoker, extinguish the coals or ashes before returning the device to the garage. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage – single-family house
Address: 1535 Woodward Avenue
Date: November 11, 2012

Tip: If a bathroom fan stops working, check the fuse box and turn the electricity off. (Read report)
Incident location: Bathroom – apartment
Address: 1685 Lincoln Avenue
Date: November 7, 2012

Tip: If a power outage occurs while cooking on an electric stovetop, turn the burner controls to the off position. (Read report)
Incident location: Kitchen – apartment
Address: 1336 Hird Avenue
Date: October 30, 2012

Tip: When installing a natural gas-burning fireplace log, be certain it won’t generate more heat than the fireplace is rated to handle. (Read report)
Incident location: Living room – two-family house
Address: 13485 Clifton Boulevard
Date: October 30, 2012

Tip: Store outdoor garbage cans a healthy distance away from occupied structures, and don’t use a fake security camera. (Read report)
Incident location: Exterior garbage cans – apartment
Address: 1353 Mathews Avenue
Date: August 27, 2012

Tip: Limit the time of use and level of voltage when using a jury-rigged extension cord set-up. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage – single-family house
Address: 1473 Larchmont Avenue
Date: July 6, 2012

Tip: Discard smoking material in a secure container. (Read report)
Incident location: Bedroom – single-family house
Address: 1449 Parkhaven Row
Date: July 3, 2012

Tip: Hire a licensed electrician when upgrading electrical systems – and think twice before utilizing extra basement space to grow marijuana. (Read report)
Incident location: Kitchen – two-family house
Address: 2083 Quail Street
Date: June 24, 2012

Tip: Keep children away from incense burners. (Read report)
Incident location: Hallway – apartment
Address: 1385 Manor Park Avenue
Date: June 22, 2012

Tip: Discard smoking material in a secure container. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage  - single-family house
Address: 1440 Robinwood Avenue
Date: June 6, 2012

Tip: Keep yard debris a safe distance from electrical receptacles. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage – single-family house
Address: 1588 Cordova Avenue
Date: April 30, 2012

Tip: Discard smoking material in a secure container. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage – two-family house
Address: 1245-47 Brockley Avenue
Date: March 25, 2012

Tip: Don’t overload power outlets with electronic devices. (Read report)
Incident location: Living room – single-family house
Address: 1466 Ridgewood Avenue
Date: March 13, 2012

A school student waits as a train passes at the Nicholson Avenue railroad crossing.

A train rolled through the set of railroad tracks north of Detroit Avenue, known as the Nickel Plate line, on 178 separate occasions during the final three months of 2012, according to the latest data available from Norfolk Southern Corporation.

Taken all together it may seem like a lot of train traffic, but a closer look at the numbers shows a daily average of just two trains.

At least one train traveled across the rails each day with the exception of a couple of days around Christmas and then again for two days in early November when the tracks were silent.

Daily Norfolk Southern train traffic from October through December 2012. Click on the image for a larger view.

The highest number of trains to pass by in a single day was five. It happened on three separate occasions, each time on a Thursday or Friday, which tended to be the busiest days of the week.

Believe it or not, the daily average was much higher prior to 1998 when Norfolk Southern Corp. signed a memorandum of agreement with Lakewood, Bay Village, and Rocky River to cap train traffic at no more than an average of 13.9 daily.

Prior to the agreement, an average of 34 locomotives rumbled across the line each day. Norfolk Southern was able to accomplish the reduction by moving much of the traffic to its Chicago line, located south of Birdtown.

Ward 2 Councilperson Thomas Bullock a couple of years ago hosted a Public Works Committee meetings that focused on rail issues. The primary gripes concerned high decibel train horns and herbicide discharges.

Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co. is one of the oldest businesses in the region.

Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co., the city’s eighth largest employer, is accusing some its workers of refusing to work overtime to protest the company’s decision to transfer their jobs from the Templar Industrial Park near Birdtown to a facility in Elyria.

The company, which manufactures screws and fasteners used by companies like Caterpillar Inc. to produce diesel engines, filed a request for injunction on Tuesday in U.S. District Court seeking to end what it believes is an illegal strike held in violation of its collective bargaining agreement.

In its complaint, Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co. stated that should the refusal to work overtime continue, it would jeopardize the company’s ability to fulfill customer orders in a timely manner and create a “dire” situation that could cease business operations altogether.

The injunction request was filed against 13 machine operators (incidentally, none of whom reside in the city), their union representative, and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, District Lodge 54.

The union represents 56 hourly production and maintenance workers at the facility. The city estimates the company has 120 employees in Lakewood.

Company announced equipment relocation a year ago

Doncasters Group Ltd., a global conglomerate and the owner of Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co., announced in February 2012 its intention to consolidate the operations of its fastener unit and relocate the heading equipment – the machines used to make screws and fasteners – and related personnel to its Nelson Stud Welding facility in Elyria. All employees would keep their jobs and seniority.

Doncasters indicated the move was necessary in order to create a structure based on Centers of Excellence, maximize its assets and become more competitive in the global market.

Union: Consolidation ‘just doesn’t smell right’

Within a month of the consolidation announcement, union representatives fired off a letter to Tariq Jesrai, Doncasters Group Ltd.’s chairman and chief executive officer, questioning the motives and financial sense behind the move.

The union expressed wariness that an important part of the very profitable Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co. would be disassembled to help prop up the bottom line of a lesser sister company.

The union suggested it would cost at least $1 million to relocate the equipment, and another $500,000 annually to transport parts between the two facilities, thereby diminishing any financial gain.

More pointedly, the union leveled a not-so-subtle threat and suggested if its members declined to relocate to Elyria to set-up and operate the machines, the company stood a greater than 50% chance of losing lucrative industrial customers due to supply disruptions.

The letter also contained a mention of concern about the use of consultants and managing directors who didn’t have the company’s best interests at heart.

Taken all together, “something just doesn’t smell right to us and we hope you feel the same way as well,” the letter concluded.

Relocation of heading machines used to manufacture screws like the ones seen above are at the crux of the conflict.

Union filed grievance over relocation of equipment

Since the relocation announcement was made, only two heading machines have been moved to Elyria.

The header machine operators, header wireman and auxiliary operators filed a grievance in August 2012 after one of the machines was removed during the prior month and claimed it violated terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

The grievance charged that the removal constituted a material change in the equipment available for production and could potentially impact wage hours and incentives.

In addition, it alleged an effort was being made to subcontract work to another facility “without sound economical justification” since the machine was not generating a greater output and was said to be inoperable at the time of the grievance.

The union members’ desired settlement included retroactive wages to December 2007, and the more generous hourly wage increases contained in the prior union contract.

The grievance is scheduled for arbitration next month.

Company demands union action to halt ‘economic pressure’

It is not clear from court documents when exactly workers at Ferry Cap and Set Screw Co. allegedly began to refuse to take part in overtime activities.

On January 18, the company’s director of operations, Steve Duplessis, sent a communication to union representative Jack K. Baker seeking an end to the situation.

In the missive, Duplessis accused the machine operators of “refusing to work overtime as part of a concert effort to put economic pressure” on the company. He suggested the action is regarded as an work stoppage in violation of the union contact that states, “There shall be no strikes, stoppages or slowdowns by the Union…”

Duplessis revealed the company is investigating the possibility of terminating the machine operators and taking action against the Union for breach of contract.

According to the contract, the operators’ annual salary is between $44,408 and $49,358.

He asked the Union to disavow the activities of the machine operators and to instruct them to “resume their normal work habits and accept overtime work in accordance with their usual practice.”

What’s the future of Ferry Cap and Set Screw Co. in Lakewood?

It’s not known exactly how many jobs are leaving Lakewood for Elyria, nor is it known what the move will mean for Ferry Cap and Set Screw Co.’s future in the city.

Union representative Jack K. Baker did not return telephone requests to comment on the situation.  Ferry Screw representative Ed Huber also did not respond to telephone and e-mail requests to elaborate on the matter.

The company moved its headquarters to Lakewood in 2008, after spending more than 110 years on Scranton Road in the Flats.  It employed about 160 people that year and leased about 140,000 square feet in the Lake Erie Building complex, according to a Plain Dealer report at the time.

Crain’s Cleveland Business reported the company filled in part of the 300,000 square feet of space vacated when Lake Erie Screw moved from the 500,000 square-foot complex to Frankfort, KY in 2004.