Cintas Appeals RICO and Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against Union Organizations

"We strongly believe in the merits of this case and are hopeful that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals will not allow the District Court's decision to stand," said Scott Farmer, Chief Executive Officer of Cintas Corporation. "We disagree with the recent ruling and remain committed to protecting Cintas and our employees from the unions' ongoing extortion," he added.

Cintas alleges that, for the last six years, UNITE HERE and the above named labor organizations have carried on a campaign of negative, untrue and unlawful attacks against Cintas in an effort to extort concessions from the company that would enable UNITE HERE and the Teamsters to become the official bargaining representatives for Cintas employees without a valid showing of majority support and without those employees ever being able to freely decide whether they want a union. At the outset of its corporate campaign against Cintas, Bruce Raynor, Co-President of UNITE HERE publicly stated he intended to 'break the back' of Cintas if the company did not agree to his demands. The company has long maintained that the right to choose whether to be a member of a union belongs to each individual employee, and has continually reiterated its commitments to protect its employees' rights to the secret ballot election process.

Although the District Court dismissed Cintas' federal claims, the company's state law claims remain viable. Those claims include violations of Ohio's trademark laws and the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act, which is Ohio's version of RICO. The District Court did not dismiss Cintas' state law claims on the merits and, instead, directed that those claims should be litigated in an Ohio court.

Cintas has re-filed its state law claims in the Court of Common Pleas for Warren County, Ohio. In addition to its Corrupt Practices Act and trademark claims, Cintas also has filed a defamation claim detailing a 2004 news release issued by UNITE HERE - which was intentionally made to appear to have been issued by the U.S. government - accusing the company of "widespread and major" labor law violations. The union later acknowledged that the government played no role in the issuance of the press release.

In recent statements made by the executive board of UNITE HERE during the ongoing federal investigation into Bruce Raynor's alleged criminal behavior, they accuse him of creating 'chaos and internal destruction' among the dues-paying members he represents. The UNITE HERE Executive Board has also accused Raynor of using telemarketers and computerized calls to harass union members - another example of why more than 150,000 of his members have left his organization in the past nine years. According to Cintas, other forms of threats and harassment used by Raynor during his years as president of UNITE HERE have backfired and are now being used against him by his members and co-president, John Wilhelm. Cintas believes Raynor's pattern of improper behavior is indicative of the same intentions he has for Cintas employees - the very people he claims to want to represent - should UNITE HERE succeed in its attempt to "break the back" of Cintas and force the company to recognize the union without a valid showing of majority support from Cintas employees.

About Cintas Corporation:

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North America. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid and safety products, fire protection services and document management services to approximately 800,000 businesses. Cintas is a publicly held company traded over the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol CTAS, and is a Nasdaq-100 company and component of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

SOURCE: Cintas Corporation

Cintas Corporation 
Pamela Lowe, Vice President, Corporate Communications, 513-573-4017 
lowep@cintas.com 
or 
Heather Trainer, Corporate Communications Manager, 513-701-2200 
trainerh@cintas.com