This petition is in support of a former 17-year Teamster brother Mark Sorani who was removed from the CSATF drivers' roster in August of 2021. Years prior to this Mark was injured at work and given prescription opioid medication for the physical pain and unknowingly medicated himself into a dependency he had never known of before. During this time there was an opioid epidemic and at some point, these pills became available throughout our industry including within our department. They were often irresponsibly prescribed by local physicians unfortunately resulting in co-workers sharing and using them without a prescription. This was not an isolated problem affecting only one department. There were co-workers becoming sick and unable to show up for work and very sadly a driver who did not survive this disease. It's very hard to believe that this problem was not known by CSATF or the Union. We know the problem was ignored and that Mark did not have anyone to turn to at work for help and like so many others kept quiet.

Due to being terminated his wife of 23 years and two teenage kids have been subjected to massive financial, mental and social stress. Unable to send his daughter to college, unable to buy his son a car, and having lost their small business along with their savings. His wife works with autistic kids, and her career has been severely impacted due to the daily stress of struggling to get by. Mark was an outstanding driver who was very respected and gave everything to his career and family. Mark and his family were well known throughout our department; they have literally taken the fall for that entire work-related prescription pill epidemic which is now in the past. Nobody is arguing the producer/union agreement nor are we debating Mark did nothing wrong. We feel the punishment is above and beyond the provided information here and wrecking an entire family's life is too severe to be ignored. It is also worth mentioning on August 11th, 2021, Mark was suspended from the CSATF roster for an incomplete safety class. CSATF for some reason did not notify Mark of this until August 27th, over two weeks later and after he was terminated three days prior. It is our understanding, and an industry wide producer/union rule a studio employee cannot be hired for work while under suspension. Given the above facts and circumstances, we are petitioning CSATF, AMPTP and the Union on behalf of Mark and his family for a conditional work waiver.

NOTICE:

This petition was not established to gain funding. Any requests for funds do not go to the family above.

June 24th, 2025