Liam Rappleye  I  Detroit Free Press  I  Dec. 22, 2025, 2:00 p.m. ET

The court-appointed monitor who oversees the UAW issued a 51-page report in federal court on Thursday, Dec. 18, where he published the results of his investigation into allegations of retaliation and collusion at the top level in the preeminent labor union in the United States.

The monitor, an attorney named Neil Barofsky, concluded in his report that members of UAW President Shawn Fain's close circle — as well as Fain himself — were involved in a scheme to fabricate allegations of dereliction of duty against the union's second-highest ranking official, Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock.

The monitor found that three members of UAW staff drafted a report outlining accusations against Mock that were presented at a meeting of the union's executive board in February 2024. The report was used to justify reassigning most of Mock's duties to staff members involved in creating and presenting the report against Mock.

The report indicates that Chris Brooks, Fain's chief of staff, and Jonah Furman, a close Fain adviser and director of communications for the union, both contributed to the ploy, editing the charging document substantially when it was supposed to have been written by a dispassionate member of the staff, the director of compliance.

Marni Schroeder, the director of compliance, whom the monitor said was "co-opted" by Fain and his team, resigned in September after the monitor uncovered wrongdoing related to the report. Brooks and Furman are now answering for their actions, too, alongside a slew of substantial reforms the monitor has been urging the union to enact for months.

What is changing at the UAW?

Barofsky wrote that after supplying the union with his findings that top staffers colluded to bring down Mock and deleted their text messages in an attempt to cover it up, the union agreed to put in place several large changes in the union.

The list of planned changes, to take place by Jan. 9, are:

1. The UAW will "fully adopt the Monitor’s recommendation"

The recommendations include restoring the duties that were improperly taken from Mock, as he recommended in a preliminary report in June.

2. The UAW "secured" resignation from Fain's chief of staff

Chris Brooks, Fain's chief of staff, stepped down after the monitor uncovered his involvement n the campaign against Mock and deleting text messages.

3. Fain's communications director demoted

Jonah Furman was demoted from communications director in Fain's office to a lesser role following the scheme and was suspended for two weeks without pay.

4. UAW pledged to restore VP Rich Boyer's oversight of Stellantis Department

Boyer previously told the Free Press that he felt he was retaliated against, like Mock, for refusing to fall in line with Fain, who was elected in 2023.

5. UAW commits to providing access to culture committee reports

Barofsky expects the move to improve transparency. The monitor's previous requests for access to the committee was blocked by union leaders — a move Barofsky criticized in his previous report in November.

6. Compliance department separated from UAW president's office

Barofsky reported that the UAW will remove the compliance department from the president's office after previous director Schroeder was found to have been "co-opted" by Fain. The department will now report directly to the union's board of executives, another request the monitor made in November.

7. Fain to reinforce 'culture of compliance'

The monitor secured a promise from Fain that he will "reiterate to the Union as a whole, in a series of communications, the importance of maintaining a culture of compliance." Fain made a statement on Thursday, Dec. 18, the day the report was filed in court, pledging to "build an internal culture of accountability, fairness, transparency, and collaboration." Fain added: "Our union is committed to building a culture of compliance, where staff can speak freely without any fear of retaliation."

Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@freepress.com.