Amy Bloberger writes Tom Ficara:
Good morning, Tom,
As you can imagine, Arthur was quite upset yesterday when he found out that Wanker had not followed through on her agreement. Instead, she simply just put this hearing off longer to continue to starve Arthur out. This time, Arthur is not going to let Trenchak postpone the hearing. Obviously, Wanker cannot be trusted and she came back with the exact same offer Arthur denied in Trenchak’s offer before the hearing last time. There was no reason to put it off if this was going to be their “final” offer. Arthur’s blood pressure was pretty high yesterday so I tried to get him out and get his mind off of things so he would calm down.
We look at it this way, Wanker is using the unemployment as a bargaining tool to get Arthur to settle for nothing. The offer of $5,000 will not help us at all so it is a moot point. We realize that we must remove the “bargaining tool” from the table – win, lose or draw! It must be removed from the table so that we can move forward with the EEOC complaint and subsequently the federal lawsuit against the Federation, Karp, Greenspun and Stone as well as the rest of the Board of Directors of the Federation. Arthur and I smell a rat within the entire infrastructure of the Federation. You would think that a charitable organization would treat their employees with respect and do the “right thing.” What this shows us is that whomever (the entire Board) has chosen to use these horrific tactics to run off their hard working employees rather than do the right thing – its all of them collectively. Something is fishy – very fishy within this organization. It is clear to Arthur that for some reason, he is the one the universe has chosen to fight this entire operation. Charry was chosen to help and fight it as well. They need to broken down, everyone removed from the Board and they need to start over with new and ethical directors who have the best interest of the community in mind. We are prepared to fight this for the next several years. It will take at least three years. Whatever it takes, we are moving forward. First with getting this unemployment bargaining tool out of the way even if we lose.
We will go into this hearing prepared and we will present Arthur’s case to the referee. We have three witnesses; Mark, Charry and you for round one. Wanker came with no witnesses at all last time. Even if Wanker stepped out of the way and didn’t show up for the hearing, the hearing still must go on with or without her for the state to determine if Arthur left with “just cause.” I believe we can prove that Arthur did leave with just cause. Actually, he was forced out! Just as was Charry. I think we can prove that. And, if we do win, this will also be a win for Charry when her hearing comes up. If the Federation has denied Charry’s unemployment, it shows me that they, once again, are using this tactic to keep up the bullying of hard working employees they have run off and are not about to do the “right thing”. We will absolutely be there for Charry’s appeal hearing whether we win this one or not! I think it is horrid that a “charitable organization” is doing this to the very people who have worked hard to support this community and who were dedicated to the work of the Jewish Federation. I hope that you and Charry will prepare a written statement to hand to the referee as an “exhibit” of evidence in the event she won’t let you speak. She has to accept exhibits of evidence to take into consideration when making her decision. Arthur will prepare a written statement for Charry’s hearing when that time comes and he will be there in her hearing as her witness too. We must take them down!
Once this hearing is out of the way, Tom, we are immediately going to file our complaint with the EEOC. The EEOC will conduct a thorough investigation into Karp’s history as well as interview every past and present employee under Karp’s direction. Charry will be subpoenaed as well as Andrew, Chase, Donna and Diane. It will take a year or longer for them to conclude their investigation. Once they have done so, we will receive a “right to sue” letter from them. Then, we will proceed to file a lawsuit in Federal court against the Jewish Federation, Elliot Karp, Danny Greenspun, Leonard Stone and the rest of the members of the Board of Directors of the Federation. We will supoena several of the employees who are still working at the Federation under Karp and members who were in the meeting Karp called when he apologized to the staff for being “harsh” and telling them he is stepping down and turning the day-to-day over to Lanny. This will only conclude our case. Karp will be called to the stand and will be grilled so hard that he will probably take a swing at someone. In addition, his mental records will be subpoenaed and he will be ordered by the court to have a mental evaluation. The Federation is already saying that Arthur is just a “disgruntled employee” as well as Charry. Arthur will have to go through a mental evaluation as well but he says to “bring it on.” He wants the community to know WHY he is disgruntled. This is going to ruin Arthur in this community as he will have the reputation of the guy who “sued the Jewish Federation.” But, you know what? They leave us no other choice. We have absolutely, nothing to lose…
We are looking forward to seeing you and Charry at Tuesday’s hearing at noon – sharp. The referee calls the meeting right on time… The gloves are off!
Do you think we should alert the media to this hearing? Would they show up to interview us at a DETR hearing? I know the media cannot come into the meeting but they can certainly be outside to interview both parties before and after the hearing.
Amy
