Posted video depositions at pleban.org
Karen Pleban sent me the link to her site http://www.pleban.org/ where she posted not only the filings in her suit against the county for firing her because of her disability, but she also posted the video depositions:
http://www.pleban.org/defendants.htm
VERY COOL!!!!
I’ve been listening to and watching the Ernie Smith depo —it’s incredible how this guy lied on his resume and then was hired by the county. Just having the sound makes it so much better than a transcript, the pauses, how he’s trying to think of something to explain his lies.
It’s GREAT to see another consumer standing up for her rights. I know how much time it takes to maintain the website, thank you, Karen!
And of course good luck at trial!
Update: I listened to almost the entire Ernie Smith depo while working on my floor plan, have to finish today. Now I know why I’m not employed. Ernie kept talking about Karen being his “subordinate” and how he is entitled to run the department HIS way. He was in the military for many years and has the people skills of a rock.
Interestingly, he filled out the job application AFTER he got the job. The questioning about his experience revealed that he was absolutely NOT qualified for the position, which doesn’t seem to have a job description. I certainly also got jobs when I was a teen because of my parents’ “connections” and without ever filling out an application. But I didn’t think that this would fly for the job of IT administrator at a GOVERNMENT.
Ernie completely ignored Karen’s doctor’s note about lifting limitations and WROTE HER UP for refusing to lift equipment!
He also wrote her up for looking at the union website at work.
Ernie presented himself as a despicable human being and because this depo is available for public viewing, I hope he’ll never get a job with any kind of supervisory responsibilities again. Most employers do a Google search before hiring.
This is how litigation SHOULD work—publicly and forever exposing the assholes for what they are.
How great you explained the situation. I couldn’t have done it that well myself. I’m glad I took this all the way, and I certainly am not done.
Karen, I can’t even begin to understand how the county could employ Ernie and it really takes people like you and your wonderful attorneys to draw attention to those problems.
I’m not aware of a single FCRA or FDCPA attorney who allows his clients to publish depos, although in my next blog entry I’ll have a collection ruling published while the case is in litigation. And that’s the best yet, after many years of running my credit sites.
It makes me so angry that none of the credit attorneys publish the depos they take, they don’t share and they don’t do anything to create public awareness.
Of course I checked out your lawyers’ website and they specialize in employment law, so I hope my readers will NOT try to talk them into taking their credit cases.
Since so many credit lawyers read here:
Why won’t you share?
Actually, once the depos are filed in court, they become public record. You can post them after they are filed with the court. And as far as depos go… why don’t you have copies of them?? Both plaintiff and defendants should have copies of them. Just go ahead and put them on a website. Are these credit cases in federal courts? If so, you can just simply get a pacer account online and pull them from the court dockets yourself!
Right now I am dealing with Hunting Bank over a lease that I ended early. When I get all the ducks in a row, I will make a website with that case going on.
I have the depos of MY depositions, they’re posted at CreditCourt.
And I don’t have the time to spend my day searching for depos on PACER. Also, I have some depos that I’m not posting because there’s a lot of personal stuff about the plaintiff’s and I don’t want to embarrass people.
It’s really up to the individual plaintiffs to decide what should go public. Now that I think about it, maybe it’s not the lawyers’ fault, maybe the consumers don’t want the depos posted.
I don’t know. It’s not that hard to redact certain parts or to just publish excerpts relevant to credit reporting.
Looking forward to your new site too!
Folks,
Here is an article that tells the reason that Mr Cordes was discharged from the County in the first place since some of our commmissioners have “selective recall.”
You didn’t post the link ...
LOL Old School, it sure would be nice to know what the link is. And by the way, do you know me personally?
here ya go folks, the article about Mr Cordes and the idiots who hired him back
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=452892&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=566374&rfi=8
Here is the link
How can Lorain County and it’s citizens just sit back and let some County Commissioners hire, then fire a employee who hit someone while being drunk and running a stop sign or traffic light, and then leave the scene without ever knowing if the person they hit was dead, injured or mamed in any way, or left to bleed to death. The Commissioners who re-hired this man after firing him in the first place, needs their heads examined. The Commissioners who rehired him should be voted out of office because to me they sure dont seem to care about the citizens if they hire a person who would do something like this. They all know who they are too!
Cordes offered county top job
REBECCA GRAY, Morning Journal Writer
05/19/2000
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ELYRIA—Controversial former county human resources director Jim Cordes was offered the top administrative position in the county yesterday as part of an extensive overhaul in the county government hierarchy.
Commissioners Betty Blair and Michael Ross approved the motion to offer Cordes the job, as well as create two new positions. Commissioner Mary Jo Vasi opposed all three resolutions.
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Under the approved plan, current County Administrator Virgil Muntean will take over as director of capital improvements and County Ombudsmen Gregory Ballard will fill the new job of assistant county administrator.
Cordes, who has tendered his resignation at the Lake County Board of Mental Health and Retardation, said he would accept the position.
‘’It’s very exciting in a way, but I will also miss the fine group of people I work with now,’’ said Cordes.
The changes are effective June 5. Ross and Blair said they were happy with the restructuring.
‘’All things said, I am very pleased about what happened today,’’ Blair said. ‘’It’s a real plus for the county and I am very excited.’’
Ross was equally pleased.
‘’I don’t think there is anyone that we could have picked that has the talent Mr. Cordes does,’’ Ross said. ‘’What he brings to the table is a history of dealing with the internal works of county government.’’
Cordes and Ballard will earn about $60,000 per year. Muntean will retain his $73,000 salary.
Cordes was originally offered the assistant county administrator job in December, but commissioners battled over when he was to officially report for work.
Cordes said he notified commissioners he would take the job, but would be unable to report as early as anticipated.
‘’I intended to take the position,’’ Cordes said. ‘’I had already served notice out here in Lake County.’’
Commissioner Mary Jo Vasi was opposed to rehiring Cordes, who resigned in July 1998 from his position in the Department of Human Services amid a flurry of controversy and little public comment. He had been criticized by some within the county for having a ‘’heavy handed’’ management style that may have offended others.
‘’I think it’s a slap in the face to Virgil (Muntean),’’ said Vasi, adding she learned of the potential reorganization last Thursday. ‘’I sensed this was going to happen because they hired him back.’’
Muntean declined to comment on his personal feelings about the move, but said he most likely will retire after overseeing the construction of the county’s new Justice Center.
‘’With all these construction contracts out, it’s important to have one person in the lead and one contact,’’ Muntean said.
Vasi also questioned how the county intended to extend automobile insurance coverage to Cordes when he operates a vehicle on the job. Cordes, who has a DUI conviction, is not eligible to be covered under the county’s insurance carrier, Vasi said.
‘’How is he supposed to drive a county car on county time without insurance, I don’t know,’’ Vasi said. ‘’If you are the county administrator, you will have to drive on county time.’’
Vasi was not the only person who was critical of the move.
‘’This is something that is huge. You should advertise that there is an opening to field the best candidate pool possible,’’ said David Moore, the Republican commissioner candidate running against Ross in the upcoming election. ‘’It kind of scared me, that they were trying to slip something through.’’
Blair defended the process, comparing the decision to hiring moves by city mayors.
‘’A mayor doesn’t have to go out for bids to fill his or her top jobs,’’ Blair said. ‘’The people elect the mayor to make the decision. It is somewhat similar in this case.’’
Ross also took time yesterday to defend appointing Ballard, whose brother contributed $1,650 to Ross’ campaign fund over the past four years.
‘’Ballard has done a wonderful job as ombudsman and will bring those talents to the new position,’’ Ross said. ‘’The idea that his brother supporting my campaign was motivation for the move is ridiculous. It has absolutely nothing to do with it.’’
Blair said Ballard has been an asset to the county.
‘’He has really proven himself,’’ Blair said.
Yeah, I got my $1.27 check. At least they have to pay for what they did. I agree it sucks that they don’t have to pay back everything they “wrongly” charged. I can’t even buy a soda with my check!!!!!
Well, that wasn’t posted by me and it’s definitely in the wrong topic.
