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Russ Whitney sent Rob Yates to ‘dig up dirt’ on John T. Reed; What Yates is saying in court 1

Rob Yates worked for Russ Whitney as a paralegal from September 23, 2002 to the day he was fired, March 25, 2004. Both Yates and Whitney say Yates’ main job was to help Whitney against me.
The way Whitney puts it is in Paragraph 15 of the complaint is, “…YATES was assigned to assist Plaintiff’s counsel on the prosecution of its case against, Defendant, REED…” [Reed Note: I do not know why Whitney’s law firm puts a comma before the word Defendant in such sentences. They do it all the time.]
‘Dig up dirt on John Reed and his family’
The way Yates puts it in paragraph 10 of his Second Amended Complaint against Whitney is, “As part of a culture of anger and paranoia, Plaintiff [YATES] was assigned by Russell Whitney to ‘dig up dirt’ on John Reed and his family in an effort build a web site discrediting John Reed.”
In a June 28, 2004 letter to Jack Barden of the Lee County FL Office of Equal Opportunity, Yates said,
“I spent much of my time researching and investigating John Reed and his family in an attempt by Russ to defend his “good name” and spin public opinion his way by finding dirt on Reed and discrediting his reputation and even his family. I was even sent out to California and New Jersey to investigate Reed’s properties and take pictures of him, and I read and critiqued a dozen or more of Reed’s real estate books and newsletters to develop more profile and background information.
“Initially, I thought my efforts were that of a legal nature in an attempt to impeach Reed at trial. As I soon found out, the work I did on the Reed case was used for little more than a marketing effort to discredit Reed and his family.”
[Reed Note: See the article I wrote on Russ Whitney falsely accusing me of stalking him in Florida. I have not been there since the late nineties and that was to take my kids to DisneyWorld and Cape Canaveral. That article also says that someone was apparently stalking me in California. I caught them in a car in front of my home taking a photo of me through my office window. That person turns out to be Robert Yates apparently accompanied by his then girlfriend. Yates got married on 5/6/04.]
Yates sued Whitney
Yates filed a suit against Whitney that did not include me. It was Robert E. Yates vs. Whitney Education Group, Inc., Russell Whitney, Marie Code, and Michael McKenna Case No. 04-CA-002668 in the Twentieth Circuit Court in Lee County, FL. In his Second Amended Complaint, Yates dropped Whitney, Code, and McKenna as defendants leaving only Whitney Education Group, Inc.
Whitney Information Network, Inc. is now suing Yates and me in that same court (Case No. 04-CA-003045).
Whitney Education Group, Inc. is one of Russ Whitney’s many company names. When you sign a contract with Whitney, which I would not recommend, you need to read the fine print to see exactly what company you are really getting tangled up with.
Marie Code is Whitney’s in-house lawyer. (I get that makes Scott Rothstein his out-house lawyer.) Marie Code was apparently Robert Yates’ immediate supervisor, however, he says that with regard to me, he worked directly for Russ Whitney. Michael McKenna is a Labor and Employment Attorney and another in-house lawyer for Whitney.
‘Hostile work environment and retaliatory discharge’
On August 16, 2003, Yates filed a complaint in the Lee County, FL Office of Equal Opportunity against the Whitney crowd listed above for a hostile work environment, and retaliatory discharge under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Yates’ disability is hepatitis C.
Florida Whistleblower Act suit
Yates also sued Whitney under the Florida Whistleblower Act. That is the suit mentioned above with the case No. 04-CA-002668.
‘…Prejudicial to [Whitney]’s case against Reed’
In the Whitney vs. Yates and Reed case, Yates filed a motion for a declaratory judgment with the court on 12/20/04. It said that Yates had kept documents from when he worked at Whitney “…to assure that crucial evidence is available.” In paragraph 5 of that motion, Yates said, “Certain documents may be highly sensitive and possibly prejudicial to Plaintiff in plaintiff’s lawsuit against co-defendant John T. Reed.” Actually, he means the lawsuit in which Russ Whitney and Whitney Information Network, Inc. are plaintiffs, not Whitney Education Group, Inc.
Whitney filed criminal charge against Yates
Whitney filed a criminal charge against Yates with the Lee County, FL Economic Crimes Unit for violation of Florida Statute 812.081. That statute says,
Title XLVI
CRIMES
Chapter 812
THEFT, ROBBERY, AND RELATED CRIMES
View Entire Chapter

812.081 Trade secrets; theft, embezzlement; unlawful copying; definitions; penalty.--

(1)  As used in this section:

(a)  "Article" means any object, device, machine, material, substance, or composition of matter, or any mixture or copy thereof, whether in whole or in part, including any complete or partial writing, record, recording, drawing, sample, specimen, prototype model, photograph, microorganism, blueprint, map, or copy thereof.

(b)  "Representing" means completely or partially describing, depicting, embodying, containing, constituting, reflecting, or recording.

(c)  "Trade secret" means the whole or any portion or phase of any formula, pattern, device, combination of devices, or compilation of information which is for use, or is used, in the operation of a business and which provides the business an advantage, or an opportunity to obtain an advantage, over those who do not know or use it. "Trade secret" includes any scientific, technical, or commercial information, including any design, process, procedure, list of suppliers, list of customers, business code, or improvement thereof. Irrespective of novelty, invention, patentability, the state of the prior art, and the level of skill in the business, art, or field to which the subject matter pertains, a trade secret is considered to be:

1.  Secret;

2.  Of value;

3.  For use or in use by the business; and

4.  Of advantage to the business, or providing an opportunity to obtain an advantage, over those who do not know or use it
when the owner thereof takes measures to prevent it from becoming available to persons other than those selected by the owner to have access thereto for limited purposes.

(d)  "Copy" means any facsimile, replica, photograph, or other reproduction in whole or in part of an article and any note, drawing, or sketch made of or from an article or part or portion thereof.

(2)  Any person who, with intent to deprive or withhold from the owner thereof the control of a trade secret, or with an intent to appropriate a trade secret to his or her own use or to the use of another, steals or embezzles an article representing a trade secret or without authority makes or causes to be made a copy of an article representing a trade secret is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(3)  In a prosecution for a violation of the provisions of this section, it is no defense that the person so charged returned or intended to return the article so stolen, embezzled, or copied.
Florida’s Economic Crimes Unit
Russ Whitney is not the only one who can report people to the Economic Crimes Unit. You may want to visit the Florida Economic Crimes Unit Web site. Their page for contacting them is http://myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/Contact?OpenForm&Section=Economic_Crimes.
Whitney may dispose or hide documents says Yates
In paragraphs 9-11 of his motion for a declaratory judgment, Yates tells the Lee County, FL court,
“9. YATES is informed and believes that Plaintiff may dispose of or hide documents under a false claim of privilege or trade secret confidentiality.
10. YATES has retained the documents subject to his confidentiality agreement only for the purpose of his claims against Plaintiff and for no other purpose.
11. YATES has an overriding need that the documents be exempt from the disclosure agreement to assure that the documents are not destroyed or hidden.”
Yates’ requests of the court
Yates’ motion asks the court to inspect the documents in camera (Secretly in the judge’s chambers). It also asks the court to determine whether any of the documents are protected under attorney-client privilege or trade-secret status. And it asks that a receiver be appointed to safeguard and keep the documents until a final decision by the court. I surmise reading between the lines and based on other stuff Yates has said in court papers that the documents would shock the judge and would reveal behavior that is not protected by attorney-client privilege because it is illegal, non-private, non-legal in nature, and so forth and not protected by trade-secret status because it is not a trade secret.
Represented himself first, then used attorney
Initially, Yates acted as his own attorney. Later, he got Gary Bass to represent him.
From the outset, I have been suspicious that Yates may be working in cahoots with Whitney and pretending to be a defendant in the case against me and Yates so that I cannot remove the case to federal court. When there is a local defendant—like Yates who lives in Fort Myers—an out-of-state party like yours truly cannot move the case to federal court. I did that in 2003 when Whitney sued me in Broward County, FL court. The fact that Yates represented himself at first contributed to my suspicion.
Whitney told Yates to lie to Reed friends to get dirt
In paragraph 11-13 of his Second Amended Complaint against Whitney Education Group, Inc., Yates says,
“11. Russell Whitney instructed [Yates] to call acquaintances of John Reed and to misrepresent and deceive acquaintances into believing the caller was writing a book about John Reed and that the caller was not an employee of [Whitney] and had no association with [Yates] or [Whitney].
“12. [Yates] objected to Russell Whitney’s request that [Yates] conduct himself in a deceptive manner in violation of Florida Statute 501.204(1) and notified both Marie Code [Whitney in-house lawyer] and Russell Whitney of [Yates]’ objections.
“13. [Yates] notified Marie Code and Russell Whitney that he wished to be removed from the Reed project.”
Thereafter, Yates says,
“14. By and through its employees Russell Whitney, Marie Code, and Michael McKenna, Defendant has retaliated against [Yates] by harassing, intimidating, threatening, humiliating, and discrediting [Yates] through a series of emails, oral communications, uneven disciplinary, measures, misleading and critical performance reviews, and termination, all of which are in violation of Florida Statute 448.102(3).”
The Florida Statute that Yates says he would have violated if he had complied with Whitney’s order to deceive my friends says,
“Title XXXIII
REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, INVESTMENTS, AND SOLICITATIONS
Chapter 501
CONSUMER PROTECTION

501.204 Unlawful acts and practices.--

(1)  Unfair methods of competition, unconscionable acts or practices, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful.

(2)  It is the intent of the Legislature that, in construing subsection (1), due consideration and great weight shall be given to the interpretations of the Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts relating to s. 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 45(a)(1) as of July 1, 2001.
That section says,
“Section 45. Unfair methods of competition unlawful; prevention by Commission

(a) Declaration of unlawfulness; power to prohibit unfair
practices; inapplicability to foreign trade
(1) Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and
unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, are
hereby declared unlawful.”
I suspect there are a lot more laws than that which prohibit Robert Yates from calling people and falsely telling him that he is writing book about me and not disclosing his true identity or connection with Whitney.
As far as I know, no one has contacted my acquaintances saying they were writing a book about me. I expect most would tell me of such a contact. I note that when Ralph Nader criticized the GM car Corvair, GM hired a private investigator who went around telling Nader’s friends that they were investigating him for a government job he was being considered for. Nader’s friends congratulated him on his government job and asked him for more details. The fact that GM was investigating Nader in such a hamfisted way is what hit the papers and made Nader famous.
Yates did contact me saying he wanted to interview me for a book. See the emails he sent me.