Real Estate Topics Forum :: View topic - Russ Whitney sent Rob Yates to ‘dig up dirt’ 2

Guest

Russ Whitney sent Rob Yates to ‘dig up dirt’ on John T. Reed; What Yates is saying in court 2

Florida Whistleblower statute
Florida’s Whistleblower statute says,
“Title XXXI
LABOR
Chapter 448
GENERAL LABOR REGULATIONS

“448.102 Prohibitions.--An employer may not take any retaliatory personnel action against an employee because the employee has:

“(1)  Disclosed, or threatened to disclose, to any appropriate governmental agency, under oath, in writing, an activity, policy, or practice of the employer that is in violation of a law, rule, or regulation. However, this subsection does not apply unless the employee has, in writing, brought the activity, policy, or practice to the attention of a supervisor or the employer and has afforded the employer a reasonable opportunity to correct the activity, policy, or practice.

“(2)  Provided information to, or testified before, any appropriate governmental agency, person, or entity conducting an investigation, hearing, or inquiry into an alleged violation of a law, rule, or regulation by the employer.

“(3)  Objected to, or refused to participate in, any activity, policy, or practice of the employer which is in violation of a law, rule, or regulation.”
Yates says Whitney cut investigator’s report
In paragraph 30 of his Second Amended Complaint, Yates says,
“30. On or about August 16, 2003, Michael McKenna [Whitney’s labor lawyer] met with [Yates] and entered into an oral contract whereby (1) [Yates] would forego any further complaint with the EEOC, (2) [Whitney Education Group, Inc.] would conduct an impartial and fair investigation (3) [Whitney Education Group, Inc.] would not edit or modify the investigative report as received from the investigator, and (4) [Whitney Education Group, Inc.] could [not] conduct any retaliation or reprisal due to [Yates’] complaint.”
[Note from REED: I am appalled at Yates’ profound naivete that, given all he has said about them, he would expect these guys to abide by such an oral contract.]
“32. In breach of the oral contract, [Whitney Education Group, Inc.] has edited and revised the original investigative report so that it is not fair and impartial and serves to cover up, minimize, or dismiss [Whitney Education Group, Inc.]’s harassment and creation of a hostile work environment.
“33. In breach of the oral contract, [Whitney Education Group, Inc.] has not allowed [Yates] to address inaccuracies and other shortcomings of the report so that the report would be accurate, fair, and impartial.
“34. In breach of the oral contract, by and through its employees Russell Whitney, Marie Code, and Michael McKenna, [Whitney Education Group, Inc.] has retaliated against [Yates] by harassing and discrediting [Yates] through a series of emails, oral communications, uneven disciplinary measures, misleading and critical performance reviews, and termination.”
[Note from Reed: Whistleblower laws are totally ineffective at protecting you if you stay at the employer in question. They are only good for getting compensation after you leave. See references like Whistleblowers: Broken Lives and Organizational Power by C. Fred Alford.]
In his June 28, 2004 letter to the Lee County, FL Office of Equal Opportunity, Yates said,
“…an independent law firm was hired to investigate my claim.
“The final report prepared by John Potanovic of the law firm of Henderson Franklin, was a ‘whitewash’ and ignored the issues of which I complained and instead focused on calming the waters by putting the blame on miscommunication and management style.
“I brought it to the attention of the company that the report was full of inaccuracies and lies, which word I use sparingly. I was told that I was not allowed to discuss the issue further with anyone, including John Potanovic. I had only met with Mr. Potanovic on one occasion, whereas he met with other support staff on three or more occasions, which on one of which occasions the office manager and legal assistant to Marie Code, strongly complained about the false and misleading and was allowed to edit the final report. Jeff was also terminated the same time I was.”
Yates offered hush money by Whitney
Yates’ June 28, 2004 letter to Lee County, FL Office of Equal Opportunity also said this,
“The settlement agreement [when he was fired] offered me $5,484.80 in severance if I agreed to dismiss any claims I may have and prohibited me from any discussion of my work or Russ Whitney.”
The agreement Whiney wanted Yates to sign contained a provision that prevented Yates from ever disclosing the fact that he had worked for Whitney! Jeez! How is the guy supposed to account for that hole in his resume? Claim he was with the CIA? Yates said he spent well over $1,000 on legal fees trying to get that one provision changed.
Whitney in-house lawyer Marie Code ‘feared for her job’ and ‘hated Russ Whitney’
Yates’ letter to the OEO also said,
“On several occasions, Marie [Code] and I have spoken in private about how she feared for her job and how much she hated Russ Whitney. I knew Russ was running her through the mill and had often expressed disappointment with her work. Russ did not generally like attorneys.”
In a number of letters, Yates describes Marie Code more or less like this passage from his October 26, 2004 letter to the OEO, “…Marie had been under what appeared to be extreme stress and would throw things, cry, and yell at others on the phone. A, B, and I had just discussed approaching Marie as concerned friends about what appeared to us to be something close to or akin to a nervous breakdown. She had told me she was under a great deal of stress from Russ and was fearful of losing her job. I believe her erratic and unstable behavior was also a result of the pressure that Russ Whitney was exerting on her to harass, discredit, and terminate me.”
Russ Whitney, ‘MD’
Quoting further from the letter to OEO,
“…Russ invited me into his office after finding out I had hepatitis. Russ had been treated for hepatitis with interferon a couple of years ago and claimed he wanted to share his experiences and suggestions for a successful outcome. While the mood was generally of care and concern, he criticized my choice of doctors and antidepressants and the fact that I had to use a psychiatrist and therapist to see me through the treatments.
“I also explained it might have been caused by the Paxil, which I was also prescribed at the time to counteract the depression that generally accompanies interferon treatments. He seemed to be skeptical and ‘strongly’ suggested that I change to Zoloft, and that I see the physician that treated [Whitney].
“I felt very comfortable with my doctor, but requested a change thinking it best for my employment with Whitney.”
[Reed note: I had previously heard that Russ Whitney had been very sick a couple of years ago and had to take some heavy-duty drug for an extended period of time. That tipster did not know the nature of the illness.]
Yates says Whitney wants to beat Reed senseless
In a 12/12/04 email to Whitney out-house lawyer Christina Kitterman, Yates said,
“I am filing a motion for summary judgment tomorrow morning and I also want to file a motion for a protective order against your discovery requests with affidavits that include some of Russ’ emails. I do not believe this information should be disclosed to John T. Reed, but I do not know how to proceed without actually filing the motion in court and making the information available to the public.
“The emails will show that Russ was out of control and crossing legal boundaries. He was operating a very personal and very mean-spirited campaign against Reed that had nothing to do with the lawsuit. It was with malicious intent and just meant to “embarrass” him and “beat him senseless.” It was not part of any legal strategy or attorney client privilege or work product. Russ makes that clear in numerous emails when he emphasizes the fact that it is a “marketing” effort and not a legal effort. I believe this information would be highly prejudicial to Mr. Whitney, and I do not want to disclose the information to John Reed.
“Please suggest how I might proceed with my motion to avoid such disclose[sic]. Please call me as soon as possible at (239) 565-6520, even today, Sunday.
“Thank you,
“Rob Yates”
The reason I know about this email is that Ms. Kitterman attached it to a motion or opposition in the federal court suit against me. Why they would do that is beyond me.
‘Reed has most of the [company]’s files’
The OEO letters says that Russ Whitney sent an email on July 3, 2003 complaining that Reed has most of the [company]’s files.”
Russ is nuts. Paranoid nuts. I do not have any of his files.
Yates was liaison to Texas Commission that grants proprietary school status to Whitney
See my article on whether Whitney is complying with Texas law.
Yates got good employee review before refusing to break the law, bad reviews after
In his letter to the OEO, Yates quotes Marie Code writing in his performance review on 9/23/02,
“Robert exceeds the company’s expectations regarding honesty, integrity, boundarylessness, and openmindedness. Robert has a strong work ethic; he is trustworthy and respectful of his co-workers. He is always looking out for the company’s best interests and will accept suggestions for improvement from other departments.”
But here is what Mike McKenna said about Yates in a January 9, 2004 review:
“…Yates was required to improve in the areas of honesty, openmindedness, leadership by example and eliminate negativity.”
[Reed Note: I love the way bad gurus hate “negativity.” It is one of the items in my Real Estate B.S. Artist Detection Checklist. To bad gurus, anything that interferes with painting a rosy picture to achieve maximum sales is negativity.]
Bonuses and overtime for working on Reed
Yates says he got a $9,000 bonus from Russ. I previously heard that he was bragging about such a bonus at a restaurant gathering of employees of a local law firm that Yates used to work for. That bonus reportedly was for his work “digging up dirt” on me and my family during his visit to my neighborhood in California.
In his OEO letter, Yates says that Whitney’s in-house lawyer Marie Code told him he could not work overtime on the Reed project while Russ was simultaneously telling him he could and offering additional bonuses for good work on the Reed project.
In an October 26, 2004 letter to the OEO, Yates said,
“In a meeting with Russ Whitney and Kelly LaMagna, Russ Whitney, President of the Company, gave explicit authorization and encouragement to both Kelly and me to work as many hours of overtime on the John Reed project as necessary. Kelly LeMagna did work overtime, as well as worked from home, on the Reed project.
[Reed Note: Who is Kelly LeMagna? I don’t know. Another member of “The Reed Project” I guess. I did not see any mention of her job in Yates’ various court documents.]
Four hours a day not enough for Russ
In his October 26, 2004 letter to OEO, Yates said Marie Code told him to work four hours a day “…on the Reed matter, but constantly assigned me other work during those hours in an attempt to frustrate my work and cause additional stress. Not only did Ms. Code assign unrealistic projects that kept me busy with often trivial detail during the 4 hours I was supposed to work on the Reed project, Mr. Whitney would bombard me with requests that required an immediate response or work product in regards to the Reed project.”
Investigation report on Yates’ complaints
In his OEO letter, Yates says,
“September 25, 2003 E-mail from Rob Yates to Mike McKenna and Brenda Kalscheuer [Whitney’s Director of Human Resources] regarding…late[ness of the promised] written investigation report. The office had been a whirlwind of closed door activity and hush-hush executive meetings to which I otherwise would likely have been included. It was apparent the company had received the report and was scrambling to figure out what to do next. I had earlier asked Mike McKenna, my interim supervisor, on a couple of occasions whether the company had received the Potanovic report. He told me he had not and assured me I would see the report as soon as he receives it. After further inquiry, I found out that the company had been in receipt of the report for several days.”
Whitney reneged on promise not to retaliate
At a number of places in his OEO letter, Yates alleges that Whitney’s various employees promised not to retaliate against Yates for complaining to the OEO, but harassed him in subtle and secretive ways.
[Reed Note: Companies always promise no retaliation because retaliation is generally against the law. However, you must believe in the Easter Bunny if you expect that the company will actually keep such a promise and not retaliate against you when you report them to the authorities.]
After he was terminated, Yates wrote another letter to Lee County, FL OEO on October 26, 2004. That letter says Whitney Education Group, Inc. “…has fabricated or grossly exaggerated their allegations”—apparently in a letter to OEO from Whitney explaining why Yates was fired and why it was not retaliation.
Further in that letter, Yates says, “Whitney had one goal in mind after I filed my complaint [with the OEO]. It was to remove me from the company one way or the other.”
What ‘dirt’ did they get?
After all this, you may be interested in what “dirt” they got on me and my family. A message signed by “Lani Timbers” was posted on at least one Internet news group saying that I had sent my wife out to sue her employer to bring some money back into the house. Apparently, they found the complaint in the county court records. Since my wife uses her maiden name, not Reed, they had to be specifically looking for information about her to find that complaint.
I have never specifically looked for information about Russ Whitney’s wife, although when you search for the name “Whitney” you get a little bit of info on his family whether you want it or not.
My wife did feel that she was treated illegally by a bank that she worked for. She filed a suit against them over it. Initially, she acted as her own attorney, then she hired an attorney. I cannot say the outcome because there was a settlement with a clause requiring the parties not disclose the terms.
They apparently found no dirt on my properties in California or New Jersey, no criminal actions against me, no paternity suits against me, no drunk driving, etc. They published some stuff about my two Texas apartment complexes that I deeded back to the lenders in 1988 and 1992. They could have gotten that from my Web site, books, and articles. Yates makes no mention of having been sent to Texas to find “dirt” on me or my family. If anyone else would like to try, the properties are listed at my about-the-author Web page. If you want to try to find dirt on Russ Whitney, you cannot find a list of properties he has owned at his Web site, but there are several at my Web site including Whitneyfortune.html, Whitneyclaims.html, Whitneyassets.html, and Whitneybio.html.
Who is ‘Lani Timbers?’
“Lani Timbers,” whom I suspect is Russ Whitney or one of his associates, has no idea what I told my wife about her decision to sue the bank. In general, I would not recommend using litigation to get money. My impression is that the vast majority of people who initiate litigation regret it. The main way to get money from litigation is to become a lawyer.
They also got my drivers license photo and put it on an anti-John T. Reed web site for a while. That has to count as “dirt.” I read once that someone said saying a person looked like their passport photo was libel per se. Russ juxtaposed my drivers license photo with one of him taken by a professional portrait photographer. In that photo, Whitney posed at a desk in an expensive suit in front of the U.S. flag . That’s a typical Russ Whitney notion of an intelligent and fair debate or comparison.
The American flag was a nice touch. I guess he got that idea from the one in the courtroom behind the judge who sentenced him to prison for robbery. I have risked my life in the armed forces represented by that flag, saluted that flag, and sat in front of one in my office when I was a company commander in the Army, but I never used it as a prop in a portrait of myself. I’m not a Congressman or judge or anything like that. For Russ Whitney, who never wore any uniform other than a New York State Department of Corrections jumpsuit, posing in front an American flag is further evidence of what a 24-carat phony he is.
John T. Reed
Copyright 2005 by John T. Reed
Guru ratings | Real estate investment page | Order form | Real estate investment books | Main Reed on Whitney page | Whitney claims vs. Reed research | Status of Whitney vs. Reed lawsuit | Whitney hit and run | Whitney assets | Have information on Whitney? | Review of Building Wealth | Whitney affiliations | Whitney publications | Unauthorized biography of Whitney | Suing Whitney | Whitney and income taxes
John T. Reed, a.k.a. John Reed, Jack Reed, 342 Bryan Drive, Alamo, CA 94507, Voice: 925-820-7262, Fax: 925-820-1259, Email: johnreed@johntreed.com

CONSUMER WARNING NOTICE: I recently saw Russ Whitney on a late night TV infomercial and then attended one of his "free" seminars. Unfortunately I believed all of their LIES and FRAUDULENT CLAIMS and I paid thousands of dollars to go to his "training camps". Needless to say I was clearly ripped off, cheated and lied to by Russ Whitney and his employees (band of thieves). My mistake was not searching the Internet to find out more about Russ Whitney and his company's HORRIBLE reputation for fraud, deception and illegal activities. Had I searched online I would have found out about THOUSANDS of customers being cheated, HUNDREDS of investigations by the Attorney General into the fraud of Russ Whitney and his company's, and that Russ Whitney himself is a CONVICTED VIOLENT FELON and spent years in PRISON. I saved the cached pages from the major search engines of the John Reed lawsuit with Russell Whitney and the TRUTH and FACTS that Reed discovered during his investigation of Whitney. I am posting this information on real estate discussion boards so other people do NOT get cheated and ripped off like I did.