Monday, December 07, 2009

Akin Gump: Carefully Constructed Lies -- Part III: The Mystery of Stacy Schaar

On May 22, 1992 the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld filed its Interrogatory Response in Freedman v. Akin, Gump, Hauer & Feld, a job discrimination complaint I had filed with the D.C. Department of Human Rights.

The firm appended a document to the Response that it had created, titled: Involuntary Terminations -- January 1, 1990 thru December 31, 1991. See record on appeal at pages 166-167.

The chart features an intriguing omission. The chart fails to disclose that a paralegal named Stacey Schaar had been terminated for gross misconduct in May 1990.

Why did Akin Gump fail to disclose the fact that Stacey Schaar had been terminated? Was it an innocent error, or a willful attempt to deceive the D.C. Department of Human Rights?

It was Stacey Schaar who said to me in August 1989, while we both worked at the firm: "We're all afraid of you. We're all afraid you're going to buy a gun, bring it in, and shoot everybody. Even the manager of your apartment building (Elaine Wranik) is afraid of you."

The harassment complaint I lodged against coworkers during a meeting with Dennis M. Race, Esq. and Malcolm Lassman, Esq., in Dennis Race's office, on the morning of October 24, 1991, included a complaint against Stacey Schaar. The firm also failed to disclose that I had ever told Dennis Race that Stacey Schaar had harassed me. Again, why the omission?

Something interesting about Stacey Schaar's termination in May 1990. I was generally out of the loop with regard to Akin Gump gossip. Yet, after Stacey Schaar was terminated, another legal assistant named J. Robert Tansey engaged in a loud conversation with another legal assistant near my desk detailing all the facts about Stacey Schaar's firing. It seemed to me that Mr. Tansey wanted me to know that Stacey Schaar had been fired and the reasons why. Now, why would The Powers That Be want me to know about Stacey Schaar's job termination?

Incidentally, Stacey Schaar was in charge of the Antitrust Practice Group file room at the time of her termination. I believe she worked for firm partner Paul Hewitt, Esq.

Just what is the mystery surrounding Stacey Schaar?

1 comment:

My Daily Struggles said...

In August 1989, while I worked at the DC law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, a coworker, Stacey Schaar, said to me: "We're all afraid of you. We're all afraid you're going to buy a gun, bring it in, and shoot everybody." Personally, I think she was motivated by jealousy. Stacey and I were both temporary employees. In August 1989 the firm granted me a full-time position with benefits; Stacey remained a temp. She was oddly desperate to get a job with the firm. During the summer of 1989, Stacey had flown down to the firm's main office in Dallas, Texas to interview for a paralegal position in the Dallas office. Yes, let me repeat -- she flew from Washington, DC to Dallas to interview for a paralegal position in the firm's Dallas office! A tad askew, to say the least! At the time, I remember saying to a coworker, "it's Pee Wee's big adventure."

Be that as it may.

In September 1989 I made an appointment to see a counselor at the firm's Employee Assistance Provider, Sheppard Pratt in DC. The counselor was a social worker named Kathleen Kelley, a graduate of Catholic University. I told Kathleen Kelley that I was having problems with my coworkers. I reported the statement made by Stacey Schaar that coworkers feared that I might be a homicidal maniac.

In July 1993, after I had been fired from my job at Akin Gump, I went back to Shepperd Pratt to find out what was in my file. Oddly enough, Kathleen Kelley, the social worker I had met with in September 1989, had written up my factual report about Stacey Schaar as if it were a paranoid delusion on my part. According to Sheppard Pratt, I was a delusional employee who imagined that coworkers were afraid I might be a homicidal maniac. That's a tad askew, don't you think? Do you think Sheppard Pratt was in cahoots with Akin Gump to thwart me from filing a harassment lawsuit against the firm? Who knows?

Sheppard Pratt Employee Asistance Programs
P.O. Box 6815, Baltimore, MD 21285-6815

PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR

CASE NO: 470009890064

Date: 9/13/89

Counselor Notes:

Client described what appear to be paranoid delusions. Co-workers make comments to trivialize his sense of importance, to insinuate he is insane and to suggest he is potentially violent & may appear at work with a gun & shoot them. He reports he does not have this intention & does not have a gun.

Wants a referral for therapy.

Schizoid features -- no relationships