SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK i COUNTY OF NEW YORK. Plaintiff, EXAMINATION BEFORE TRIAL of PETER J. BALZANO, the

Transcription

1 I 1 L SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK i COUNTY OF NEW YORK VERTICAL SYSTEMS ANALYSIS, INC., - -x Plaintiff, -against- PETER J. BALZANO, Defendant. July 26, :11 a~m. Index No / x EXAMINATION BEFORE TRIAL of PETER J. BALZANO, the Defendant herein, taken pursuant to Court Order, and held at the offices of DALCO Reporting, Inc., 280 Madison Avenue, New York, New York, before Douglas F. Colavito, a Court Reporter and Notary Public of the State of New York. 800.DAL.8779 _DALeo

2 2 1 APPEARANCES: 2 EDWARD WEISSMAN LAW OFFICES Attorneys for Plaintiff 3 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 557 New York, New York 4 BY: EDWARD WEISSMAN, ESQ BASHWINER & DEER, LLC Attorneys for Defendant 571 Bloomfield Avenue, Suite 203 Verona, New Jersey BY: JOSEPH ANTHONY DEER, ESQ AL.8779I DALeO

3 PETER J. BALZANO 3 1 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED, by and 2 between counsel for the respective parties hereto, 3 that: All rights provided by the C.P.L.R., and Part of the Unifor.m Rules for the Conduct of 5 Depositions, including the right to object to any 6 question, except as to the form, or to move to 7 strike any testimony at this examination are 8 reserved; and in addition, the failure to object to 9 any question or to move to strike any testimony at 10 this examination shall not be a bar or waiver to 11 make such motion at, and is reserved to, the trial 12 of this action. 13 This deposition may be sworn to by the witness 14 being examined before a Notary Public other than the 15 Notary Public before whom this examination was 16 begun, but the failure to do so or to return the 17 original of this examination to counsel, shall not 18 be deemed waiver of the rights provided by Rules and 3117 of the C.P.L.R., and shall be 20 controlled thereby. The filing of the original of 21 this deposition is waived. 22 IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED, that a copy of this 23 examination shall be furnished to the attorney for 24 the witness being examined without charge. SOO.DAL.S779 II DALeO

4 4 PETER J. BALZANO 1 PETER J. BALZANO, 2 having first been duly sworn by the Notary Public 3 (Douglas F. Colavito), and stating his address as 45 4 Mundy Avenue, Staten Island, New York 10310, was 5 examined and testified as follows: 6 7 EXAMINATION 8 BY MR. WEISSMAN: 9 Q. Good morning, Mr. Balzano. 10 A. Good morning. 11 Q. My name is Edward Weissman. I'm the 12 attorney for the plaintiff in this action. I'm 13 going to be asking you a series of questions this 14 morning. 15 If for any reason what I ask you is not 16 clear to you, I need you to tell me, and I'll do my 17 best to rephrase. Is that acceptable to you? 18 A. That's acceptable. 19 Q. Okay. And the primary rule is even if you 20 know what my question is going to be, let me ask the 21 question so we can get it on the record. And I have 22 to let you answer the question so that the record is 23 complete. 24 By whom are you employed currently? BOO.DAL.B779 1I0ALCO

5 PETER J. BALZANO 5 1 MR. -DEER: Just one thing before we start. 2 Just for the record, we are going to be 3 operating this deposition as we were all the 4 other ones with the usual stipulations with the 5 objection preserved for trial. 6 MR. WEISSMAN: Yes. Yes. 7 MR. DEER: With that, I apologize. Go 8 ahead. 9 MR. WEISSMAN: No problem. 10 A. My current employer is Elevator Inspection 11 Company, which is affiliated with Local 1 of the 12 international elevator constructions. 13 Q. And how long have you worked there? 14 A. I've been working there since -- I think 15 it was March, the beginning of March, of this year. 16 Q. And what are your duties and 17 responsibilities? 18 A. I work for I'm a mechanic. 19 Q. And I take it you're sent out on jobs? 20 A. Yes, I am. 21 Q. Do you have a set list of customers, or is 22 it arbitrary? 23 A. The customer list is the owner of the 24 elevator company that I work for. 800.DAL.8779 _DALeo

6 6 PETER J. BALZANO 1 Q. Where are they located? 2 A. They are located in Brooklyn. 3 Q. The address? 4 A. You know, to be honest, I really don't 5 even know. I work -- actually, if you want -- 6 technically, my employer would be Local 1, which is 7 the International Union of ilevator Contractors. 8 Q. Okay. 9 A. That's previously where I worked before I 10 worked for Ed, not Elevator Inspection Company but 11 the international. 12 Q. Okay. All right. When you referred to 13 Ed, it was -- you were referring to Ed Voll? 14 A. Yes. Yes. Before Vertical Systems. 15 Q. Okay. And can you -- can you give me a 16 thumbnail sketch of your educational background. 17 A. I have just a high school diploma. 18 Q. What high school? 19 A. Actually, it was kind of confusion. Back 20 in the early years, I went to North Bergan High 21 School for, I think, four years, but I wasn't able 22 to graduate unless I did some courses in another 23 town. But I think my diploma says Emerson High 24 School in Union City. BOO.DAL.B779.OALeo

7 PETER J. BALZANO 7 1 Q. Okay. And after you graduated, did you go 2 to work? 3 A. Yes. I went into the elevator field. 4 Q. Okay. And who was your first employer? 5 A. My first employer was Central 6 International Elevator. 7 Q. Where were they located? 8 A. They were located on 20th Street in 9 between 6 and 7, I think it was. 220 West 26th. 10 Don't quote me on the exact address. We're going 11 back 30 years. 12 Q. In what town? 13 A. New York City. 14 Q. In Manhattan? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Okay. 17 A. I think they're currently Thyssenkrupp 18 Elevator after all the acquisitions and buying out. 19 Q. Okay. And how long were you with Central? 20 A. Central, I think, from '80 to '83. Then 21 my father opened a bar in '83, and I left the 22 industry and came back to Central in ' Q. And how -- how long was your second tour 24 of duty with Central?, 800DAL DALeO

8 8 PETER J. BALZANO 1 A. With Central, again, I really couldn't 2 give you the exact dates of how long I worked with 3 them. You know, maybe another six years, maybe. 4 You know, don't quote me on that. I'm not really 5 too sure how long. 6 Q. Okay. But were you a mechanic at Central? 7 A. Yes, I was a mechanic. 8 Q. And after Central, where did you go to 9 work? 10 A. After Central, I think I went to work for 11 a non-union company in New Jersey called Payton 12 Elevator. 13 Q. P-A-Y-T 14 A. T-O-N. 15 Q. As a mechanic? 16 A. As a mechanic. 17 Q. And how long were you with Payton? 18 A. You know, it's quite a while; so I really 19 don't know. 20 Q. 21 A. Few years -- Maybe another four or five years. 22 Q. 23 to work? Okay. And after Payton where did you go 24 A. After Payton, I think it was -- I moved up SOO.OAL.S779 1I0ALCO

9 PETER J. BALZANO 9 1 to Syracuse, and I went to work with Schindler 2 Elevator up in Syracuse. Probably for about two 3 years. You know, again, I'm just estimating. 4 Q. Yeah. We're not holding you to specific 5 dates. 6 A. So I went from Schindler, and then my 7 mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I 8 moved back from Syracuse and went to work with PS 9 Marcato Elevator. 10 Q. Approximately, what year would that be, 11 mid-'90s, late '90s? 12 A. Mid, late '90s. 13 Q. Okay. And what was your position at PS 14 Marcato? 15 A. I was a union mechanic. I was a mechanic. 16 Q. Okay. And I take it when you were at 17 Schindler you were also a mechanic? 18 A. Actually, at Schindler I was a helper. 19 Q. Okay. 20 A. I wasnlt a mechanic. 21 Q. Where did you go to work after PS Marcato? 22 A. After PS Marcato I went to World Elevator, 23 which is no longer in business. And then after that 24 I was with Transel Elevator. 800.DAL.8779 IIOALCO

10 10 PETER J. BALZANO 1 Q. Approximately what year is this? 2 A. This is going back -- it would have to be I think I worked for them for about six 4 years also you know, I think I started 5 with Ed in Because what happened was when I 6 lost my employment, I was a union -- still a Local 1 7 union mechanic -- 8 Q. Right. 9 A. -- with them, but I was a licensed 10 elevator inspector. In 2009 New York City changed 11 the code, and the companies no longer needed the 12 license, but the witnessing firm, like VSA, needed 13 the license. 14 Q. I see. How did you come to work at VSA? 15 A. I think it was Ed. I happened to calion 16 the phone. I knew a person that used to work there, 17 Mike Wagner. I knew him from Marcato Elevator. He 18 introduced -- you know, he told me that VSA was 19 looking. And I called him on the phone. When I 20 happened to calion the phone, I did not know that 21 Eddie Curry, Ed's partner, was part of the company. 22 And he knew me and my brother, because my brother is 23 in the indus try. 24 Q. Okay. And that led to an interview? 800.DAL.8779 _DALeo

11 PETER J. BALZANO 11 1 A. That led to an interview, and I was 2 immediately hired. 3 Q. What position were you hired for? 4 A. An elevator inspector. 5 Q. Okay. 6 A. Third-party witness. You know, 7 maintenance evaluations. You know, I was pretty 8 much 9 Q. Did you interview with Ed Voll? 10 A. I think I did, yes. 11 Q. Okay. Do you recall what your salary was 12 in 2009 when you were hi red? 13 A. It was industry standards. I can't 14 remember the exact number. I really don't know. I 15 couldn't even tell you what I make right now, you 16 know, exactly. 17 Q. Did you earn more than you were being paid 18 at Transel? 19 A. No, less. 20 Q. You were paid less. Okay. 21 A. Less because if you want to count the 22 benefits. In the union you get a pension, you get 23 annuity. I had 16 years of pension credits prior to 24 Ed Volle BOO.DAL.B779 _DALeo

12 12 PETER J. BALZANO 1 Q. Okay. When you started in 2009 at VSA, 2 did you receive salary increases? 3 A. I think I got the same increases that 4 everybody got in the first of every year. 5 Q. Okay. 6 A. You know what I mean. You know, what -- 7 what other people have salary increases and what I 8 got, I doni t know. 9 Q. Okay. But you got increases every year? 10 A. I would have to say I think so, yes. 11 Q. Okay. Did you receive bonuses every year? 12 A. Christmas bonuses, yes, along with 13 everybody else in the company. 14 Q. Okay. But you received bonuses? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Now, I represent to you that yesterday, 17 when Ed Voll testified, he said that at some point 18 along the way you became his right-hand man. 19 A. Yes. Even though I was friends with Eddie 20 Curry, and the two of them were battling, I was 21 known as an Ed Voll boy, yes. Out in the field 22 everybody knew me as an Ed Voll boy. And anything 23 that came out of my mouth was from Ed Volle 24 Q. When you say anything that came out of BOO.DAL.B779 _DA.LeO

13 PETER J. BALZANO 13 1 your mouth, meaning you carried 2 A. Ed Voll's messages to 3 Q. Did that mean you worked primarily for Ed 4 Voll? 5 A. No. Sometimes Eddie Curry would give me 6 jobs to do. Mike Mottola would give me jobs to do. 7 Bill Terry would ask me if I could cover some of his 8 jobs. John McCoy. You know, I did what they told 9 me to do. I went where they told me to go. 10 Q. At some point in time, were you given an 11 office that was next to Ed Voll's office? 12 A. Yes. ~hat was in They were 13 reconstructing the office, and they took a lot of 14 the cubicles, and they made a lot of offices. And a 15 lot of people left with open offices. And I asked 16 him if I could have an office, because sometimes I'm 17 on phone conversations, and being in the cubicles 18 with everybody else I couldn't understand, and I 19 couldn't hear. 20 Q. Understood. 21 MR. WEISSMAN: Joe, can you show the 22 witness D-5? 23 MR. DEER: Yes. 24 MR. WEISSMAN: Thank you. SOO.DAL.S779 _DALeo

14 14 PETER J. BALZANO 1 Q. Mr. Balzano, I just showed you what has 2 been marked as D-5 at an earlier deposition in this 3 case. And I ask you if you can identify the 4 document. 5 A. I can identify it as the document that Ed 6 Voll ed me after -- after I was terminated from 7 VSA. 8 Q. Okay. When you say you identify it as a 9 document that Ed Voll ed to you after your 10 relationship with VSA ended, did you not have a 11 copy? 12 A. No. 13 Q. It was lost? 14 A. I don't remember receiving it. 15 Q. You don't remember. 16 If you go to the last page, is that your 17 signature? 18 A. It looks like my signature, yes. 19 Q. Any reason to believe it's not your 20 signature? 21 A. In our office there is a lot of copy and 22 pasting of signatures. There was a lot of documents 23 that were distributed from VSA that were not my 24 signature. I think even the EVL3 forms that are II 800.DAL.8779 DALeO

15 PETER J. BALZANO 15 1 sent down to the Department of Buildings are not 2 original signatures by the inspectors but copy and 3 pasted. 4 Q. Are you suggesting that the signature that 5 appears to be your signature on the last page is the 6 result of a copy and paste? 7 A. No, I'm not. I just do not remember 8 signing this document, this particular document. It 9 doesn't jump out. I don't think, you know -- he 10 didn't give me a raise or anything when I got it 11 that would really jog my memory. 12 Q. Okay. 13 A. But I do not remember signing this. Wendy 14 Kramer asked me to sign quite a few documents for 15 licensing and other states and other, you know, 16 renewals of licenses and stuff like that. So, like, 17 I really don't remember this. And, you know, I 18 mean, I felt comfortable with my employment where if 19 they had me sign something, I really didn't look at 20 it and ask questions. They just asked me to sign 21 it, and I would. 22 MR. WEISSMAN: Joe, one of the affirmative defenses which has been raised is that Mr. Balzano did not sign the employment agreement. 800.DAL.8779 dakoreporting.com _DALeo

16 16 PETER J. BALZANO 1 2 And that's why MR. DEER: I understand what -- I 3 understand what you're saying. I think that also in response to your discovery and in my questioning yesterday, the issue is we're looking for an original signature of it, which I believe I've asked Mr. available for inspection. issue is coming from. Voll to make That's where this MR. WEISSMAN: Okay. I'm going to ask the witness to give me some handwriting exemplars. MR. DEER: That's fine. You know, I -- you know -- that's fine. 14 MR. WEISSMAN: All right. 15 MR. DEER: I mean, he's testified as he 16 has now about the cutting and pasting. I'm not going to -- it's an issue. objection to it. I don't have an 19 MR. WEISSMAN: Okay. 20 MR. DEER: You're going to do that now? 21 MR. WEISSMAN: Yeah MR. DEER: Okay. That's fine. You're going to mark it obviously and all that stuff. 24 MR. WEISSMAN: Oh, sure. BOO.DRL.B779 II DALeO

17 PETER J. BALZANO 17 1 Q. Mr. Balzano, I'd ask you to sign your name 2 five times as you would normally sign your name one 3 under the other. 4 MR. DEER: Ed, how are you going to mark 5 this, P-1? 6 MR. WEISSMAN: Yeah. Weill mark it P-1. 7 Q. And, Mr. Balzano, would you, also, on the 8 bottom of the page, just write, "I'm at a deposition 9 right now. II Just wri te, you know MR. DEER: In handwriting or printing? MR. WEISSMAN: THE WITNESS: Handwriting. Handwriting. 13 MR. DEER: Handwriting, cursive THE WITNESS: spell IIdeposition ll spellcheck, I -- You're going to have to for me, because without 17 MR. WEISSMAN: No. No. That's fine. 18 THE WITNESS: Again, like I told you 19 before, I only have a-high school diploma MR. WEISSMAN: THE WITNESS: MR. WEISSMAN: It's not a problem. Go ahead. I'm at a deposition, 23 D-E-P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N, now. Why don't we mark 24 this as, I guess, P-A or P-l. 800.DAL.8779 dalcoreporling.com II DALeO

18 18 PETER J. BALZANO 1 2 (Plaintiff's Exhibit 1, HANDWRITING 3 SAMPLE, was marked for identification.) 4 5 Q. Mr. Balzano, at any of the elevator 6 companies where you were employed, either before VSA 7 or after VSA, were you ever asked to sign an 8 employment agreement? 9 A. No. Because I was a union person, and 10 being part of a union, we're not required to sign an 11 agreement with the company. 12 Q. Okay. 13 A. It's pretty deposed in the union contract. 14 Q. Okay. But this was the only time in your 15 life that you were asked to sign an employment 16 contract; is that correct? 17 A. Again, I don't remember signing an 18 employment contract, except for whatever paperwork 19 they asked me to sign the first day that I was 20 there. You know, giving them my W2s and everything 21 else. 22 Q. Right. But this agreement, I believe, is 23 dated in A. Again, I don't recall signing this SOO.OAL.S779 II DALeO

19 PETER J. BALZANO 19 1 document. I don't. 2 Q. No. I -- do you -- so if I ask you if you 3 recall whether you read the document before you 4 signed it, you would not be able to answer? 5 A. I would not be able to answer you; 6 correct. 7 Q. And if I asked you if you ever discussed 8 the document with a third party, such as a lawyer or 9 an accountant, you would not be able to A. The answer would be no. 11 Q. And if I asked you MR. DEER: Other than -- other than me, of 13 course. In the context MR. WEISSMAN: Years later. Yeah. Years 15 later. I 16 Q. If I asked you if you ever discussed the 17 document with anyone at Vertical Systems, you would 18 tell me that you don't recall; is that correct? 19 A. The only thing that -- that the discussion 20 with a noncompete document was at one point Anthony 21 Giordano left VSA. 22 Q. Okay. 23 A. And he went to VDA, which is Ed's 24 competition. And Ed was telling me that there was 800DAL.8779 _DALeo

20 20 PETER J. BALZANO 1 litigation over a noncompete, and I mentioned that I 2 did not have a noncompete, and he explained to me 3 that I could not have a noncompete because I was 4 already employed. 5 Q. When did you have this conversation? 6 A. Must have been around the time with 7 Anthony Giordano leaving, because with Anthony 8 Giordano leaving, the noncompete was the first time 9 I've ever heard of a noncompete. 10 Q. And when did Anthony Giordano leave? 11 A. I think he left in, like, Q. Okay. 13 A. You know. 14 Q. In your conversation with Ed regarding a 15 noncompete, did Ed Voll mention that you had signed 16 an employment contract? 17 A. He actually -- he didn't say that I signed 18 an employment contract. He told me I couldn't 19 because I was already employed. 20 Q. I'm -- what did you understand that to 21 mean? 22 A. That I wasn't involved. My position 23 didn't need a noncompete, you know, whatever a 24 noncompete is. Like, you 'know what I mean, I'm a BOO.DAL.B779 1I0ALCO

21 PETER J. BALZANO 21 1 union mechanic. I'm not a college-educated person, 2 and it's tough for me to understand things. 3 MR. WEISSMAN: Off the record. 4 5 (Discussion held off the record.) 6 7 BY MR. WEISSMAN: 8 Q. By the time your relationship with 9 Vertical Systems ended in January of 2017, how much 10 were you earning at vertical Systems? 11 A. To be honest, I think my W2 was around And I think he picked up a medical benefit 13 package for me. 14 q. Did you also get bonuses in 2016? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Okay. Would it be fair to say A. That's part of -- that is he taxed my 18 bonus. They taxed our bonuses. So it" s - - it's 19 part of that number. 20 Q. And did you get any perks? 21 A. What do you mean by "perks"? 22 Q. Car. 23 A. No. He paid me the $200 expenses for car 24 like he gave every employee. SOO.OAL.S779 _DALeo

22 22 PETER J. BALZANO 1 Q. Okay. Your vacation, you got paid 2 vacation? 3 A. When I took vacation, yes, I got paid. 4 And when I did not take vacation, he paid me for my 5 unused vacation. 6 Q. Okay. And I was told here for you to 7 confirm that the package you received in 2016 was 8 $200, A. I guess that's if you're including his, 10 you know, healthcare coverage. I don't know what 11 that -- you know, as far as -- as far as that is, 12 you know -- you want to throw numbers in. I'm not a 13 numbers man or anything. I was practically making 14 more as a Local 1 mechanic than I was making with Ed 15 Volle My package -- my package with the union is 16 roughly 180- to $190,000 a year with my medical 17 benefits, my annuities, and my pension. 18 Q. Currently? 19 A. Currently. 20 Q. And you're saying that you made the same 21 or less with A. Approximately about the same. I guess 23 even less when I started. 24 Q. Yeah. I'm asking about 2016, when you BOO.DAL.B779 (loalco

23 PETER J. BALZANO 23 1 left. 2 A. Yeah, in Union mechanic rate is , and then they got a $48 benefit package 4 attached to it. 5 Q. Okay. There was testimony yesterday from 6 Mr. Voll that in 2016 you quit VSA on at least five 7 separate occasions. 8 A. I don't know about -- I don't know about 9 five. 10 Q. Is that accurate? 11 A. And as far as quitting, it would be more 12 of disagreement in some of the -- some of the work 13 tha t he wan ted me to do. 14 Q. Okay. 15 A. We Q. How many times did you quit? 17 A. I think maybe two. Maybe two prior to 18 this one. 19 Q. Prior to the January 2017? 20 A. Yes. Two times prior to this, me and Ed 21 bumped heads, and I just said it didn't work and 22 that I was going to move on. He, in turn, told me 23 to think about what I'm doing, and we came to peace 24 with it, and then we moved on. 800.DAL.8779 II DALeO

24 24 PETERJ. BALZANO 1 Q. To the extent that you recall having quit 2 twice, what was the first dispute about? 3 A. The first you know, and I can't really 4 remember. There was a lot of pressure. One of the 5 big pressures was I worked with Ed on one of his 6 bigger accounts, which is Mount Sinai Hospital, 7 which was 120 elevators and an ad-car mod spec. It 8 was the largest contract Ed Voll ever did. There 9 was a lot of pressure on getting that paperwork out, 10 and he would ride me every day to get it out. It 11 did go out, you know. And my workload was 12 extensive. He'd have my fly to Florida. He'd have 13 my fly to Chicago and plus still do my day-to-day 14 operations. Working with Ed, most of the time I 15 worked on my own time at night. He would - - he 16 would dispatch me to a job in the day. I would do 17 that job with my eight-hour pay. And then when I 18 got home, I would have to do my paperwork to get it 19 to him for the next day, you know what I mean; So 20 there was a lot of pressure. 21 Q. Okay. And how did it come that you quit? 22 A. It was just too much pressure for me. He 23 had too much work on me. He -- my workload was 24 getting bigger and bigger, especially at the end, in 800.DAL.8779 dakoreporting.com _DALeo

25 PETER J. BALZANO 25 ~ 2015 and 116, when he started -- you know, with 2 people starting to leave the company. 3 Q. Well, let me ask you this: If the 4 workload was getting too big, did you tell this to 5 Ed? 6 A. Yes. Yes. 7 Q. And what would he say? 8 A. He would do his best to help and relieve 9 it. You know, he - - you know, I would tell - - you 10 know, my relationship with Ed, we were pretty good. 11 I would tell him that -- you know, I would tell him 12 I worked at night to -- to to finish this report 13 for him. And held tell me to put the time in. And 14 I'd say, don't worry about it. You know, I put my 15 heart and soul into his c,ompany. 16 Q. Did he ever give you assistants, people to 17 help you out? 18 A. He did give me one secretary. He gave me 19 a girl by the name of Ida. I don't even know Ida's 20 last name. To help me out. And one day I came in 21 the office looking for Ida, and he told me that she 22 no longer works here. And then I said to him, the 23 only girl that you gave me to help me you just got 24 rid of without even talking to me or telling me you 800.DAL,8779 _DALeo

26 26 PETER J. BALZANO 1 were going to do it. So whatever help he gave me he 2 took away. 3 Q. I'm talking about help at your level, 4 where somebody that could take on some of the load 5 at Mount Sinai. 6 A. I don't know he had anybody, no. 7 Q. He didn't have anybody who could help you? 8 A. Who could help. I think. I don't know 9 how he's running -- you know, what he's doing. 10 Q. Did you tell him that? 11 A. Yes, I told him that. 12 Q. And what did he say? 13 A. He'll do his best. 14 Q. And Ed understood the importance of the 15 Mount Sinai project; am I correct? 16 A. Yes. That was one project, yes. 17 Q. And so how did it come that you quit; you 18 just went in and said, I quit? 19 A. Well, we were sitting at the table, you 20 know, and he would be talking, and, you know, I 21 don't know how to -- yeah, you know, his demeanor 22 came off that, you know, he was mad, you know what I 23 mean. And I was mad. You know, we both be in the 24 same AL.8779 _DALeo

27 PETER J. BALZANO 27 1 Q. What was he mad about? 2 A. That I didn't have his paperwork on time, 3 you know what I mean. Sometimes he would bill the 4 project before he even completed my paperwork. So 5 it was even stressful that I had to get the 6 paperwork out, because he's already billing the 7 client that hasn't received the paperwork yet. 8 Q. Understood. And so you told him, I quit? 9 A. Well, I don't think I said I quit in so 10 many words as much as saying, Ed, I think I've had 11 enough. If you want to consider that as quitting. 12 Q. Well, you told me you recall quitting 13 twice. 14 A. Yeah. 15 Q. So you were quitting. 16 A. Yeah. I also recall telling my wife three 17 or four times I want a divorce, and I didn't do it. 18 Q. Do you recall when this occurred the first 19 time you recall quitting? 20 A. No. 21 Q. How about the second time, what was the 22 issue? 23 A. We were running so many projects. I 24 couldn't tell you what the issue was. I think a lot 800.DAL.8779 _DALeo

28 28 PETER J. BALZANO 1 of it contains to where he wants the job to go a 2 certain way, and I would disagree in that way, that 3 that would not be the way to go. 4 Q. So you had a disagreement? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Did you respect Ed Voll's judgment when it 7 came to elevators? 8 A. Clarify that a little bit. 9 Q. Knowledge is he knowledgeable about 10 elevators? 11 A. No. 12 Q. And in what way is he not knowledgeable 13 about elevators? 14 A. He hasn't been out in the field physically 15 working on elevators since the early '80s, I 16 suppose. I don't know when he got out of the field. 17 Some of the stuff that he wanted to do wasn't 18 feasible. 19 Q. In your opinion? 20 A. In my opinion. 21 Q. Okay. And would it be fair to say that Ed 22 has available to him engineers? 23 A. He does have engineers, but he doesn't 24 have a professional engineer. These are guys that 800.DAL.8779 IIOALCO

29 PETER J. BALZANO 29 1 know how to use CAD, maybe took a year or two of 2 school. I don't know his engineers. Did I have 3 confidence in his engineers, no. 4 Q. And why is that? 5 A. Most of the drawings that came out of his 6 office and went to jobs. When the company was about 7 to install the equipment, some things don't fit. 8 And then if you look at the drawings, they'll say 9 that they fit. So the engineering department, you 10 know what I mean, it looks good on paper, but when 11 you actually go to do the job, it's not going to 12 work. You know, numerous companies would have that 13 problem with Ed. 14 Q. Did you ever tell customers of VSA that 15 you were not comfortable with the product being put 16 out by VSA? 17 A. No. I said that to Ed Voll personally. 18 Q. Did you ever say that to a customer? 19 A. Not to my knowledge. 20 Q. When you say not to your knowledge, did 21 you ever - - did you ever bad-mouth VSA? 22 A. No. You see -- you see the dilemma that I 23 became -- that I came into with -- and it's not Ed it's not customers, if you want to say, because BOO.DAL.B779 1I0ALCO

30 3~. PETER J. BALZANO 1 they're really customers of our -- they're elevator 2 companies, you know what I mean. The process is, in 3 order to buy equipment, you have to have engineering 4 drawings. 5 Q. Right. 6 A. Okay. Now, in Ed Voll's specification, he 7 requires the elevator company to buy those 8 specification off of him. Now, that company buys 9 the specifications off of Ed and goes to install the 10 job, and then there's problems. Then the company 11 comes to me and says, well, look, I'm having a 12 problem installing this. Well, what does your 13 engineer say. I don't know. VSA's the engineer. 14 Now, I got to go back to VSA and say, look, your 15 drawing is wrong. Their answer is, tell the 16 elevator company to deal with it, you know what I 17 mean. So it's -- it's -- you know, that's the 18 company. That's not Ed's clients. There's a 19 difference between Ed's clients and elevator 20 companies. 21 Q. Did you ever tell anyone A. No. 23 MR. DEER: Pete, hold on. He's got to 24 finish the question. Pete, hold on. Remember BOO.DALB779 _DALeo

31 PETER J. BALZANO 31 1 the number one instruction that he had given. 2 It's -- and this is for the court reporter's 3 benefit, because he can't take down all of us 4 talking at one bime. 5 THE WITNESS: Gotcha. 6 MR. DEER: Let Mr. Weissman finish the 7 question, because, you know, he could be sneaky 8 and go a different direction here. I don't 9 think he would, but let him finish the question 10 so you understand it, and he'll let you finish 11 your answer so he understands your answer, and 12 the court reporter can get it down. 13 THE WITNESS: You got it. 14 Q. Did you ever bad-mouth VSA through anyone? 15 A. No. 16 Q. And what are you considering bad-mouthing? 17 What did you understand "bad-mouthing" to mean? 18 A. Saying derogatory things about the 19 company. 20 Q. Yeah. Did you ever? 21 A. No. 22 Q. You couldn't really tell me a lot about 23 the second time that you quit. You said it was, you 24 know, kind of unclear to you. 800.DAL.8779 _DALeo

32 32 PETER J. BALZANO 1 How is it that you remained with VSA after 2 you quit? 3 A. I think -- I think the -- I think, you 4 know, going back -- I think the first time I had a 5 problem and Ed Voll wanted to fire me when I was 6 first hired. And then Ed Curry saved my job, and 7 then at the end Ed Curry wanted to fire me, and Ed 8 Voll saved my job. So talking about, you know, why 9 I quit, maybe because some of the stuff that he 10 wanted me to do -- I think one time he had me go 11 after one of our employees, and he sent me to a job 12 to see if that employee was there or not. And when 13 I went back and told him that the employee wasnlt 14 there, I pretty much got a label as, you know Q. A snitch? 16 A. Yes. If thatls what you want to call it. 17 I donlt want to call it that. Ilm only doing what 18 Ilm told to do, you know what I mean. And that 19 person was reprimanded, and then there was a 20 discussion. And there was a few times that Ed asked 21 me to do that. 22 Q. Okay. But Ilm focusing on why you quit on 23 two occasions. 24 A. I think it was just too much stress on me, BOO.DAL.B779 _DA.LeO

33 PETER J. BALZANO 33 1 and I couldn't handle it. You know, he was putting 2 a lot of stress on me. And that's it. 3 Q. Did you ever request to be relieved of 4 some of your duties and responsibilities? 5 A. I guess sometimes I did say it was too 6 much. And sometimes I took it, you know what I 7 mean. Sometimes he had a job, and he says, you 8 know, I know you're busy. And I said, give it to 9 me; I'll take it, you know what I mean. I was doing 10 whatever I could to help the company. 11 Q. Mr. Balzano, my question was whether you 12 ever asked Ed Voll to relieve you of some of the 13 duties and responsibilities which were assigned to 14 you. 15 A. You know, I would -- I would have to say 16 yes. 17 Q. Okay. When did you ask him? 18 A. I don't even know. Oh, maybe one, we 19 could do 200 Madison Avenue. That was a job that he 20 gave me that I really wasn't comfortable with the 21 way he wanted the project to go in, and I didn't 22 want to do it. And then he gave it to Haniel. 23 Q. When you say "he gave it to Haniel," you 24 told him that you had some issues regarding the 800.DAL.8779 _DA.LeO

34 34 PETERJ. BALZANO 1 project. And he said okay and gave it to Haniel to 2 handle. Is that 3 A. Yeah. Yes. But he would make me do the 4 fieldwork and then give it to Haniel, you know what 5 I mean. Like, he would send me to a job, and I 6 would do all the fieldwork, but when it came to 7 doing the paper and everything else, it would go to 8 Haniel. 9 Q. Did you have a problem doing the 10 fieldwork? 11 A. No. I'm a field mechanic, you know what I 12 mean. I've been an elevator mechanic for a long 13 time. I'm very knowledgeable in the elevator field. 14 Q. Were there any other instances where you 15 complained and Mr. Voll did something to relieve you 16 of some of the responsibilities? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Now, can you tell me what occurred the 19 morning of January 23, 2017? 20 A. The 23rd or the 24th? 21 Q. Okay. The 23rd or 22 A. I'm not really too familiar what day it 23 is. 24 Q. Okay. SOO.DAL.S779 1I0ALCO

35 PETER J. BALZANO 35 1 A. You know. 2 Q. There was a time when your relationship 3 with Vertical Systems ended; correct? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. And it was either, according to you, the 6 23rd or the 24th? 7 A. I thought it was the 24th. 8 Q. Okay. What happened that morning? 9 A. That morning I went into my office like I 10 normally do. You know, I'm in the office before Ed 11 sometimes. And Ed walked in and asked me if I was 12 going down to Toms River, New Jersey to do a 26-car 13 survey. I told him that I was not going down there, 14 that I had three jobs on my schedule which were 15 calendar evites from the school construction 16 authority, and that I had to attend that meeting. 17 He told me that those meetings were not on my 18 calendar. And he put 26 cars in Toms River on my 19 calendar. 20 Now,.he had access to my calendar, and he 21 would put in there. The only thing he didn't -- you 22 know, he couldn't change is if it was a calendar 23 evite, which this particular job that I had 24 scheduled for that day was a calendar evite from the 800.0AL.8779 _DALCO

36 36 PETER J. BALZANO 1 school construction authority. So he said, no, that 2 was not on my schedule. And I told him, Ed, it was 3 on my schedule. And he said, no, it wasn't. And 4 then he practically called me a liar. 5 Q. When you say he practically called you a 6 liar, did he call you a liar? 7 A. He didn't physically call me a liar or 8 verbally called me a liar. But he was insinuating 9 that I put that invite on the calendar prior to him 10 booking me some place else, which is where the job 11 becomes stressful. 12 Q. Were you alone with Ed, or was somebody 13 else there? 14 A. I think he was walking he was alone. 15 He was walking past my office to go to his office. 16 And he asked me if I was going down to Toms River, 17 and I told him no. 18 Q. Okay. Was do you recall Joe Crincoli 19 being at the meeting? 20 A. No. Joe Crincoli was not at that 21 particular instance. 22 Q. Was there more than one meeting? 23 A. Well, that was -- that was just as Ed 24 walking by asking me where I'm going and insinuating 800.DAL.8779 _DALeo

37 PETER J. BALZANO 37 1 that it wasn't on my calendar. I stayed in my 2 office. Ed was in his office. Joe Crincoli was 3 sitting in Ed's office. I walked by, and I started 4 talking to Ed and Joe. And I said, we need to talk, 5 and I sat down. And we began to talk. 6 Q. What did you talk about? 7 A. Well, the first thing that came out was 8 that he says that he's running the company 9 differently. 10 Q. Who's the "he"? 11 A. Ed. 12 Q. Ed. Okay. 13 A. And Joe Crincoli is going to be the new 14 scheduler. Because now my schedule, how that day 15 was messed up. And he's saying from now on 16 everything has to go through Joe Crincoli. I cannot 17 make an appointment unless I go through Joe Crincoli 18 with a client. I, in turn, said that I didn't think 19 that was going to work. And at that time I said, I 20 think, I should give you my two weeks' notice. So 21 I, in turn, said I would give him my two weeks' 22 notice. And I would close out ~ll his jobs. Prior 23 to that, I should say, that I sat at the table with 24 a list of my jobs and explain to Joe and Ed each job 800.DAL.8779 _DALeo

38 38 PETER J. BALZANO 1 and where I was at, what, stage of the job I was at 2 in the jobs that I had. 3 Q. Right. 4 A. All right. Ed says if that's what I want 5 to do, I should think about it. I'm not making the 6 right choice. And I turned and said that I think 7 I'm making the right choice, in roundabout words. 8 As I was walking out, Ed told me to -- I could go 9 and leave the phone. So I put the phone on his 10 desk, and I proceeded to leave. Outside the office 11 Joe Crincoli came up to me and told me that I should 12 calm down and rethink the situation, and me and Joe 13 Crincoli went outside and smoked a cigarette. 14 While we were outside, Joe said I should 15 go home and think about it. And don't make any rash 16 decisions. I told him I think it's done. And I got 17 in my car, and I left. I left all my personal 18 belongings that I brought into the office that day. 19 I left,my flash drive with all my drive and any work 20 that I was doing at VSA. I did not clean out my 21 office or move anything from my office. 22 Q. How long did this meeting or series of 23 meetings take? 24 A. Less than a half hour, I think. 800DAL8779 dakoreporting.com IIOALCO

39 PETER J. BALZANO 39 1 Q. In total? 2 A. In total. 3 Q. Okay. Now, so I understand, you quit 4 because you were unhappy about how the scheduling 5 was going to be done? 6 A. Well, I was unhappy -- I was unhappy about 7 the way he was restructuring the company, so to 8 speak, you know what I mean, even though I have 9 nothing to do with it. He had me -- like you say, 10 I'm knowledgeable in the code. 11 Q. Yeah. 12 A. Yeah. I'm very knowledgeable. I'm 13 self-taught. Ed Voll did not bring me to any 14 school. He did not get me any licenses. All these 15 licenses I've earned on my own. I also, not being 16 educated, learned on my own how to make PowerPoint 17 presentations. Ed Voll would, in turn, have me make 18 a PowerPoint presentation. I would go to the 19 client, give the PowerPoint presentation, and then 20 he would turn around and say, your contact for this 21 job will be Bill Appelbaum. I'm doing all the work. 22 I'm giving all the presentation, and you're giving 23 it to Appelbaum. I felt hurt. And, you know, it 24 wasn't the right thing. You know, I'm doing the BOO.DAL.B779 1I0ALCO

40 40 PETER J. BALZANO 1 work, and you're sending it to him. 2 In December, when he had the Christmas 3 party, and he announced his new management team, and 4 I was not part of that management team. I was hurt, 5 you know what I mean. And then in January, with him 6 -- statements with my scheduling and telling me how 7 I have to do this and do that, I felt uncomfortable 8 there. And I felt it was mutual to leave. 9 Q. Okay. So you were unhappy that you had 10 too much stress, and if he assigned something to 11 someone else, you felt hurt that he did? 12 A. Well, yeah. Wouldn't you feel hurt if you 13 were with a person and you're giving a PowerPoint 14 presentation in front of 200 people at the school 15 construction authority, and then you're telling them 16 if you have any questions contact somebody else? I 17 think -- I think any person would feel a little 18 hurt. 19 Q. Let's go back to the meeting either the 20 morning of the 23rd or the 24th. 21 Were you screaming at the meeting? 22 A. No. You know, I have a loud voice. You 23 know, my speaking sometimes is louder than everybody 24 else. Is it yelling and screaming, the answer is BOO.DAL.B779 dakoreporting.com IIOALCO

41 PETER J. BALZANO 41 1 no. 2 Q. Okay. Were you cursing? 3 A. No. 4 Q. SO if someone testified at trial that you 5 were screaming and cursing, they would be lying; is 6 that correct? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Okay. Did you throw a phone at Ed? 9 A. No. I placed a phone on his desk. I 10 didn ' t throw a phone at Ed. 11 Q. Have you ever previously thrown a phone at 12 Ed? 13 A. No. I previously put it on his desk. 14 Q. In the past you put it on his desk? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Okay. 17 THE WITNESS: Can I go take a leak? 18 MR. WEISSMAN: Yes (Recess taken.) BY MR. WEISSMAN: 23 Q. Mr. Balzano, you testified earlier that 24 there was a good deal of stress involved in your job 800.DAL.8779 da1coreporting.com II DALeO

42 42 PETER J. BALZANO 1 and that that led to some tension between yourself 2 and Mr. Voll. 3 Do you recall that? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Did you ever send him an or a letter 6 setting forth what your issues were? 7 A. Nothing in -- you know, verbally. You 8 know, nothing in s or letters, no. 9 Q. No?. 10 A. Of my intentions were of what, what is 11 causing the stress or 12 Q. Yeah. That or you thought that you were 13 being either overworked or didnlt get the support 14 within the company that you felt you needed. 15 A. Yeah. We discussed that, yes. 16 Q. Verbally? 17 A. Verbally. 18 Q. There was nothing in writing? 19 A. Not that I recall. 20 Q. Okay. 21 MR. WEISSMAN: Joe 22 MR. DEER: Yes. 23 MR. WEISSMAN: can you show -- Ilm 24 going to hold this. IIII give you a copy. Can SOOoOALoS779II dalcoreporlingocom DALeO

43 PETER J. BALZANO 43 1 you show the witness the s that were sent 2 on the 25th. 3 MR. DEER: P-2? 4 MR. WEISSMAN: Yes. 5 Q. Mr. Balzano, Defendant's Exhibit 2 is in 6 front of you. And I believe it consists of s 7 sent to you on January 25, 2017, at approximately 8 5:00 a.m. and a second at around 10:00 a.m. 9 Am I correct? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Okay. Did you write those s? 12 A. Yes, I did. 13 Q. Did you send those s? 14 A. Yes, I did. 15 Q. And why did you send the s to Ed Voll 16 and Joe Crincoli? 17 A. I was just giving everybody my new phone 18 number. 19 Q. Why was it necessary to copy all of the 20 persons you copied? 21 A. Th9se were all -- when I -- when I got 22 home that day, I had -- I had no access to any of my 23 contacts. That phone that I had was Ed's phone 24 since my day of employment. That's -- that's -- was BOO.DAL.B779 1I0ALCO

44 44 PETERJ. BALZANO 1 the total of probably six years of contacts and 2 friends and everybody that were on that phone. 3 not that computer savvy where I was able to back up 4 any of my contacts. And when I sent out my phone 5 number, I sent it to everybody that was on my 6 computer at home. 7 Q. Did you think about it before you sent it? 8 A. What I thought about was just once he took 9 my phone, how am I going to get ahold of anybody. I 10 have no contacts. I have no numbers. I have nobody 11 to talk to. Nobody to - - that would know I'm even 12 there. No one would even know if -- you know, I had you know, there's -- there's -- friends know that 14 number. If they-don't get through to that number, 15 they can't get through. And I just had a friend 16 and I -- and I call the guy a friend. He passed 17 away. There was nobody able to contact me because 18 everybody had Ed's number, not my number. And I had 19 no numbers to call people. And you know what I 20 mean, it's like you're taking somebody's phone, and 21 you're taking off their arm. And that was the 22 purpose of Ed taking the phone. 23 Q. Wasn't the phone VSA property? 24 A. Yes, it was. But there was a conversation BOO.DAL.B779 II DALeO

45 PETER J. BALZANO 45 1 with me and Ed Voll prior to that of somebody that 2 really has nothing to do with what was going on 3 here, but there was a person, Grant, and he worked 4 for McGlynn Hays Elevator. He worked there for 20 5 years. He left this year. And when he left he lost 6 his phone. And he was telling me how bad it was 7 that he lost all of his numbers after 18 years. And 8 I mention that to Ed two weeks prior to my leaving 9 the company or him firing me. And I said how bad 10 that would be to lose the phone. So when we had our 11 argument, the first thing out of his mouth was 12 "leave the phone." So he knew he was doing that to 13 hurt me. 14 Q. Mr. Balzano, is your wife computer savvy? 15 A. My wife is not computer savvy, no. 16 Q. So the purpose -- and by the way withdrawn. 18 The people who were copied on the , 19 would you agree, are all customers of VSA? 20 A. Some, and some are personal friends. 21 Q. So there 22 A. James -- James Paguelo [ph.], Mount Sinai 23 Hospital, personal friend. 24 Q. And he's also a customer? SOO.DAL.S779 dalcoreporling.com _DALeo

46 46 PETER J. BALZANO 1 A. He's also a customer. 2 Q. Okay. 3 A. Sent him an . He sent me back a job 4 opportunity. I didn't answer back because at that 5 point, Ed sent the saying that I'm breaking a 6 noncompete. So I ceased contact with everybody. I, 7 in turn, got another call from him a month later. 8 Pete, where are you. I'm worried about you. He had 9 no way of contacting me. These people are 10 contacting me through Facebook and through online 11 social networks. 12 Q. These are friends of yours? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Did your friends know that you lived in 15 Staten Island? A. 17 Q. Then why would they not be able to contact 18 you? 19 A. They don't know where I live. 20 Q. Well, they know you live in Staten Island? 21 A. Yeah. I've been working for Ed Voll for 22 six years. I don't know where he lives. Would he 23 consider me a friend? 24 Q. My question is: Why did you copy DAL.8779 _DALeo

47 PETER J. BALZANO 47 1 A. I hit send all. And I copied Ed Voll and 2 Joe Crincoli on it so they would know that I sent it 3 out. I wasn't hiding anything. I wasn't doing 4 anything. Ed Voll, in turn, sent an to me 5 saying not to contact anybody, that it's a 6 noncompete, and I ceased and desist contacting 7 anybody, whether they were my friend or not. I 8 wouldn't pick up the phone I was afraid as long as 9 that person was in the elevator business, I would be 10 putting myself in jeopardy. 11 I, in turn, after that, sent Ed Voll an 12 telling him that my intentions were not to 13 take any of his customers, that I was moving on to 14 go back to the union, and that's it. I people 15 to give them an emergency contact number to contact 16 me. 17 Q. Did you send that to Ed Voll and Joe 18 Crincoli with copies to A. Everybody. 20 Q. -- with everybody, the customers in order 21 to make it appear that Ed and Joe were approving the 22 sending of the ? 23 A. No. My putting Joe and Ed on the 24 was to show that I'm not hiding anything. I'm not SOO.DAL.S779 IIOALCO

48 48 PETER J. BALZANO 1 doing anything. I wanted him to be on it so he knew 2 this is what I did. Then I got an saying not 3 to do it. I'm in a noncompete. And I ceased and 4 desisted in talking to anybody? 5 Q. And then you sent a second that 6 morning. 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Telling people that you had been fired. 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. Why was it necessary to make that 11 clarification? 12 A. Because there was one client, Neil Wishman 13 [ph.] From Maxwell Kates [ph.], who sent me an 14 asking me if I was working on my own, and I told him 15 no, that he would have to contact VSA Q. Where is that ? A. It's -- Ed's on it. 18 MR. DEER: I don't know if I've seen that one. I will look again. Court Reporter, can you please repeat his answer so we can write this down (Record read back.) 24 BOO.DAL.B779 IIDA.LeO

49 PETER J. BALZANO 49 1 MR. DEER: All right. Mr. Weissman, I 2 will endeavor with my client to uncover the DOCUMENT/INFORMATION REQUESTED: 6 7 A. Like I said, I'm not -- lim not 8 Q. Did any other customers respond to you? 9 A. Not that I remember, no. You know, 10 friends called me, yes. You know what I mean, 11 Facebook people that were terminated or left VSA and 12 had me as a Facebook friend, Facebooked me, you know 13 what I mean, if that's -- if that's what we're 14 talking about. 15 Q. But you're saying that no other customers 16 of VSA contacted you in response to the two s 17 that you sent out? 18 A. At that time -- at that time, when Ed said 19 that I had the noncompete, and he sent me a copy of 20 this in that , was the time I ceased and 21 desisted talking to anybody, even if it was anybody. Anybody that had anything to do with 23 elevators and Ed, I ceased and desist talking to 24 him. 800.DAL.8779 _DALeo

50 50 PETER J. BALZANO 1 Q. Are you sorry you sent those s? 2 A. No. No, I'm not. And the reason being 3 is, I recently had two friends that passed away that 4 -- people telling me they tried to call me on my number, which was VSA's number, and they couldn't 6 contact me to tell me that that person passed away. 7 And the reason I sent that out that day was so 8 people could contact me. 9 Q. Is there anything in either of those 10 s that suggest that that is the reason why? 11 A. In here, I sent this just telling 12 people my new number. At that point, I still didn't 13 know if I was terminated or not. Joe Crincoli told 14 me to go home and relax, and he would talk to Ed. I 15 got in my car, and I left. I went and bought myself 16 a phone, and then at that point, I knew how 17 important it was to have my own phone number and 18 never take a company phone. Just like I'm employed 19 right now, I am not using the company's phone 20 number. I'm keeping my own. So if I ever do leave, 21 I have my contacts. 22 Q. Mr. Balzano, the very day you sent the 23 , you told everyone, that you had been fired. 24 A. Who's everyone? 800.DAL.8779 _DALeo

51 PETER J. BALZANO 51 1 Q. Everyone you copied. 2 A. I told them I was terminated, yes. 3 Q. So you knew. 4 A. Well, that was the second . That 5 wasn't the first . 6 Q. It's five hours later. 7 A. Yes, because Ed told me that he sent the 8 saying that I have a noncompete and not to 9 contact any VSA employee or employees or clients. 10 Q. And I think you said with the second 11 that you had sent the second for purposes of 12 clarification. 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. What was being clarified? 15 A. What was being clarified, any -- anything. 16 Like I said, Neil thought that my number changed. 17 Do you know what I mean? He did not know that I was 18 not working for VSA anymore. 19 Q. But your testimony is that other than that 20 one person, Neil Wishman, no one else contacted you 21 in response? 22 A. People contacted in response and s, 23 and I did not contact them back. I left them 24 hanging. BOO.DAL.B779 dalcoreporling.com (loalco