Shame On ZOLL Lifecor

Written by Roy Shelley Sunday, 27 December 2009 12:09

A 2000 MILE PROTEST JOURNEY Being Planned in Pittsburgh to Support Passage of the EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT

EVENT DATE: Jan. 25-29, 2010
Where: ZOLL Lifecor H.Q..’s
121 Freeport Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
When: ALL Day
RALLY—Wednesday, January 27
8:30 a.m.—5:00 p.m.

Eufaula AL—A 2000 mile Protest Journey to bring awareness to continued employee discrimination and harassment in the American Workplace and for the need to pass Federal Legislation that would provide protection against employee discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation. Roy Shelley is currently planning a 2000 mile protest journey from his current place of residence in South Alabama to the site of his former employer, ZOLL Lifecor Corporation, a subsidiary of ZOLL Medical Corporation, a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: ZOLL) and the largest distributor of Automatic External Defibrillators in the World.

The purpose of this protest journey is to bring awareness to the continued discrimination & harassment of individuals in the American Workplace based on their sexual orientation as well as continued discrimination of other federally protected groups (race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin or individuals with disabilities). Currently there is only a patchwork of laws in place across the country (currently only 21 states) that provides protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation to all of its state’s residents.

Mr. Shelley will be traveling from his boyhood home in South Alabama to the site of his former employer, ZOLL Lifecor Corporation in Pittsburgh, PA in Mid-Late January, 2010. Mr. Shelley was wrongfully terminated from his employment in June, 2009 for being Gay. Following the discovery by his manager, Bill Haun, that Mr. Shelley was Gay, Mr. Haun created such a hostile work-environment that resulted in a 3-5 fold higher level of difficulty for performing the same work duties as compared to two of Mr. Shelley’s colleagues in Atlanta. ZOLL Lifecor’s management was allegedly both aware and condoned the actions of Mr. Haun against Mr. Shelley. Because Mr. Shelley resided in Georgia at the time of his employment and because there are no such laws in Georgia that provide protections against this type of discrimination and there are also no laws to protect employees at private companies in Pennsylvania where ZOLL Lifecor, Mr. Shelley has compiled and submitted a “mountain” of evidence to substantiate all of his discriminatory harassment claims to the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination (MCAD), the state where ZOLL Lifecor’s parent company ZOLL Medical Corporation is located and where there are State laws in place that do provide such protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Mr. Shelley’s claim is currently being investigated by MCAD whereby Mr. Shelley is currently awaiting a ruling by the commission to confirm jurisdiction in the matter. It is Mr. Shelley’s hope to bring further attention to the discrepancies in discrimination law that still exist and to promote passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act so greater protections can be afforded ALL Americans in the American Workplace.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity for civilian non-religious employers with over 15 employees. ENDA has been introduced in every congress, except the 109^th, since 1994, albeit without gender identity protections, but gained its best chance at passing after the Democratic Party broke twelve years of Republican Congressional rule in the 2006 midterm elections. However some sponsors believed that even with a Democratic majority, ENDA did not have enough votes to pass the House of Representatives with transgender inclusion, and dropped it from the bill, which passed and subsequently died in the Senate. LGBT advocacy organizations were divided over support of the changed bill. In 2009, on the heels of the 2008 elections that strengthened the Democratic majority, and after the debacle of the 2007 ENDA divisions, only a transgender-inclusive ENDA has been introduced by House representative Barney Frank. President Barack Obama supports passage unlike his Republican predecessor, who threatened to veto the measure.

For Additional Information: Please contact Roy Shelley at royshe66@gmail.com regarding any information in this press release, the event or if you would like to participate in any portion of this protest journey to Pittsburgh.

“A Lack of Good Faith”

Detailed Account of Covert Discrimination and Retaliation experienced while employed with ZOLL Lifecor Corporation

(Subsidiary of ZOLL Medical Corporation: Publically traded on Nasdaq: ZOLL and a $30 Million Federal Contractor).

Roy W. Shelley Jr.

CONTENTS

History
The Interviews
I am Hired
The Early Days
The Discovery
Upheaval in the Middle
A Performance Review—Real & Perceived
The Confrontation & Termination
An Incomplete Inquiry
Stand up for your Rights
Compliance & Show of Good Faith
Skirting Responsibility
Where does Slander Truly Lie & Employment Hopes
Conclusion
Appendix

I. HISTORY: For Eights years I served as a dedicated top sales representative for Cambridge Heart. In 2005, I was relocated to South Florida to continue my efforts. Unfortunately the 2005-2006 Hurricane seasons devastated my business as well as my personal life while living in Ft. Lauderdale. Following my departure from Cambridge Heart, I attempted to locate another position in my career field. Unfortunately, the market did not produce an appropriate fit for my talents. With an ailing Father in South Florida, I made the decision to relocate and assist with his care in his final days while looking for a new position in the Atlanta market. In May, 2008, I found such a position with ZOLL Lifecor Corporation. It was one of the happiest days of my life. This job offer represented the end to a very difficult period in my life and to my overcoming the tragedy I endured as a result of the 2005-2006 hurricane seasons while I resided in South Florida. While it represented my overcoming adversity it was especially satisfying as I believed I had overcome this difficult time by gaining employment at a subsidiary of what I believe at the time to be one of the most respected medical device companies in the world—ZOLL Medical Corporation.

Shortly thereafter, my Father’s passing was very upsetting, yet I viewed the difficult times in Florida as a blessing in disguise that afforded me the opportunity to spend some extraordinary quality time with my Father before his passing. Yet, the tragedy endured while in South Florida pales in comparison to the travesty and injustices that I have been subjected to during my employment with the ZOLL organization. While filled with hope and optimism as I began my new career with this organization, unbeknownst to me I immediately became the target and fell victim of hatred and discrimination from this organization and/or its agents.

THE INTERVIEWS: In late April, I began a dialogue with a recruiter regarding a position with ZOLL Lifecor Corporation. In early May, my first interview with my future manager was scheduled. Perhaps it should have been a red-flag on the first interview when my future manager was 20 minutes late for the interview. I was very optimistic, yet unfortunately, I received word from the recruiter that I had not been selected. While disappointed, I maintained a positive attitude and continued my search. Two days later, I received a call from the recruiter requesting a second interview with ZOLL Lifecor. Although puzzled, I graciously accepted and scheduled a follow-up interview with my future manager in Greensboro, SC. I traveled to Greensboro for the interview and was mindful to give myself ample time to be on time. A second set of red-flags should have gone up when I received a call from my future manager that he would be late for the interview……ninety (90) minutes later, I was able to finally meet up with him. It was then that he explained that one of the Atlanta representatives had abruptly left the company and an additional position had opened up and he wanted to offer me this position. I was happy to accept this offer and my official start date was May 19, 2008. I was asked to attend a regional sales meeting the weekend prior to this start date in Orlando, FL.

I AM HIRED: While certainly curious about the abrupt departure of my predecessor, after being unemployed for 12 months, I was more elated to have found a new position with a medical company. Discovery of why she left so abruptly would come later. The weekend before the official start-date, I attended a weekend regional sales meeting in Orlando, Florida. It is here that I gained a better understanding of the position. It was also during this meeting that, unbeknownst to me, my new manager began asking colleagues about my sexual orientation. It would be after my termination that not only would I discover these questions began being asked, but also discover my manager’s motivation for asking such questions. I was informed by one of my colleagues that his questions were motivated because of his irrational belief that “all gay people talked about were their Mom’s”. One could perhaps presume that if I had made conversation about some “casual sexual encounter” with a female, the questions would have never been raised, but instead because my “frame of reference” over the past several months was taking care of my family while living at home. Regardless, the rationale that formed the basis for his asking such questions were not only inappropriate but completely irrational.

THE EARLY DAYS: Having no knowledge of my manager’s curiosity about my sexual orientation, I returned from the regional sales meeting and dedicated myself to my territory and my new career. The first three months in a new position are always particularly difficult because of the “newness” in that position as you learn the many aspects of the job. These early days were made extraordinarily difficult as a result of a number of decisions, actions, lack of actions and territory situations presented themselves. Despite a sales training session in Pittsburgh was scheduled already—one which my other Atlanta colleague attended shortly after our hire-date—my manager had me scheduled into a subsequent sales training class 3 months later. For the time being, my sales training would consist of riding along with the New York (Long Island) representative for one day. As it turned out, the remainder of my training would come entirely from “self-study” until I finally attended sales training in late August.

It is customary throughout one’s sales career as a sales representative that periodically one’s manager comes into your territory for a “ride-along” to facilitate additional training and to assess one’s progress in achieving company objectives. In the absence of formal training, one can certainly imagine how critically important these visits become. In my case, in the first three months after being hired my manager scheduled three visits into my territory. Each visit ultimately being cancelled by my manager on the morning of his visit with “interesting” excuses for their cancellation like “marital problems” and “fever blisters” which prevented him from making the trip.

Accepting the fact of having an absentee boss and one whose preferred method of communication is via text-messaging (untraceable), I dove into my territory and discovered early on that the Atlanta territory (having been divided into two sub-territories, Atlanta West and Atlanta East) had experienced a drastic drop in business as a direct result from “business irregularities” which had been occurring routinely for two years prior to my hire-date. Mysteriously, while all members of management were aware of this drop in business and that some things had occurred causing them, no member of management would admit any knowledge of the occurrences nor would they provide any guidance to overcome the obstacles that had been erected prior to my being hired. It seemed I was on my own to navigate what turned into “mine-field” after “mine-field” trying to determine on my own what was the root cause of this loss in business and the “business irregularities”. Following weeks of asking colleagues, nurses, medical assistants and physicians about why orders for the LifeVest had dropped off, a more complete understanding of what had occurred prior to my being hired was determined, much of which will not be discussed here. Suffice it to say, that there were some serious irregularities in the way business was being conducted that a major loss in trust between the physician and the company had taken place. The loss of trust was going to be a major hurdle to overcome because of the sensitive nature of the business. After an understanding of what had transpired, I developed and presented to management a detailed business plan including a detailed strategy to navigate through the “mine-field” left by my predecessor and how to increase business and redevelop a level of trust between the company and the physicians and patients. The sensitive nature of what had occurred and the lack of any support from management contributed to the slower than expected growth in the Atlanta territory. Nonetheless, I was able to demonstrate a revenue growth percentage greater than the company as a whole.

As is often said, “better late than never”, sales training finally arrived. I was excited to finally be attending sales training in Pittsburgh. For the most part, sales training was very informative and for the most part, uneventful. However, I wish to mention a previously unmentioned event that occurred on the last evening. On our last evening in Pittsburgh, dinner was planned at a local restaurant just down the street from the corporate office. A pleasant evening for the most part until the end of the evening, when a group of girls from the office and several of the new representatives decided they wanted to go next door to a bar that as was previously in the evening “snickered” about for being a “gay-bar”, despite my objections went also. It was inside this bar that it became obvious that rumors had circulated about my sexual orientation and it became the entertainment of the “girls from the office” to make explicit “passes” toward me in a very public way. After repeated objections, I eventually left this bar, leaving them behind, drove down the street where I purchased an ice-cream, and returned to the parking lot and waited in the parking lot. While I did not make any formal complaints, the actions which took place would easily qualify as sexual harassment. Because I did not physically work in the office, I felt that filing such a complaint would not benefit anyone. I knew that living and working autonomously in Atlanta away from an office would shield any future incidents.

Although the many issues being faced in the territory were at times overwhelming, aspects of my personal life were being affected by the company and decisions of the company as well. While I immediately received health insurance through the company, in the early months following my being hired, it was determined that I would be required to wait 12 months for coverage for a pre-existing condition. As it turned out, shortly after receiving this coverage, I was terminated. Additionally, after my termination, I discovered through the Director of Human Resources that the policy with ZOLL provided coverage after only a 6 month waiting period. To date, I have been unable to determine why I was required to wait 12 months for coverage while others with other pre-existing conditions received coverage after only 6 months.

V. UPHEAVAL IN THE MIDDLE: Shortly after returning from sales training, I was made aware by my colleague in Alabama that my manager was inappropriately “asking things” about my sexual orientation. While my colleague was not specific about what was being asked, it was not difficult to conclude that the manager’s conduct was inappropriate. By this time, 4 months after being hired, I had had one visit into my territory from my manager. Despite his visiting, it was obvious that his interest in what was going on in the stock market was greater than what was going on in my territory or what I was doing to generate revenue. The week immediately preceding the Thanksgiving Holiday in 2008, I began experiencing what I eventually discovered were “cluster headaches” which were incapacitating beyond description. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, they became so severe, that I went to my physician where he immediately rushed me to the Emergency Room at Piedmont Hospital where a series of tests were conducted including a spinal tap and a CAT scan to eliminate encephalitis. With the tests results coming back negative, I was released after a day with pain medication. With no relief over the holiday, I returned on Monday and Tuesday to my physician and to an eye specialist respectively, where I received antibiotics for an infection and was determined that I needed eyeglasses. Whether planned or not, it was during my hospital visit, that my manager decided to send me the first Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). I would discover immediately after my termination the significance of the timing which this PIP was given to me. The week proceeding Thanksgiving, my manager was told definitively by my colleague in Alabama that I was, in fact, Gay. Upon this determination, my manager intentionally began the manipulation of the Atlanta territories that would result in literally a five-fold increase in the level of difficulty for me to generate the same business results as one of the new Atlanta sales representatives and a three-fold increase in the level of difficulty for me to generate the same business result of the other new Atlanta sales representative. The previous “Atlanta East” sales representative (a black male) that was hired when I was hired was “chased-off” by my manager (this term was used by my manager to describe his departure).

It is without question, that from cluster headaches, discovery of inappropriateness, departure of a local colleague, mysteriously-timed PIP, total manipulation of territories along with new local sales representatives that at the mid-point of my employment was fraught with upheaval, most of which had the intent of eliminating my employment with this organization—despite a clear indication that I was having a positive impact on business revenues within my territory.

VI. A PERFORMANCE REVIEW—REAL & PERCEIVED: Following my termination and responding to my claim of discrimination to the Human Resource Departments at ZOLL Lifecor Corporation and ZOLL Medical Corporation, it was indicated that my termination was a result of poor sales performance and concluded that my termination was not as a result of any type of discrimination. However, if one were to examine simply the raw data and exclude any of the additional factors that in fact significantly impacted one’s performance (territory manipulation, lack of support, etc) the conclusion of “poor sales performance” is simply not supported. In examining the Atlanta West territory, it is important to consider the revenue growth being produced in two sections—one, prior to management’s territory manipulation and two, after management’s territory manipulation. In the first section, prior to the territory manipulation, the Atlanta West and Atlanta East territories were essentially equitable in established business and the number of doctors and hospitals which essentially represented equal business potential for each sales representative. In the second section, after the territory manipulation and the Atlanta territory was divided into three territories, the established business and the number of doctors and hospitals were heavily skewed in favor of the Atlanta East territory. Simply looking at the revenue streams generated in the first “Atlanta West territory” reveals an increase in revenue of 100% while the second “Atlanta West territory” after management eliminated all of my revenue producing accounts, I was able to demonstrate an increase in revenue the last six months of 109%. Examining the 2009 Annual reports from ZOLL Medical, ZOLL Lifecor as a whole was only demonstrating an increase in revenue of 66% for the year over last year and only 59% 4^th quarter revenue increase over the 4^th quarter of last year. Yet the company’s official response for my termination was “poor sales performance.” These figures are all independent of the various mishandling of the territory by the regional manager as he designated the specific territory assignments and the sales targets for each of the territory managers. I will explore later the impact this territory manipulation has on the perceived sale performance shortly. However, another facet of performance that was measured this past year as we specifically targeted various cardiac specialists to broaden the use of the LifeVest. The first such “contest” was the Heart Failure Contest where heart failure specialists were targeted and measured specifically new business being generated in this particular group. Out of 56 representatives, I was ranked 15^th. While I had hoped to perform better, being ranked 15/56 is hardly an indicator of “poor sales performance”.

Overall rankings were also given each segment (every 2 weeks) and were based upon an individual’s percentage to sales target. Interestingly, the company’s number one producer (a black female) was ranked recently last among almost 80 territory managers—highlighting how flawed this method of performance evaluation is. In my case, at the time of my termination, I was ranked 50/62. This ranking was based on my percentage to sales target. Because my “plan target” was grossly skewed much higher relative to the overall business opportunity when compared to the Atlanta East and Atlanta North territories, this ranking is hardly an accurate reflection of sales performance. If one were make the plan targets equitable and proportionate to each of the territory’s business potential, my proportionate sales ranking would, in fact, would instead be 16/62. However, this was not taken into consideration because the underlying objective and motivation for skewing both the territory assignments and the plan targets was to create an atmosphere and sales objectives that was unreasonably difficult for an individual to attain—with the express purpose of eliminating that individual from their employment. This covert manipulation is widespread in this organization. The structure of their reporting system and tracking software is set up in a manner that is intentionally complicated and confusing for the average sales representative to reasonably keep track of. Most go unaware of these various nuances in how this company is structured to ever have a true understanding of their real performance.

While there are additional facets of the structure of how an individual’s performance is evaluated and the impact of their manipulation can positively or negatively skew one’s perceived performance to management, their impact are of a lesser degree yet can be cumulative in nature. One aspect of my performance that was not specifically examined is the addition of new physicians. In the final 2 months while employed at this company, I was able to open up the Columbus, GA markets and was opening the Montgomery, AL markets as was demonstrated by significant numbers of new orders in the final weeks in these 2 markets. The two years prior to my being hired and early on in my employed, there was no demonstrable business in these two markets to speak of. If one examines business from these 2 markets, you will find a sharp spike in business in the final months—something certainly not considered.

VII. THE CONFRONTATION AND TERMINATION: After the final reorganization of the Atlanta territory, all of the accounts previously in the Atlanta West territory were reassigned to either the Atlanta East or Atlanta North territories—leaving accounts and physicians who had not historically utilized the LifeVest and not producing revenue, essentially having to start over in a territory. Despite this additional setback, I was able to demonstrate growth in the Columbus, GA and Montgomery, AL territories. It became clear from information received from my colleague, that the manipulation of the accounts and plan targets were planned and intentional and discriminatory. In the final weeks of my employment, I sent a number of requests to my manager, Jeff Fair and Pat Eastman regarding the inequities in how the territories had been divided along with the financial effect of removing all revenue producing accounts from my territory. My inquiries went unanswered or was simply told by my manager that no further changes would be made to the territory—all of which I retained documentation proving such. On the morning of June 3, 2009, I had a phone conversation with Adam Sims, my colleague in Alabama. While he had alluded to my manager’s discriminatory actions and behavior, during my conversation he provided me with a detailed account of my manager’s inquiries and actions. Details included the fact that my former manager had begun making inquiries regarding my sexual orientation the weekend before my official hire-date while at the regional sales meeting in Orlando—confirmed through a phone conversation with another participant at that meeting. While his inquiries began in Mid-May, ’08, he did not learn definitively about my sexual orientation until Mid-November, ’08 when he asked Adam Sims, while working in his territory, “Is Roy…..Is he Gay?” Adam responded by saying, “Yeah, he is, there you go Bill.” Bill quickly responded by saying, “I knew it, I knew he was gay. I never should’ve hired that faggot…..and you know, I’ll get rid of him too!”

Adam asked what he meant and Bill replied by saying, “Yeah, I’ll make it difficult for him…..cause he’s not performing now, he’s not performing at all…..and I’ll *!^k him.” It was during this week when he learned I was gay that I was having the cluster headaches and eventually hospitalized over Thanksgiving. While he indicated I was not performing, if one looks at the revenue stream generated over the previous 9 segments (3 months) you would discover that my “lack of performance” had produced a 100% increase of revenue over the previous 3 months. Again, the charge of non-productivity was completely mis-applied, in this case. Furthermore, after this discovery, all of the territory manipulation began and indeed he did make things difficult for me, he did “*!^k” me, but yet, the final 3 months, I again demonstrated revenue growth greater than 100% over the previous 3 months.

Upon learning of these specifics on the morning of June 3, 2009, I immediately sent a text message to my manager inquiring as to the territory changes asking for an explanation. The text of that message is as follows:

“Just noticed when the Atlanta territory was divided 3-ways that the % of Dr’s for the ATL E, N &W, respectively was 67%, 16% & 17%, The Business by Physician was 69%, 11% & 20% respectively but the percentage of the collective plan target is 29.6%, 26% & 44%, respectively. Was this the intent and can you help me understand it?”

My intent for this inquiry was not to specifically address the issue of sexual orientation but rather the unfair working environment which he had created. Within 60 seconds of sending this message, I received his phone call and without explanation, he terminated my employment.

VIII. AN INCOMPLETE INQUIRY: I immediately contacted the Human Resources Department at ZOLL Lifecor and was referred by Ray Bermudez to the Human Resources Department at ZOLL Medical in Massachusetts. While I provided specifics and a witness, the company’s investigation communicated to my witness that his testimony “was not required” to move forward. As a result, the company’s official response indicated that “Adam Sims did not corroborate my assertion about my manager’s actions. A sworn affidavit to the contrary has been provided to all parties involved along with the HR department’s unwillingness to properly investigate the charges.

In fact, it is after my termination that the true travesty ensued. Following my termination, the company ZOLL Lifecor and its parent company ZOLL Medical Corporation were provided details of these offenses, evidentiary support along with witnesses that corroborated my claims. In the company’s Policy & Guidelines it seemed clear that such discrimination of any kind would not be tolerated. This, however, could not be further from the truth as evidenced by the company’s own actions since my termination. These actions (or lack of action) include:

A total failure in conducting a thorough and proper investigation at both ZOLL Lifecor and ZOLL Medical Corporation, the parent company.
A failure to properly interview a witness that was provided to both human resource departments that corroborates my claim of discrimination.
The transfer of my former manager to another subsidiary of ZOLL Medical Corporation despite overwhelming evidence that this manager conducted himself in a manner that “will not be tolerated” according to the company’s own Policy and Guidelines. This transfer occurred without disciplinary actions and was seemingly done in an effort to give the appearance that the company had “taken action” and/or to “hide” Mr. Haun at another subsidiary within the organization.
The transfer of Mr. Haun to another subsidiary clearly indicates not only an unwillingness to take responsibility for the atrocious acts of discrimination but indicates their unwillingness to enforce its own company policies and thus to condone the illegal behavior demonstrated by Mr. Haun and the unacceptable handling of these actions by the HR departments at ZOLL Lifecor and ZOLL Medical.
The unwillingness to abide by its own rules despite a clear description of the process to report discrimination exists in the Policy and Guidelines including the claim submission process with the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination (MCAD). Their approach has instead resulted in the company’s attorney presenting a mass of legal “gobbledygook” in an effort to have my case thrown out of the court system instead of addressing a single issue stemming from the discrimination and retaliation claims submitted to the MCAD.
A “Defamation Countersuit” has been filed against me as a result of my actions filing the claim. While one aspect of the suit was to obtain control of confidential documents and I promptly complied, the vast majority of the countersuits centered on a claim that defamatory remarks were made and that my actions had resulted in irreparable harm to their ability to conduct business….yet no remarks have ever been made that were untrue nor unsubstantiated.
The company’s have been unwilling to engage in any dialogue in an effort to reach an amicable solution to this matter, despite my repeated attempts to establish such a dialogue. Each request has gone unanswered.
The Defamation countersuit along with their attempts to remove this case from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts has clearly been an effort to evade responsibility for these illegal acts by playing a “waiting game” with hopes that I abandon my efforts to obtain reasonable justice in this matter

STANDING UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS: Certainly, there is every indication that being employed by ZOLL means that all employs are provided the same rights under their own policies and guidelines. The actions of this organization prove that this notion could not be further from the truth. To date, I have submitted formal complaints to the Massachusetts EEOC, Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination (MCAD), Georgia EEOC, Delaware EEOC, United States EEOC along with the Georgia and Massachusetts’ chapter of the ACLU. (See Appendix Documentation). While MCAD is processing a claim for Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and retaliation and remains pending, the Georgia EEOC claim is for Discrimination on the basis of disability because of the manager’s inquiry into my HIV status as well. (I am HIV+).

COMPLIANCE & SHOW OF GOOD FAITH: Following the official claim being processed by MCAD, a countersuit by ZOLL Lifecor was filed in Pennsylvania for the return of confidential documents and for defamation and slander. In a show of good faith, I immediately returned any and all confidential documents in question to the company. Furthermore, in an additional demonstration of Good Faith, I have refrained from sharing details regarding my claim to member of the press and other government entities—despite being well within my rights to do so. Nothing in any of my documentation or any conversations with any entity have been false nor has anything not been supported by company documents or sworn testimony. To the contrary, this organization and/or its agents have already demonstrated a willingness to provide false information regarding this claim. Consequently, this begs the question of exactly where does the good-faith truly exist?

SLANDER & DEFAMATION: WHO IS SLANDERING WHO?: While a slander & defamation suit has been filed against me by ZOLL Lifecor charging irreparable harm to the organization, there remain undeniable facts regarding this case, they are as follows:

1. NO false or untrue statements have been made regarding my claims or about this organization.
2. NO harm has been incurred by this company as a result of any of my claims submitted thus far. The company continues to report increased revenues from their operations
  1. LifeVest FYE 2009 Revenues--$43MM (up 66% from FYE 2008 Revenues of $26.5MM)
  2. LifeVest 4^th Quarter Revenue for 2009--$12.9MM (up 59% from 4^th Quarter Revenue for 2008 of $8.1MM.

On the contrary, this organizations actions and statements pre & post termination have been filled with a lack of good faith, defamatory comments and slanderous actions that has caused irreparable harm to me with long-lasting effects impacting every facet of my life. These effects from their actions and statements include the following:

Employment Prospects: the wrongful termination and untrue work-performance statements have practically eliminated the capacity to obtain comparable employment in my field.
Damage to Credit: the resulting financial crisis resulting from the wrongful termination has impacted my credit-worthiness furthering my ability to find meaningful employment. Additional impacts include:
1. Eviction from my home resulting in over $5,000 in dispossessory fees and charges which may lead to an adverse judgment against my credit.
2. Repossession of my automobile
3. Late payments to creditors
Overall damage to my personal health placing additional risk to life.

XII. CONCLUSION: In examining all aspects of my employment with this organization and the events following my termination, I ask myself……Who’s slandering who? Who has defamed who?......Does anyone know the difference between right & wrong?.....Is there any Good Faith left in Corporate America or should American workers simply accept the fact that there is in fact…….A Lack of Good Faith?

APPENDIX:
1. Timeline
2. Territory Manipulation—Graphical
3. MCAD Complaint
4. MCAD Response
5. MCAD Rebuttal
6. Sims Affidavit
7. Bowers Affidavit
8. Document Subpoena List
9. U.S. Map—Sexual Orientation Legislation
10. 2010 ZOLL Annual Report
11. CD—Adam Sims Interview & Comments