Judge
dismisses defamation case by OIC auditors
June
18, 2007 -- A federal judge last week
dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed against a senior
state official by the Coleman & Williams accounting
firm in the wake of the Opportunities Industrialization
Center of Greater Milwaukee kickback scandal.
US
District Judge Lynn Adelman said evidence presented
by Coleman & Williams would not convince a reasonable
jury that the allegedly false remarks made by Roberta
Gassman, secretary of the state Department of Workforce
Development were so damaging that the firm was "deprived
of a liberty interest."
Coleman
& Williams sued in 2005 after Grassman told
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Coleman &
Williams had provided "extremely inaccurate
information" in an audit for OIC.
Adelman,
in his decision dismissing the case, said his ruling
was based on a number of factors.
"First,
plaintiff has not gone out of business. Its gross
receipts in the year after defendant made the comments
dropped only slightly," he wrote. "Further,
plaintiff presents no evidence that defendant’s
actions caused the drop."
The
state also did not ban Coleman & Williams from
further state contracts, despite the statement from
one state official that the Department of Workforce
Development would no longer use the firm, Adelman
said.
"Since
February and March 2005, when defendant made the
comments to which plaintiff objects, plaintiff has
not gone out of business, has not been formally
debarred or broadly precluded from doing work for
the state and has not shown that it will be substantially
harmed in the future," Adelman said.
To
read the decision, click here.
OIC
wins reprieve from creditors
Receiver appointed for agency;
liabilities exceed $4 million
March
11, 2005 -- The scandal-plagued Opportunities
Industrialization Center of Greater Milwaukee Inc.
won a reprieve from creditors last week when a receiver
was appointed for the organization, court records
show.
"All
creditors of OIC are enjoined and restrained from...commencing
any action or prosecuting any action now pending
other than in this proceeding," Circuit Judge
Jeffrey Kremers said in a March 2 order.
Receivership
is the state court equivalent of bankruptcy.
OIC's
assets are less than $1 million, while liabilities
exceed $4 million, according to the petition for
receivership.
The
action may be bad news for former OIC Chief Operations
Officer William Clay, who filed suit last week to
collect on the agreement he allegedly made with
OIC and a related organization when he was terminated
in November.
Under
the agreement, OIC and the Garfield Foundation,
a for-profit affiliate, promised to pay Clay a total
of $197,429 in monthly installments of $15,191,
according to the suit. Four payments were made,
but the February payment was not, according to the
suit.
The
suit seeks the rest of the $136,662 it alleges is
due to Clay.
OIC
shut down last month after it became enmeshed in
a criminal kickback scheme that saw former State
Sen. Gary George and ex- OIC President Carl Gee
convicted of felonies in federal court.
Kremers
named as receiver John F. Goodnow, of Hartland.
Goodnow has the power to settle financial claims
against OIC or that OIC may have against others.
Kremers
authorized Goodnow to hire lawyers, accountants
and contractors to help him clear up the financial
mess that OIC was in when it went out of business.
"The
receiver is authorized to and may, in his sole discretion,
wind down the business of OIC for the purpose of
maximizing the value of OIC's assets," Kremers
ordered.
To
read court documents related to the receivership,
click here.
To
read Clay's lawsuit, click here.
