EEOC v. Sidley Austin Brown.

Filing 86

MOTION by Plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to compel Deponent William White to Answer Questions Regarding his conversations with Sidley Management and for completion of his deposition (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Exhibit A# 2 Exhibit Exhibit B# 3 Exhibit Exhibit C# 4 Exhibit Exhibit D# 5 Exhibit Exhibit E# 6 Exhibit Exhibit F# 7 Exhibit Exhibit G)(Hamilton, Deborah)

EEOC v. Sidley Austin Brown.

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that you remain under oath. Did you and Mr. Hannafan have any conversation during the break during which Mr. Conway was present regarding this case? A. No. You won't give up on that,

MR. HANNAFAN: will you? BY MS. HAMILTON: Q.

Mr. White, if I could, I'd like to

return to Deposition Exhibit No. 14. A. Q. anyone? A. Q. No. Do you know whether Mr. Delp ever Okay. Did you ever mail this letter to

mailed this letter to anyone? A. Q. Not that I'm aware of. Do you know whether your secretary ever

mailed the letter to anyone? A. Q. No. At the time that the stories appeared

in the paper about this letter, did you have any conversations with anyone about those newspaper stories or about the letter?

Dockets.Justia.com

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A.

I had a conversation with Mr. Bergen.

Who alerted me to the fact that my name was in the newspaper. I had not seen it. My paper wasn't

delivered that day or I came into the office earlier than my Tribune. And he suggested that I

call Mr. Ted Miller, who was a member of the Management Committee and in charge of litigation, and Mr. Conlon was in Ireland at the time. had a conversation with him. Q. What did Mr. Bergen say to you when he And I

told you about the article? MR. HANNAFAN: Just a minute, Bill. I don't

know if there's going to be an objection. MR. CONWAY: Bergen is okay. Go ahead. No? Yes.

MR. HANNAFAN: THE WITNESS: MR. HANNAFAN: BY THE WITNESS: A.

He told me I was a celebrity.

BY MS. HAMILTON: Q. A. Q. And what else did he say? That I should call Mr. Miller. But he must have said more. He said

you're a celebrity, call Mr. Miller, period?

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A. Q. A. newspaper. Q.

Yes. Did he show you the article? Yes, he gave me a copy of the

So you were coming in to work at Sidley

& Austin on that day, correct? A. I was working at Sidley & Austin that

MR. HANNAFAN: THE WITNESS: BY MS. HAMILTON: Q.

You got to slow down. Okay.

And you were working on the project

that you are still working on, is that correct? A. No, it was a previous project. Would you pause?

MR. HANNAFAN: BY MS. HAMILTON: Q.

What was the nature of that project? Bill, you're not pausing. You

MR. HANNAFAN: have to pause. MS. HAMILTON: MR. HANNAFAN:

Mr. Hannafan -Oh, God. Leave me alone.

You've been bugging me all day about this. After she asks the question, pause for a moment just in case Mr. Conway or I might have

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an objection.

Okay? Mr. Hannafan, this is my

MS. HAMILTON: deposition. MR. HANNAFAN: MS. HAMILTON: questions. MR. HANNAFAN:

Please -I'm going to ask the

We've been through this.

Stop

being so cranky about all of this. this. It's completely legitimate.

I can tell him And if you

don't like it, call the Judge or make a motion and ask him to put me under arrest or something like that, will you? Quit bugging me. We were doing pretty well So I'd just like to remind you

MS. HAMILTON: there for a while.

that the Federal Rules -MR. CONWAY: THE WITNESS: MS. HAMILTON: Let's just come on. Let's go. -- that the Federal Rules make That isn't

clear what objections are appropriate. one of them. Thank you. MR. HANNAFAN: swear me in.

And I'm not here for your testimony.

Hey, if you want my testimony,

I'm ready.

BY MS. HAMILTON:

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Q.

Mr. White, you were working at Sidley &

Austin the day that the newspaper article came out regarding this, the letter that is Exhibit No. 14, correct? A. Q. Correct. What project were you working on at

Sidley & Austin? A. It was -- I don't remember which one. I know it

There were a couple about that time.

was not the project that I'm currently working on. BY MS. HAMILTON: Q. At that time, were you being paid $60

an hour by Sidley for your work? A. Q. Yes. Did you follow Mr. Bergen's

instructions and call Mr. Miller? A. Q. Yes. What did you say to Mr. Miller during

that conversation? MR. CONWAY: I'm going to object on the

grounds of privilege, work product. BY MS. HAMILTON: Q. Did you seek legal advice from

Mr. Miller during that conversation?

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MR. CONWAY:

You can answer that yes or no. What do you mean by legal

MR. HANNAFAN: advice? MR. CONWAY:

Right.

And he's a layperson.

So if you want, I can take him out in the hallway and talk to him about the conversation -MS. HAMILTON: Mr. Conway. You're not his lawyer,

So if you take him out in the

hallway, the court reporter and I will be there. MR. CONWAY: cut through it. MS. ELKIN: I'm just looking for a Way to But objection. She can lay a foundation as to

whether it's a proper objection. MR. CONWAY: She can do whatever she wants. She said she didn't want to

I made a suggestion. do it. MS. ELKIN: question. MR. CONWAY: question? MS. ELKIN: MR CONWAY:

He can answer the foundational

What was the foundational

Was he seeking legal advice. And I'm going to object to that

question on the basis of form and foundation. MS. ELKIN: But you're not instructing him

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not to answer? MR. CONWAY: yes or no. No, I said he could answer it

I already said that on the record. I'm going to instruct him not

MR. HANNAFAN:

to answer unless you define for him what you mean by legal advice. BY MS. HAMILTON: Q. Mr. White, as you understand the term,

were you seeking legal advice from Mr. Miller? MR. HANNAFAN: Give him a definition or ask

him what he understands to be legal advice. That's easy. You've made your foundation.

So I'm going to instruct you not to answer until she wants to pop with the definition. MS. HAMILTON: Excuse me. Mr. Hannafan, if

Mr. White doesn't understand my question, he can let me know. BY THE WITNESS: A. I don't understand the question. There you go. Are you happy?

MR. HANNAFAN: BY MS. HAMILTON: Q.

Were you seeking advice from Mr. Miller

in his role as a lawyer regarding an issue of legal concern to you?

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A. Q.

No. Were you seeking legal assistance from

Mr. Miller at the time of that phone call? MR. HANNAFAN: BY MS. HAMILTON: Q. Mr. White, you've already testified Why don't you rephrase that?

that you were not seeking legal advice from Mr. Miller. A. Q. Right. Were you seeking legal assistance due

to any legal concern that you had at that time from Mr. Miller? MR. HANNAFAN: THE WITNESS: please? You can answer yes or no. Could you read that back to me,

I've lost my train of thought. As it's hard to maintain with

MS. HAMILTON:

all of these speaking objections. (WHEREUPON, said record was read by the reporter.) BY THE WITNESS: A. No.

BY MS. HAMILTON: Q. During that conversation, were you

asking Mr. Miller to serve as your attorney?

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A. Q.

No. Then I reiterate my question. What did

you tell Mr. Miller during that conversation? MR. HANNAFAN: Wait. I don't know if

Mr. Conway has an objection. MR. CONWAY: I am going to object on the At the

grounds of work product and privilege.

time, he was -- and again, I mean, I've offered a way to cut through this. I could have a private But we were

conversation with him in the hallway. offering legal advice.

Mr. Miller was acting as

counsel to the firm in connection with this matter. Having a conversation with Mr. White

about activities during the scope of his employment I think is privileged. And if I'm not

going to have an opportunity to talk with him and confirm outside your presence that it's not privileged, I'm going to instruct him not to answer or -MS. HAMILTON: I don't see how it could

possibly be privileged. MR. CONWAY: You know what, I'm sure that And I don't want to

you're saying that sincerely. waste time on this.

I've offered a way to cut

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through it. the hallway.

I can have a conversation with him in If it's not privileged, then I'll But you're not giving me that He doesn't So I --

let him testify. opportunity.

He's a layperson.

understand necessarily what was going on. so -BY MS. HAMILTON: Q.

Is it correct that at that time,

Mr. White, you were working for Sidley & Austin as a part-time hourly employee? A. Correct. Oh, no, that is not correct.

I was not an employee. Q. A. Q. As a part-time hourly contract worker. Correct. Other than the conversation that you

had with Mr. Miller regarding the article in the paper, did you have a conversation with -- other than the conversations with Mr. Miller and Mr. Bergen, did you have a conversation with anyone else regarding the article in the paper? A. Q. No. Is that the only conversation that you

had with Mr. Miller about the letter that's identified as Exhibit 14?