EEOC v. Blockbuster Inc.

Filing 105

RESPONSE in Opposition re 100 MOTION for Summary Judgment and Brief in Support of Summary Judgment filed by EEOC. Replies due by 4/19/2010. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Exb. 1, # 2 Exhibit Exb. 2, # 3 Exhibit Exb. 3, # 4 Exhibit Exb. 4, # 5 Exhibit Exb. 5, # 6 Exhibit Exb. 6, # 7 Exhibit Exb. 7, # 8 Exhibit Exb. 8, # 9 Exhibit Exb. 9, # 10 Exhibit Exb. 10, # 11 Exhibit Exb. 11, # 12 Exhibit Exb. 12, # 13 Exhibit Exb. 13, # 14 Exhibit Exb. 14, # 15 Exhibit Exb. 15, # 16 Exhibit Exb. 16, # 17 Exhibit Exb. 17, # 18 Exhibit Exb. 18, # 19 Exhibit Exb. 19, # 20 Exhibit Exb. 20, # 21 Exhibit Exb. 21, # 22 Exhibit Exb. 22, # 23 Exhibit Exb. 23, # 24 Exhibit Exb. 24, # 25 Exhibit Exb. 25, # 26 Exhibit Exb. 27, # 27 Exhibit Exb. 28, # 28 Exhibit Exb. 29)(Phillips, Ronald)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

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Civil Action No.

8:07-CV-02612

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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION *

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Plaintiff,

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Vs.

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BLOCKBUSTER, INC.,

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Defendant.

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DEPOSITION OF CYNTHIA ANN WALES BROWN
STURBRIDGE HOST HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTER

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366 Main Street

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Sturbridge, Massachusetts

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September 23, 2008

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9:45 a.m.

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Job No.: 24-138454

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Total pages: 1-242

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Reported by: Dawn L. Halcisak, Certified Shorthand Reporter

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

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Towson office, T-O-W-S-O-N, and T-I-M-O-N-I-M.
Q. Ms. Brown, you testified that you
joined the Towson office of Express in about
September of 2004?
A. Right.
Q. How is it that you became employed
there?
A. I was laid off of my job at Express
in Worcester. And I contacted the corporate
office, spoke with the regional director of the
east. She had the east coast at that time, so I
knew her from Worcester. And told her that I
would be interested in transferring to another
facility, another franchise. And she said, "We
definitely could use your skills here in
Maryland."
And, at the time -- my daughter
lives there and my grandchildren, so I thought
it would be a great opportunity to be close to
them and to continue with Express.
Q. And do you know how long the
Timonim office of Express had been operating

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prior to your transferring there?
A. I believe it was two years, but I'm
not sure about that.
Q. All right. By the time you
transferred there in September of 2004, was the
Blockbuster contract -- strike that.
Did Express already have a
contractual relationship with Venturi to staff
the Gaithersburg facility of Blockbuster?
A. No, not to my knowledge.
Q. What position were you hired into
at Express in Timonim?
A. As manager.
Q. And what were your responsibilities
as manager?
A. To hire and train inside staff, as
well as to oversee the larger accounts, to do
some sales and oversee the advertising and
recruiting of personnel to fill the positions.
I also did some collections, later;
not earlier, but later on. That's pretty much
generally --

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Q. Other than collections, which you
just testified came later, did you maintain all
of these other responsibilities until you left
in May of 2000 -- until you left in 2007, I
guess, June of 2007?
A. I did. In fact, I was also asked
to do the same with the Woodlawn branch after
their manager was let go.
Q. And when did you take on the
responsibilities at the Woodlawn branch?
A. That would have been in 2006.
Approximately a year before we closed, after the
Blockbuster account was no longer ours.
Q. Okay. Did you have any involvement
in negotiating the contract between Express and
Timonim and Venturi to staff the Gaithersburg
facility?
A. The contract -- because we were a
subcontractor to Venturi, they dictated the
terms by which we would take on that
subcontract. And that had been determined by
their association, I believe, with the corporate
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office. They had worked with other Express
offices across the country, and that was one of
the reasons they had called us to see if we
would agree to their terms, and so there was not
much negotiation.
The only part that I had was to
meet with Scott Collen, who was their, I think,
regional director. I'm not sure what his title
was. Actually, I have his card here. But I met
with him to hear what his intention was in
opening the Gaithersburg office. It, therefore,
became -- then became my account, because
it's -- was supposedly going to be a fairly
large account.
It was out of our area, our normal
area of clients, but we were the closest Express
office that Venturi could find to work with,
that would take the account. There was one
other Express office in Columbia, but they would
not take the account because they dealt more
with the administrative side and did not want to
deal with the distribution center so, therefore,
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the account became ours.
Q. And did you have any dealings with
June Davis prior to getting involved in the
Blockbuster account?
A. No. I meant June only after we had
agreed to. Actually, she had sent me an e-mail.
(Brief interruption)
THE WITNESS: She had sent me an
e-mail or sent an e-mail to Express asking
if we would be interested. And there
is -- I brought that e-mail with us -- in
meeting with Scott Collen to discuss the
opening of this particular facility in
Gaithersburg.
Q. (By Mr. Speights) All right. And
did you report to Mr. Lenear? Is that how you
pronounce his name?
A. Lenear.
Q. Lennier (phonetic)?
A. Yes.

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Q. Did you report to him in your
capacity as the manager?
A. I did.
Q. All right. And what was
Mr. Lenear's responsibilities as it related to
the Blockbuster facility in Gaithersburg?
A. He did not really have much direct
contact with those people at the facility or
with Venturi or with Blockbuster, those
Blockbuster people, such as Scott, until the
very end when we did the investigation. He was
involved with that, the day that we went down to
do the investigation. But, other than that, he
was not particularly involved with any of the
accounts directly.
Q. Okay. How often did you interact
with the Express corporate office when you were
the manager for the Timonim office?
A. On a daily basis. They have what
we call an assistance center, which is set up
and their only purpose is to answer questions or
direct calls to those who can answer questions

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

concerning any number of issues. Payroll
issues, any kind of staffing issues, so I
probably called them once, twice, three times a
day.
Q. Was payroll handled out of the
corporate office?
A. We transmitted -- we had a way,
through the computer, to transmit the payroll
figures to the corporate office. They, then,
would cut the checks and mail them to us.
Q. All right.
A. Actually, they didn't mail them to
us. They do not mail them to us. They -- we,
then, printed them out, through the computer,
after they had processed, and then we would
either mail them out or deliver them in person.
Mr. Lenear delivered a lot of the checks to
companies, personally.
Q. What was your understanding of what
you were going to be required to do in
connection with the Blockbuster account in the
Gaithersburg facility?
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A. My understanding was that I
would advertise for and recruit and process. By
that I mean, register, do background checks and
hire those people that were appropriate, meaning
that they had the skills to fill the
requirements of the job, and that I would be in
touch with the manager, whoever that was going
to be, which turned out to be Linc Barrett, on
an ongoing basis, and that I would visit the
facility to make sure that everything was
proceeding as the client would have wanted it.
And when I say "client" now, I'm
talking about Blockbuster, even though our
client actually was Venturi.
Q. Did Blockbuster have any
involvement in the recruitment or hiring of
associates or the Gaithersburg facility?
A. They were -- I did not have the
option of hiring the leads. The manager and/or
Blockbuster -- and I don't know how that
worked -- hired the leads. I was to hire any of
the distribution clerks or warehouse workers,
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basically. So -- and I was not to hire the
manager either. Blockbuster also did that.
Q. Once the distribution clerks or
warehouse workers were hired, did they go
through any type of orientation or training for
the work at Blockbuster?
A. All of the orientation and training
was done at the facility by Linc Barrett and the
leads.
Q. And do you know what types of
things were covered in the orientation and
training that was done by Linc Barrett and the
leads?
A. I know vaguely, because I was not
present for those. I know that they were told
what was expected of them, as far as the hours
that they would be working, the need to be
flexible for any overtime work when there was a
high volume of the discs that had to be sent
out, and that they would be trained on various
parts of the process so that they would be able
to do more than just one part of the process.

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them?
A. I would say the whole process with
reviewing the application and going through the
handbook and doing the I9s would be
approximately 20 minutes to maybe a half an
hour, but closer to 20 minutes.
Q. And did the handbook contain any
type of sexual harassment policy or equal
employment policy?
A. Yes. It had a whole section on it.
Q. And did you go over that section
with new-hires?
A. I did.
Q. And generally, what would you tell
them about that?
A. I would tell them if there were any
type of discriminatory actions or remarks that
they observed that they were to report it to me
immediately, and that I would deal with it with
them.
MR. SPEIGHTS: Please mark this for
me.

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They could be interchanged as the need arose.
1
Q. Did Express provide the
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distribution clerks and warehouse workers with
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any type of employee handbook?
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A. Yes.
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Q. Was there any training or
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orientation given by Express to the warehouse
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workers and distribution clerks about the things
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in the employee handbook?
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A. That was reviewed with them, by
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myself, during the time that they registered,
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which was the process being that they would fill
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out the application with myself being present,
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at that time, at the facility.
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We would have a separate room that
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they would come into and fill out the
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application, and then I would meet with them, on 17
a one-on-one basis, and go through the
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application and the handbook.
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Q. And, in terms of going through the
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handbook with them, I mean, how much time would21
you spend in going through the handbook with
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BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Page 44

(Exhibit 2, Express Personnel
Handbook, marked)
Q. (By Mr. Speights) Ms. Brown, I'm
just showing you what has been marked as
deposition Exhibit 2. Is this a copy of the
Express Handbook that you were just testifying
about?
A. Yes, it is.
Q. Okay. If you'll turn to page 3, I
think it's E.E.O.C. 00169 at the bottom?
A. Okay. Yes.
Q. The top of that page, is that the
sexual harassment policy that you would go over
with the new-hires?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you ever, during those new-hire
meetings, did you ever direct any of them to
contact Blockbuster management if they had any
complaints of sexual harassment?
A. No, I did not.
Pages 41 - 44

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Q. Okay. Were there associates at the
Blockbuster facility in Gaithersburg who were
hired directly by Blockbuster?
A. They weren't hired by Blockbuster,
because we were the hiring employer. But they
were -- I would get a call from Linc Barrett
saying so-and-so has done a great job and she
says or he says that his cousin has done the
same type of work and I'd like to have you
interview that particular person when you come
down.
I would always do a phone interview
to begin with and then followed up by an
interview at the facility, and at the time that
they made application. It was not a "given"
that they would have the job, anybody that I was
recruiting would have the job until I spoke with
them, interviewed them, looking for a certain
background experience or just an attitude that I
knew they would work well with the team and be
able to do the job.
Q. All right. Now, you testified

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that, at least with respect to the complaints by
associates for harassment or discrimination, you
would forward those statements directly to
Venturi?
A. Right.
Q. Because you were in a contract
relationship with then?
A. Right.
Q. But there were obviously some
things that you were able to deal directly with
Blockbuster; is that right?
A. Not really, until the very end of
the time, immediately prior to the
investigation, when Scott Collen and Barry
Francis were involved, I may have had a
conversation, at some point, along the way. But
my recollection is that almost always I had to
be through Venturi.
And Venturi would ask me to send
this or that, whatever report that I had. I
would speak directly to June Davis.
Q. All right.

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

A. She was my contact. So at the very
end, before Scott and Barry arrived to
facilitate this interview and this
investigation, there were some direct calls
between myself and Scott and Barry to
logistically get this arranged.
Q. But prior to that time -- and we
will talk a little bit about that investigation
shortly -- but prior to that investigation, you
were dealing primarily with June Davis?
A. With June, yes.
Q. And was it your understanding that
she was then dealing with Blockbuster directly?
A. Yes. And she would tell me that
she had spoken with Scott. "Scott would like
you to forward this to me and I will forward it
to him."
Q. Once you got started organizing the
investigation with Barry Francis and Scott
Collen, would it be safe to say that you had
more directed interaction with them for the
investigation than after that investigation?
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A. Yes. Yes. Now, that's not to say
that I never spoke to Scott. There may have
been a conversation here or there but, generally
speaking, it was always through June Davis, and
that was part of our agreement in the contract.
Q. Over the course of the period that
you were responsible for managing, sort of, the
Gaithersburg -- I would call it the relationship
with Blockbuster and Gaithersburg, how often
would you visit facility?
A. I would try to go down once a week.
I didn't always make it once a week. Sometimes,
it was every two weeks, but during the times
when I was hiring, when they were ramping up as
they got busier, I would trying to go down once
a week to interview new perspective employees.
Q. And would you talk with any of the
associates when you were there?
A. I did. That was part of what I did
when I was there. I would try to meet with
them, many times, in an office with the door
shut, so that I could find out how they were
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Page 57

1 doing, how things were going, that they could
2 speak freely without management or co-workers
3 hearing them.
4

I also would speak with them when

5 they were on the job, and it was sometimes
6 challenging to get them off of the job, because
7 it was a process by which one person's duties
8 were affecting someone else's. So it was a
9 whole line, like a table, of people working. If
10 you took one out, it holds up some of the other
11 things that were going on.
12

Q.

Sure.

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A.

So a lot of times, I would just go

14 around to them where they were working and speak
15 with them and ask them how things were going.
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Q.

Now, I understand that there were

17 quite a few of the associates who either spoke
18 Spanish as a first language or I believe there
19 were some who spoke French as a first language.
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How were you able to communicate

21 with those employees?
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MR. PHILLIPS: Object to the form.

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1
You can answer.
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THE WITNESS: In order to be hired
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by Express, you had to be able to fill out
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the application in English, so you had to
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be able to read English and speak some
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English, as well as write some English.
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And that was primarily due to the
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fact that there was not a Spanish or a
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French-speaking manager or lead that was
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on -- at the facility, so they needed to
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understand for safety purposes,
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instructions in English, as well as to be
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able to do the job.
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So most everyone there could speak
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or understand, but their first language
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may have been French. It may have been
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Spanish.
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Q. (By Ms. Speights) Did you ever
19 have problems in communicating with workers
20 whose first language was Spanish or French at
21 the facility?
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MR. PHILLIPS: Same objection.
BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Go ahead answer.
THE WITNESS: I wouldn't say
"problems." It was challenging, because
sometimes they would not be able to say
the words I think that they wanted to
or -- for instance, as far as the sexual
harassment questions that I would have
concerning how they were being treated,
they would many times use the word
"disrespect. They all knew the word
"disrespect." So I would ask them: "How
is someone disrespecting you?" And many
times, they would have a hard time putting
into words exactly what they would like to
have said, and what they would have said
in their own language.
In the case of Dolores Gonzales,
she spoke very little English.
Lolita, many times, would ask her
questions in Spanish and she would respond
to Lolita in Spanish, and so I
communicated with her, sometimes, that
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way.
Q. (By Mr. Speights) Are you able to
speak any Spanish?
A. Very little, "si."
Q. Are you able to speak any French?
A. Very little, "oui."
Q. Once you started getting complaints
from workers, did you ever consider getting an
interpreter or translator to assistant you in
doing the investigation?
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. That was not an option that -Q. Why wasn't it an option?
A. -- that I think Mr. Lenear would
have entertained. And I don't believe that
there was anyone there that was so unable to
speak English that I would not have been able to
speak to them, to some degree, as to what they
wanted to tell me.
Q. Did you have any contact with the
leads at the facility, the group leads?
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A. Page 10? Is that right?
Q. Yes.
A. "12/28/2004," yes.
Q. "Linc Barrett, Appointment call AL Sheppe." Do you see that?
A. Right.
Q. "Toured the facility." Do you see
that?
A. Yes.
Q. It says in that results column,
"Did not discuss Niema because I need to obtain
a signed document from her stating the
allegations."
A. Right. She -Q. I didn't ask the question yet.
A. All right. Go ahead.
Q. What do you know about that entry?
A. That was during the time that I was
away, I was not in the office, and Amy took the
statement from Niema.
Q. Without looking at any of the
documents, sitting here today, do you remember

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what Niema's complaints were?
A. It was -- she has been actually let
go. And after she had been let go, my
understanding was that she called Amy and said
that she thought she had been sexually harassed,
and I do have that statement.
Q. All right. Were you involved in
taking the statement from Niema Fields?
A. No, I had no involvement with
Niema's statement at all.
Q. Was that Amy that handled that
situation?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know if Amy passed the
information, concerning Niema Fields, on to June
Davis?
A. That was my understanding.
Q. Do you have any personal knowledge
of that?
A. I do not.
Q. Do you know if the Niema Fields'
complaint was ever discussed with Mr. Barrett?

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

MR. PHILLIPS: Object to the form.
THE WITNESS: Ask me the question
again, please.
Q. (By Mr. Speights) Do you know if
the Niema Fields' complaint was ever discussed
with Mr. Barrett?
A. I do not know whether it was or
not.
Q. Do you know if it was ever
discussed with Mr. Collen?
A. I do not know that either.
Q. Were you aware of any complaints of
sexual harassment prior to Niema Field's
complaint?
A. No.
Q. Were you aware of any complaints of
discrimination prior to the sexual harassment
complaint made by Ms. Fields?
A. No.
Q. After Ms. Fields's complaint, when
was the first time that you became aware of a
sexual harassment complaint by an Express
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associate at the Gaithersburg facility?
A. Michelle Despertt, she also was
discharged. And the -- again, the reasons for
the discharge were that they either did not -they weren't making the numbers or because of
tardies or absences, that type of thing,
excessive.
Q. Okay.
A. And following her discharge, she
had sent me an e-mail saying that she felt she
had been sexually harassed and that was one of
the reasons that she was let go.
Q. And do you recall, without looking
at any documents, the time period for that
complaint?
A. I have the document here, but I
can't recall, off the top, no.
Q. All right. When was the first time
you heard of a complaint of either race or
national origin, discrimination, from an
associate at the Gaithersburg facility?
A. You know, again, because it was
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three years ago, and this is only one of my many
clients, it's difficult for me, unless I look
back at the notes and at the log here, to know
exactly when it was. But I would say we began
staffing in November of 2004, and I would say by
February of -- February, the middle of February,
perhaps, I started hearing some things,
but -- but -Q. Go ahead.
A. But when I would go down to the
Gaithersburg facility, I found that people were
very afraid to speak out. And I had a very
difficult time even getting them to tell me
something verbally, never mind writing it down,
which I insisted that they do. So, you know, I
can't tell you. I just don't know the dates. I
would say February.
Q. All right. And when you first
started hearing something, which you're
describing as complaints, did you let Ms. Davis
know?
A. Yes. Every word.

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Q. So if you heard the complaints in
mid-February, 2005, you would have let her know
at that time?
A. Absolutely.
Q. Take a look at page 9 of this log.
It's E.E.O.C. 00057.
A. Yes.
Q. And if you'll look at the entry for
March 7, 2005.
A. Okay.
Q. Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And that's says "Spoke with Linc.
Spoke with June Davis and spoke with Scott
Collen re: Sex. harassment charges made by
Michelle Despertt."
A. Yes.
Q. Is that the first time
that -- strike that.
Would that have been when you told
Ms. Davis about the Michelle Despertt complaint?
A. Now, depending on when Michelle

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

made the complaint and, again, I have it here,
and it's in the e-mail. So that the exact date
is whenever that date was, is the date I would
have told June. And I would have sent her a
copy, by the way, of the complaint.
Q. All right. We can come back to
that.
A. I have that right here.
Q. What date was it?
A. March 7th. It was March 7th.
Q. So March 7th is what appears on
page 9, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. Take a look at page 8.
A. Okay.
Q. It's April 15, 2005, the first
entry. Do you see that?
A. April -Q. April 15, 2005, "Lincoln Barrett,
Appointment call - CA Brown, Met with new
associates; registered, interviewed them. Met
with Say Wing; she is reluctant to write Sexual
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Harassment Info cus [sic] doesn't want to lose
her job." Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. What do you recall about meeting
with Say Wing on April 15, 2005?
A. Say Wing was one of the best
workers and very fast and very -- she loved her
job, loved her job very much, and was very
afraid she would lose it if she made any
complaints.
I had her into my office and I said
to her that I would make sure that she did not
lose her job, because of the complaint, if she
would please write something out. I even asked
her to write it in French. She spoke French,
and that I would have it transcribed to English.
She would not. She refused. She said that she
was afraid that she would lose her job, and I
told her that that was not the case. But she
never would. She never would write anything
down.
Q. Going back to the complaint that
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came in from Michelle Despertt?
A. Yes.
Q. After you notified Mr. Davis about
the complaint, did you conduct any investigation
of the Michelle Despertt complaint?
A. With Blockbuster, you mean?
Q. No. Did you conduct any
investigation, putting aside Blockbuster?
A. I sent it to June, who was supposed
to send it to Blockbuster. I don't remember, at
this time, what occurred or the time period it
occurred in.
I believe, my recollection is that
there were some other things I had been hearing
when I went down to Gaithersburg that I had
called June about, and that it was in the
process, that this would be followed up by
Blockbuster. And, again, time-wise, right now,
I'm not remembering exactly with ensued.
Q. Sure. Putting aside Blockbuster,
do you recall if you conducted any investigation
of Ms. Despertt's complaint at that time?

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A. Not with Blockbuster. I was not -that was not something that I was supposed to be
doing, according to Venturi. Venturi wanted to
handle any of the complaints directly with
Blockbuster themselves. So the other fear that
I had was that if I spoke with Scott -- not
Scott, Linc Barrett -- that some of these people
that had made the complaints would be fired.
And I did not want that to happen, especially
since I had told them that I would not -- I
would make sure that they weren't fired if they
told me what they knew.
So, you know, it was really -- I
knew I had to go through Venturi, and I knew I
wanted Blockbuster to proceed with investigating
anything, rather than my going to Linc or the
leads. The complaints had so much to do with
the leads, in particular, and these people were
very intimidated.
Q. So prior to the investigation that
you did with -- I think it was you testified
with Scott Collen and Barry Francis, which it

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

was later -A. Yes.
Q. -- was it your understanding that
Ms. Davis was going to have Blockbuster
investigate those complaints?
A. Yes.
Q. Prior in that later investigation?
A. Yes.
Q. And did Ms. Davis advised you of
that?
A. Yes, I believe she did. And I
don't know exactly when that was, but that was
my understanding.
Q. If you'll take a look at page 7 of
Exhibit 3, E.E.O.C 00055. Do you have that?
A. I do.
Q. All right. And if you'll look at
the entries -- the first entry for "5/16/2005."
Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. In the results column it says
"LMVM," what does that mean?
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A. Left message, voicemail.
Q. All right. "re follow up on
15/13's interview w Barry Francis and Scott
Collen in Gaithersburg."
A. Yes.
Q. Is that entry related to the
investigation that we just talked about that you
did with Mr. Collen and Mr. Francis?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. And if you look at the
entry before that, the May 17, 2005, "Scott
Collen"?
A. Yes.
Q. Look over at the results there.
A. Yes.
Q. The information that's in the
results, is this what Scott told you during the
call?
A. Yes.
Q. And that is that "Barry Francis,
HR, said not enough to remove TAJ immediately,"
correct?
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A. That's correct.
Q. "But both TAJ and Linc are under
final warning status"?
A. Right.
Q. And you got this information
directly from Mr. Collen?
A. I did. And can I add something to
that?
Q. Sure.
A. At the time I spoke with Scott on
that call -- and I remember this very well -- I
questioned Scott's decision not to proceed with
any further action, which was really stepping
outside of what I, as the -- they being my
client, I was stepping outside of my boundry,
but I was astounded because of what I had heard
in the interviews that Barry Francis and I
conducted.
And I asked Scott why he would
wait. And Scott said it was because Barry
wanted to make sure that things were done in a
way that he would not have any problems with

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did Ms. Lolita Gonzales make any complaints to
you about her time at the Gaithersburg facility?
A. She did.
Q. When did she first complain to you?
A. Again, I would have to look.
Time-wise, I'm not remembering dates at this
point. I do have that complaint and, I believe,
it was in April, but I can't be sure.
Q. And is that one of the documents
that you brought with you?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you put your hand on that
quickly?
A. Just a second.
That was for 18/05 that I wrote
here.
Q. And what are you looking at?
A. I am looking at page 27.
Q. Of what?
A. Of the sexual -- the correspondence
for sexual harassments claims, page 27.
Q. Oh, you have them numbered. That's

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letting them go, if they needed to be, and that
there was a process that Barry was going to be
in charge of.
Q. Okay. If you'll turn to page 5 of
Exhibit 3, E.E.O.C. 00053. Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And there's a -- the first June 29,
2005, entry. It says "Scott Collen, Other call
- telephone CA Brown, Spoke with Scott." Do you
see that entry?
A. I do.
Q. And it says "He asked me to e-mail
Barry directly and forward Michelle Despertt's
e-mail to him, with a copy to Barry and June."
What do you recall about that entry?
A. You know, I don't recall much more
about it than what it actually says there. It's
one of the few times that I spoke to Scott and
that was, you know -- that was concerning
Michelle's e-mail, but I don't really remember a
lot more than that, than what it says.
Q. Ms. Brown, do you remember when --

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

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great.
A.
yes.

Yes. I went through and did that,
MR. SPEIGHTS: Off the record.
(Off record discussion)
(Exhibit 4, Blockbuster documents,
collectively marked)

Q. (By Ms. Speights) Ms. Brown, would
you just identify, for the record, what Exhibit
4 is that we've just marked?
A. The whole collections are the
documents that were in the Blockbuster file
that -- concerning the sexual harassment claims
and some of the contracts, investigations -contracts with Venturi and investigations of the
claims.
Q. All right. I believe I had asked
you about the complaint made by Lotita Gonzales
and when that was; is that correct?
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look at your exhibit -- the document you
produced in Exhibit 4, and go to the complaint
section, page 13.
A. Exhibit 4.
Q. That's your big stack. I'll come
over there. It will make in much easier.
A. This is Exhibit 4.
Q. This is Exhibit 4, Page 13, of the
complaint section; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And is the original complaint that
came in from Michelle Despertt to you in March
of 2005?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And take a look at page 14.
A. Yes.
Q. Again, of Exhibit 4.
A. Yes.
Q. That's your response back to
Michelle?
A. Right.
Q. And what were you conveying to her

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at that point in time?
A. That the investigation was ongoing
concerning her complaint, and that I did not
have anything to get back to her on it, because
it was still ongoing.
I, also, was -- she was supposed to
come in with a picture ID that she had never
given me, so that was the other thing that I was
writing her about.
Q. And why was she supposed to come
in? To give you a picture ID?
A. Right. Because she had asked me
originally for assistance in finding her another
position in the Columbia area and I said I would
call my Columbia office, the Express Columbia
office, about her and that she was looking for
work and about her qualifications and give her a
reference or a good reference if she would,
please, bring in that ID, because I couldn't
continue with her unless I had that picture ID.
Q. Okay. You said that you told
her -- at least in this e-mail, page 14 of

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Exhibit 4 -- that you hadn't concluded anything
yet with the investigation?
A. Right.
Q. What was your understanding of who
was doing the investigation?
A. Blockbuster Venturi, through
Venturi to Blockbuster.
Q. So it was your understanding, from
Ms. Davis, that Blockbuster was investigating
the Michelle Despertt complaint?
A. Right.
Q. And did you ever hear anything
about the conclusion of that investigation?
A. I don't recall at this point. I
had many conversations with June Davis. I don't
recall what she would have said.
Q. And did you ever pass on to
Ms. Despertt the results of any investigation?
A. No, I did not.
Q. And why not?
A. Because I believed it was still
ongoing. We still -- I don't believe, had had
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the -- or did we? No, we had this in May. We
had had the investigation -- I don't recall. I
just do not recall that at this time.
Q. Did you, Mr. Francis, and
Mr. Collen look in the Michelle Despertt
alligations when you conducted the investigation
in May?
A. It was part of the agenda that I
had brought down to the meeting that we had
prior to the investigation, but I was told that
we were conducting the investigation with those
people that were then-employ, not those people
that had not been employed for a period of time.
They had been let go and then complained, that
we were not going to proceed with that
investigation. We were just going to
concentrate on those people that we were going
to see and who had been making allegations, who
were still with Blockbuster or who had been just
recently let go. I don't think recently let go,
just that were still with Blockbuster.
Q. And who told you that?
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A. I believe it was Barry Francis.
Q. And was that during the course of
the meeting that you had before going out on the
investigation?
A. Right. Right.
Q. All right. Did you hear from
Ms. Despertt after the investigation in May that
you did with Mr. Francis and Mr. Collen?
A. Well, this is 6/29, so yes. This
would have been an e-mail that I received 6/29.
Again, I don't recall, at this
point, what happened that I would not have
gotten back to her or would have written to her
that the investigation was still ongoing.
Although, the -- there had been no
decisive actions taken by Barry or Scott, at
that time, with the leads or with Linc.
Q. At what time are you talking about?
A. The time that Michelle e-mailed me.
Q. But, by that time, Mr. Barrett and
Mr. Johnson has been placed on some type of
administrative action, hadn't they?

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MR. PHILLIPS: Objection. Leading.
MS. SPEIGHTS: I think I can lead
in a deposition.
MR. PHILLIPS: I disagree.
But you can answer.
THE WITNESS: They had been
given -- the only thing that I knew of -okay -- that they had been asked to do was
to meet certain requirements of
production. I never saw or was told what
other stipulations they had or what other
steps they had to go through in order to
maintain their jobs.
The only thing I received -- and I
brought it with me -- is the action plan
that they were supposed to follow. It
mentions nothing about retraining or
anything like that, which again was part
of my surprise when Scott told me that
Barry was not going to follow up with
letting them go immediately, that there
was a plan that they had to met, as far as

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

numbers, et cetera. But, again, he did
not go into details with me on that.
Q. (By Ms. Speights) Did he tell you
that they were giving them some type of warning,
at that point in time, after the investigation
in May?
A. I'm not sure if they used the word
"warning" or not.
Q. All right.
A. I just don't recall it, unless it's
in the notes, then yes. But I can't recall.
Q. But if it's in your notes that they
said they were getting warnings, they would have
told you that?
A. Yes. Anything that's in the notes
is what I would have heard from them, yes.
Q. Okay. Take a look at Exhibit 6.
Exhibit 6 is an e-mail, at least at the top,
from Scott Collen to you, dated June 21, 2005?
A. Right.
MR. PHILLIPS: It's out of order.
MS. SPEIGHTS: Are they out of
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order?
MR. PHILLIPS: What's the BATES
No. on that, 1611?
MS. SPEIGHTS: 1611.
MR. PHILLIPS: Okay.
Q. (By Ms. Speights) Do you recognize
this series of e-mails?
A. I do.
Q. Does this, in any way, refresh your
recollection as to what was going on in June of
2005, related to Michelle Despertt?
MR. PHILLIPS: I'm sorry, can I
interrupt? Do you have an extra copy of
that one? I don't have that one.
MS. SPEIGHTS: Yes.
MR. PHILLIPS: Thank you.
Q. (By Ms. Speights) What do you
recall was going on with Michelle Despertt at
this time?
A. I recall the e-mail that I wrote
back to her, stating that we had conducted an
investigation and that action had been taken. I
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called -- I remember calling my Express H.R.
department to ask how I should respond to her,
and this is what they told me to write to her,
that we had made an investigation and that I
wasn't at liberty to discuss any of the results.
Basically, I didn't know what the
results were, because, again, I was not told by
Scott or Barry exactly what the process was that
these leads and managers had to go through in
order to keep their jobs or whatever, so I
didn't know. There was nothing more for me to
tell Michelle.
Q. (By Ms. Speights) Did you ever
have any conversations with Michelle Despertt
after these e-mails in June?
A. No, I don't believe so.
Q. Were you ever contacted by any
attorney representing her?
A. No.
Q. Let's take a look at what's been
marked as Exhibit 7, VEN 002?
MR. PHILLIPS: Thank you.

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THE WITNESS: Yes.
Q. (By Ms. Speights) What is the
document, Ms. Brown?
A. This is a document -- an e-mail
that I sent to June Davis, on March 15th, that
tells her about what had transpired with the
women who worked at the Gaithersburg facility,
as to the -- I believe this was concerning
primarily a complaint that was made by Say Wing,
who spoke very little English. She spoke French
mostly.
Q. And was that a complaint that you
got from Say Wing during one of your visits at
the facility?
A. It would have had to have been,
because I didn't speak with her on the phone. I
believe once I spoke with her on the phone and
it was very difficult, so I believe it was in
person that we spoke.
Q. All right.
A. She was the one that was very
hesitant to writing anything down. In fact, I

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

never got a statement from her.
Q. It says in the second paragraph, "I
have spoken to all of the women who speak
English, with the exception of Tawana Spears."
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recall approximately how
many women you spoke to, at that point, when you
were referring to those that speak English?
A. I would say perhaps five or six,
but I'm guessing at this point, though. I'm
really guessing.
Q. And why were you speaking with
these women, at this point in time, March 15,
2005?
A. I think because Say Wing had given
me some information when I was down there.
Again, I'm not recalling exactly. It was just
too long ago for me to recall the conversation,
but there had to have been a reason why I was
calling the women to get information from them
or ask them some questions. It had to be
something to do with what I had been told by
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someone there. And my guess is that it was Say
Wing. Although, again, I never did get a
statement from her.
Q. Okay. It says "Those individuals I
did speak with said that everything was going
well. They were not having any problems."
A. Yes.
Q. Now, when you're referring to
"Those individuals that I did speak with," are
you talking about the women who speak English or
are you talking about more than those women?
A. No. It would have been probably
the women that spoke English. But remember,
most everyone spoke some English. It was a
matter of how expressive and detailed they could
be or not be, according to how much English they
spoke, but everyone spoke some English.
So other than speaking with Say
Wing on the phone, which was very difficult, or
Dolores Gonzales, most everyone I spoke with
spoke English well enough to be understood, and
to understand what I was saying.
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Q. What did you mean by that?
A. I had mentioned to June, many times
in conversations, that Linc's very impetuous
actions and his failure to really look into a
situation before he made a decision on it was
detrimental to the team, as a whole, and that
was what I meant by that. That was an example
of his inability to really look into something
before he made a decision.
Q. Did you ever have any discussions
with Scott Collen about Mr. Barrett's management
style that was poorly affecting the employees,
that you believed was poorly affecting the
employees?
A. I don't recall speaking to Scott
directly about it. I, again, part of the
contract with Venturi was that I would -- was to
go directly through -- I was to go through
Venturi and not go directly to Scott about
anything. Unless she would say to me "Scott is
expecting an e-mail from you or a call from
you," or "Scott's going to call you." And, at

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that time I would speak to him, but pretty much
I went through Venturi.
Q. Okay. Why don't you look at
Exhibit 13? You're looking at 13, right?
A. This is 12, I have here.
MR. PHILLIPS: She's looking at 12.
(Off record discussion)
Q. (By Ms. Speights) What's
Exhibit 13?
A. Exhibit 13 is an e-mail from myself
to June Davis, sending her the message from
Linc, regarding the Lolita Gonzales incident
where he thought he might let her go, and then
decided, after speaking with her, that he would
not.
Q. Okay. Take a look at what's been
marked as Exhibit 14, E.E.O.C. 00025.
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recognize that document?
A. I do.

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Q. And what is Exhibit 14?
A. This is an agenda that I typed up
for the meeting with Barry Francis, the H.R.
director and Scott Collen, prior to our going
into the investigation at Blockbuster.
Q. And why was it that there was
decision -- that there would be an investigation
with you, Scott, and Barry Francis in or around
this May, '05 time period?
MR. PHILLIPS: Object to the form.
Foundation. Go ahead.
THE WITNESS: It was just a
culmination of all of the information that
I had been sending, all along, to Venturi,
which, supposedly, was being sent to
Blockbuster. And we were going to meet, I
believe, on the 12th, but I think we met
the morning of the 13th, at a restaurant
near to the Gaithersburg facility, to go
over this.
I had e-mailed Barry some of the
questions that I drew up to ask in the
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interview. And he had e-mailed me back
and made some changes in those, and -- so
this was the agenda that I wanted to be
discussed prior to our going into the
investigation.
No one at the Gaithersburg facility
knew that Barry and Scott were coming
down. They only knew that I was coming
down, as I did often, so...
Q. (By Ms. Speights) What was your
understanding of the role of Mr. Francis?
A. My understanding was that being the
H.R. person, that he and I were going to be
interviewing each of the employees, the
associates. When we met prior to going into the
facility, Barry had said to me that he wanted me
to be the one to ask the questions since he felt
that they would be more forthcoming, the
associates would be more forthcoming with
someone they knew, as opposed to his coming in
and just asking questions. But that he would -he would assure them that the information that
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Page 131

they give us was not going affect their job and,
1
I believe, he gave a little spiel concerning the
2
fact that we wanted them to work safely and we
3
were getting some complaints that had been made. 4
When we were in the investigation,
5
however, Barry was the one who did most of the
6
asking of the questions, even though he had
7
asked me to do so prior. But as the
8
conversations would continue with each person,
9
there would be, I think, more questions raised,
10
in his mind, that he would then ask, so...
11
Q. (By Ms. Speights) Was there an
12
agreed upon set of questions that were supposed 13
to be asked during each interview?
14
A. Yes.
15
Q. Were those questions developed
16
prior to the meeting that you had with Scott
17
Collen, Barry, Mr. Lenear?
18
A. Yes.
19
Q. And who developed the questions?
20
A. Well, as I said, I had sent him -21
I had faxed him at wherever he was staying in
22

Q. And during that meeting, was this
agenda, which is Exhibit 14 -- did you follow
that agenda during the meeting?
A. He did not want to -- I don't
believe we got into the Niema Fields' or
Michelle Despertt complaint, other than just
acknowledging that it was on the page here,
pretty much.
He wanted to concentrate on those
people that were presently there, which is -was primarily Say Wing, Lolita, Elizabeth, and
Milagros, and I wanted to talk about, you know,
the management situation there.
Q. Right.
A. So that was why I had that.
Q. Now, you have dates behind, I
guess, the six names that appear on the
document?
A. Right.
Q. What do those dates represent?
A. Those dates are the dates of their
employment, at the Gaithersburg facility, when

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the area. I had faxed him a set of questions
that I felt would be appropriate to ask. He
changed many of those to either same context,
but just asked differently or totally dismissed
the question and put another one in.
Q. Okay. But, ultimately, the two of
you reached agreement on the questions?
A. Right. Remember, I had faxed those
to him the day before, or two days before, or
whatever, and he had sent back a list of
questions he wanted to ask. So I had made up
the questions, and to be able to write down
notes for each of the people that were coming in
for the interview.
Q. And the meeting that you had with
Scott Collen, Drew Lenear, and Barry Francis,
that meeting was held on May 13th?
A. I think it was the 13th. That's my
recollection. Although, I have 5/12, but I
know -- I don't remember going down both
Thursday and Friday. I think this was a Friday,
the 13th. So I think it was right before.

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Page 132

1 they started. And if there was an "End Date,"
2 then they had been dismissed. If it was
3 "Present," then they were still working there.
4

Q.

Under the alleged sexual

5 harassment, you've got Niema Fields, Michelle
6 Despertt and Say Wing. As of this point in
7 time, were there any other complaints of sexual
8 harassment that you were aware of?
9

A.

Other than the remarks that I would

10 hear, that, again, I could not get people to
11 write down. There are no formal complaints.
12

Q.

All right. When you say "remarks"

13 that you would hear, are you saying that you
14 heard comments or remarks that were of a sexual
15 nature or you were hearing from associates that
16 is was going on?
17

A.

Both.

18

Q.

Who did you hear inappropriate

19 comments from when you were there that were of a
20 sexual nature?
21

A.

Oh, I'm sorry. No. I

22 misunderstood you.
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Q. Yes. That's what I was wondering.
A. No. No. I heard from the
associates remarks that they had heard.
Q. All right.
A. So it was third-person, not
directly to me.
Q. And what you're saying is you
didn't list those individuals here under alleged
sexual harassment?
A. No. Because I had heard from
everyone something, here or there. Again,
nothing confirmed, necessarily. Or they weren't
willing to proceed with any complaints. They
would make an offhand remark and then I would
ask about it and they would say "No. No
everything's fine. It's okay. Everything's
fine. Nope."
They were very afraid. They were
very intimidated, very afraid to lose their
jobs?
Q. And when you heard those types of
comments, did you pass those on to Ms. Davis?

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A. I did.
Q. Do you know if she passed those on
to anyone at Blockbuster?
A. My understanding was that she was
passing everything on to Blockbuster.
Q. But do you know, is my question?
A. I would have no way of knowing.
Q. Why did you list Niema Fields,
Michelle Despertt, and Say Wing under this
section of alleged sexual harassment?
A. Because those were the ones that I
knew had complaints of sexual harassment.
You'll see that Lolita and Elizabeth and
Milagros are under "Alleged Discrimination."
They had not made any charges of sexual
harassment at this time. But they had charged
some discriminatory policies that they thought
were taking place, so that was why I separated
those out.
Q. All right. Under the alleged
discrimination charges, you have Lolita
Gonzales. I mean at this point in time, do you

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

have any recollection of what she was claiming
in terms of discrimination?
A. Yes. And it was in her notes that
you have a copy of here.
Q. All right.
A. That they were just treated -- the
Hispanics were treated differently than the
African Americans or the Africans. They weren't
allowed to sit. At certain times, they were
referred to as "you people." Other things that
she felt singled them out as not belonging to
the team. And, again, they're all in her
complaints.
Q. And Elizabeth Ledesma, what type of
discrimination charges was she making as of this
time?
A. You know, what? I don't remember
right now what charges she made. I think that
she did corroborate some of the things that
Lolita had said. They are cousins, I believe,
and so I think they spoke frequently. I think
they shared information, as far as knowing what
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one had said to me and what the other had said.
But I can't, at this point, remember what
Elizabeth told me.
Q. Okay. Milagros Ledesma, do you
have any recollection as to what her
discrimination charges were at this time?
A. I do not. She, also, I believe,
was a cousin to Lolita. And she had been let
go, I believe, because her performance was not
up to par, but I cannot remember exactly why.
But she had been let go.
Q. Under Section 2, it says
"Interviews with Gaithersburg Associates, May 3,
'05." Under A, it says "All associates
interviewed." What did you mean by that?
A. It was May 13, '05, and we were
intending to have each associate come in
separately, behind closed doors, to be
interviewed. Scott Collen and Drew Lenear, it
was decided would keep the two leads and the
manager in their offices, in Linc's office, so
that there would be no opportunity for either
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the manager, or the leads specifically, to say
to anyone that they shouldn't speak openly and
candidly.
Q. And did Mr. Collen and Mr. Lenear
do that?
A. Yes.
Q. And did you actually interview all
of the associates who were, at least, there that
day?
A. The ones that were there that day,
yes.
Q. Do you recall approximately how
many people?
A. You know, I brought the notes that
I took.
Q. The notes are in Exhibit 4, that
we've marked as Exhibit 4?
A. Yes.
Q. But do you have any recollection in
terms of numbers?
A. I would say approximately ten, but
I'm guessing.

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Q. Okay. "Make sure no intimidation
occurring outside while interviewing." And is
that in terms of what you just testified about,
in terms of Scott Collen and Drew Lenear keeping
the leads in Mr. Barrett's office?
A. Yes.
Q. And there's an introduction here.
What was the purpose of that introduction?
A. This is something that we agreed
upon. Barry and Scott and Drew and I agreed
would be something that we would say to all of
them, so that they all had the same message
starting out, that we wanted to assure them that
whatever they told us would not affect their job
standing.
Q. How long did the interviews take?
I mean, total? How long were you there that day
interviewing people?
A. We were there all day. I don't
remember exactly what time we started, but I
would say maybe nine, nine-thirty, ten. I don't
remember, and we were there all day.

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Q. Let me show you what's been marked
as Exhibit 15, and it's E.E.O.C. 00134.
A. Yes.
Q. What is that document, Ms. Brown?
A. These are the notes that were taken
during the interviews conducted on 5/13, with
Elizabeth Ledesma and Say Wing and Emetem
Nkwetta.
Q. Are these your notes from the
interviews of those people that you just
identified?
A. Yes.
Q. And did you prepare notes of
everyone that you interviewed?
A. Yes.
Q. Looking at the questions that are
on this exhibit, look at E.E.O.C. 00134 and
00135?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that a complete list of the
questions that were -- the agreed-upon questions
that you were going to ask in the interviews?
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A. Yes. These are the questions that
Barry had approved to be asked of the
associates.
Q. Okay. Take a look at 00135.
A. Yes.
Q. No. 12, Question 12, can you read,
for me, your writing under Question 12?
A. Question 12 is: "Have you heard
any behavior" -- "seen or heard any behavior
that is inappropriate or of a sexual nature?"
And: "They joke around, but no one
is touching anyone."
Q. And this is from Elizabeth Ledesma;
is that right?
A. Right.
Q. If you'll go to 00137, it looks
like it's the second page of Say Wing's -- the
notes from Say Wing's interview; is that
correct?
A. Yes, that's correct.
Q. And the handwriting under 14, what
does that say?
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Page 149

1 the facility any longer.
2

And, at that time, it was suggested

3 that Drew and I would go down to speak with
4 those individuals that were still working there
5 and to indicate to them we knew a new management
6 company was coming in and that they would
7 continue to have their jobs through that new
8 company.
9

Q.

And who was the new company that

10 was coming? Were you told?
11

A.

We were. And, you know, right at

12 this moment, I can't tell you. It was a
13 national -- a large national company. I don't
14 remember it, offhand.
15

Q.

So did you participate in any

16 additional investigations at the facility on
17 August 19, '05?
18

A.

No. I don't recall that, at least.

19

Q.

Did you refer any additional

20 complaints after August 19, '05?
21

A.

I do not recall that.

22

Q.

Now, I believe you testified

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had any documents that -- concerning the sexual
harassment. I was told there was a sexual
harassments complaint made by Lolita Gonzales
and Dolores.
Q. And did you meet with the E.E.O.C.?
A. I did.
Q. And how many times?
A. Just once.
Q. And who did you meet with?
A. Judy Kirlan, K-I-R-L-A-N.
Q. And did you provide documents to
Ms. Kirlan?
A. I did.
Q. Did you provide her with any
documents, other than what's in Exhibit 4?
A. No.
Q. Did you give her all of the
documents that are in Exhibit 4?
A. I don't believe I gave her all the
e-mails.
Q. Okay. But there are no other
documents that you can recall that were given to

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earlier, Ms. Brown, at some point in time, you
were, I guess, contacted by the E.E.O.C.?
A. Yes.
Q. When was that?
A. I believe that was a year later.
You know, again, I have notes here that I could
look at, but I don't know, off the top, the
exact date. But it was sometime later.
Q. And the notes regarding your
contact with the E.E.O.C. are in Exhibit 4?
A. No.
Q. Do you have notes of your contacts
with the E.E.O.C.?
A. No.
Q. Concerning the Gaithersburg
facility?
A. No.
Q. Did you ever have notes of that
contact?
A. I'm trying to think. I don't
believe so. I was just called and asked if I
would do an interview. And if I would -- if I

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

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the E.E.O.C. that are not in Exhibit 4?
MR. PHILLIPS: Objection.
THE WITNESS: That's correct. As
far as I can remember, at this point, but
I believe that's correct.
Q. (By Ms. Speights) Are there any
other documents in your possession related to
the Blockbuster Gaithersburg facility that you
haven't provided to us today in Exhibit 4?
A. That's all of them.
Q. This is all of them?
A. Yes.
MS. SPEIGHTS: I would like to take
about 10 or 15 minutes just to look
through these to see if I have any
questions about documents that I haven't
already showed you.
THE WITNESS: Sure.
(Brief break)
MS. SPEIGHTS: Back on the record.
Pages 149 - 152

Page 153

1
Q. (By Ms. Speights) Looking at
2 Exhibit 4, and it's appears to be pages 10 to 12
3 under the, I guess, sexual harassment claims.
4
A. Yes.
5
Q. Do you have that in front of you?
6
A. I do.
7
Q. Okay.
8
MS. SPEIGHTS: Do you have that,
9
Ron?
10
MR. PHILLIPS: Let me just look
11
over your shoulders.
12
THE WITNESS: She made -13
MS. SPEIGHTS: I haven't asked the
14
question yet.
15
THE WITNESS: I was going to say
16
she made several more copies than I had.
17
MS. SPEIGHTS: Off the record for a
18
second.
19
20
(Off record discussion)
21
22
Q. (By Ms. Speights) Ms. Brown, do

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you see a date anywhere on this e-mail?
A. I do not see a date.
Q. All right. I'm trying to figure
out how we would date this e-mail.
A. Previously, I had not recollected
that I had done anything in the Niema Fields'
when you asked me -- with her claim -- because I
wasn't present when it was made, initially. I
was out of the office for three to four weeks.
But this looks like I sent the
claim to June, so it would have to have been in
January, after the middle of the month, because
I was -- I had not returned until after, I
believe, the 12th or 15th of the month.
Q. And we're talking about 2005?
A. 2005. Right.
Q. All right.
A. And so this was after she was let
go, and this was the written claim that she
made.
Q. Okay. I don't want to get to that
just yet. I want to ask you a few questions

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

about that.
A. Okay.
Q. You mentioned in the second
paragraph of the e-mail -- well, let me go back
up to the first paragraph.
It says: "I am sending the head
count for yesterday and today," semi-colon, "I
spoke with Linc, at length." Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. Now, if you go down to
the second paragraph, it says: "We also
discussed the sexual harassment claim by Niema
Fields, who is in the process of signing and
returning her statement." Do you see that
sentence?
A. I do.
Q. The sexual harassment claim by
Niema Fields, did you discuss that with Linc
Barrett?
A. It appears that I did. I did not
recall doing that, but it appears that I did,
from this e-mail.
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Q. All right. And do you have any
recollection of what you and Mr. Barrett talked
about?
A. Absolutely not. The
conversation -- because I didn't even remember
speaking with him -- or dealing with Niema's
claim at all -- until seeing this.
The only thing I would say is that
the note attached here indicates that Linc said
she refused to write a statement and TAJ did
write a statement, is what I have here. But,
again, I do not recollect the conversation at
all.
Q. Okay. And the note that you are
referring to is what page?
A. It was attached to page 11.
Q. All right. If you would mark here,
because I just -- it does not have -- it's a
Post-it, so it doesn't have a page number.
MS. SPEIGHTS: What letter are we
up to in Exhibit 4?
THE REPORTER: It's going to be
Pages 153 - 156

Page 161

1
on?
2
THE REPORTER: Exhibit 17.
3
MR. PHILLIPS: Let me mark this as
4
seventeen.
5
6
(Exhibit 17, Blockbuster, Inc., Job
7
Description, marked)
8
9
10
EXAMINATION BY MR. PHILLIPS:
11
12
Q. Go ahead, Ms. Brown, and take a
13 look at Exhibit 17, and let me know when your
14 finished.
15
MR. PHILLIPS: For the record, it
16
appears the witness previously marked the
17
document as 4 and the first page of the
18
document as 4A.
19
MS. SPEIGHTS: Let's go off the
20
record for a minute.
21
22
(Off record discussion)

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MR. PHILLIPS: Let's go back on the
record.
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) Just to clarify,
Brown Exhibit 17 is a document that there's a
handwritten notation in the lower left-hand
corner of the first page that says "4A."
Ms. Brown, did you previously put
that notation on the document, 4A?
A. I did.
Q. Okay. Have you had a chance to
review Exhibit 17, now, Ms. Brown?
A. I have.
Q. Can you identify it, please?
A. It is the job description for a
Blockbuster distribution clerk.
Q. Do you know who you obtained that
document from?
A. I believe I obtained it from either
Scott Collen, when we had our initial meeting in
October of 2004, or from June Davis of Venturi

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Partners.
Q. Okay. Sitting here today, can you
tell me which of those individuals you obtain it
from?
A. I believe it was Scott. I believe
he brought them with him when we met at our
office in Towson in October.
Q. Did Mr. Collen tell you why he was
giving you Exhibit 17?
A. Because I was asked to staff the
Gaithersburg distribution center, and these were
some of the criteria that they were looking for
to be able to fulfill the job requirements.
Q. Okay. Just so I'm clear, then,
Mr. Collen gave you the document marked as
Exhibit 17 to assist you in recruiting temporary
workers to be placed at the Gaithersburg
warehouse?
A. That's right.
Q. And, specifically, to familiarize
you with the job duties of persons that you
would be selecting?
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A. That's right.
Q. Are you familiar with a category of
temporary workers called "evaluation hire"?
Have you heard that phrase before?
A. I have.
Q. What is an "evaluation hire"?
A. An evaluation hire is when a client
intends to actually bring an employee on to his
payroll, but he wants a time period to see if
that particular employee can perform the
requirements of the job before he actually hires
them on to his payroll, therefore, making it
easier for him not to have to take them off his
payroll if the person does not meet the
requirements.
Q. Were the temporary workers placed
by Express Personnel at the Gaithersburg
warehouse at Blockbuster in 2004 and 2005, were
they considered evaluation hires?
A. Yes, I would believe they were.
Q. And, specifically, did you have
communications with Blockbuster personnel about
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the fact that these individuals were being
considered to be hired on permanently by
Blockbuster?
A. Conversations? Do you mean with
Linc Barrett, the manager or -Q. Any communications with anyone at
Blockbuster?
A. You know, I don't remember the
conversations, but I know that with the amount
of training that was involved for these
positions that the intent was to keep on and to
hire over to their payroll, to their Blockbuster
company, those individuals that could fulfill
the requirements of the job.
Q. Who, at Blockbuster, communicated
that intention to you?
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.
You can answer.
THE WITNESS: I would say it was
Scott, when I first met with him, in the
initial meeting, but certainly June, from
Venturi, would have communicated that with

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me -- to me, also.
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) At some point
during the subcontract of Express Personnel at
the Gaithersburg facility of Blockbuster, did
Mr. Barrett communication to you that he
intended to convert some of the temporary
workers to permanent Blockbuster employee
status?
A. He did.
Q. And was one of those workers Lolita
Gonzales?
A. It was.
Q. Do you recall the time frame when
he communicated that intention to you, to
specifically hire Lolita Gonzales as a permanent
Blockbuster employee?
A. I have an e-mail that indicates
that he's thinking of doing that, but I cannot
tell you, right off the top, what that date was.
Q. Would you take a look at one of the
exhibits to your deposition here, Brown
Exhibit 3, which is the Company Profile Report.

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

It look like this.
A. Okay. Yes.
MR. PHILLIPS: Let's make sure
she's looking at the actual marked
exhibit.
THE WITNESS: Okay.
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) If we could turn
to page 8 of that Exhibit 3.
A. Okay.
Q. And, for the record, that's BATES
No. E.E.O.C. 56. And if you could look at a
notation dated March 21, 2005, it's the second
to the bottom notation?
A. Okay.
Q. Do you see that notation?
A. I do.
Q. And if you could look in the
results section to the far right and read that,
just go ahead and read it aloud, please.
A. It says: "He will take over four
of our associates as soon as the paperwork is
done; Lolita Gonzales, Kevin Mallow, Fernando
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Holquin and Say Wing."
Q. And if you look on that notation to
the left, do you see where it reads: "Lincoln
Barrett"?
A. Yes.
Q. Having read this notation, does
this refresh your recollection as to when
Mr. Barrett communicated to you that he intended
to hire Lolita Gonzales as a permanent
Blockbuster employee?
A. Seeing the date right here, I can
say it was March, but I would not have been able
to recall that date without seeing.
Q. Do you have any reason to question
the accuracy of your notation here that it was
March 21, 2005?
A. No. And can I add that Lolita,
again, was one of the better workers. And it
was told to me, in conversations that I had with
Linc, when I went down to review how they were
doing, that Lolita was an excellent worker. So
it was not surprising to me that she would have
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been considered to be hired over.
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection. Move to
strike as non-responsive.
Go ahead.
Q. (By Ms. Speights) And Mr. Barrett
communicated to you his view that Ms. Gonzales
was an excellent employee?
A. He did.
MR. PHILLIPS: Just a minute here.
I'm trying to order these questions in a
way that's logical, so if you'll give me a
second here.
(Brief pause)
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) Are you aware
whether or not Lolita and Dolores Gonzales had
their assignments, at the Gaithersburg
warehouse, end at some point?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. And did you ever have
any communications with anyone at Blockbuster

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concerning termination of their assignment at
that location?
A. I did. I spoke with Linc Barrett,
as well as, I believe, some e-mails between us.
Q. Can you tell me, was the
determination that those two persons should have
their assignment ended, was that decision made
by Express Personnel or was it made by
Blockbuster?
A. Any time that we would terminate a
position, it was -- the decision always came
from Blockbuster.
Q. And that was also true of Lolita
and Dolores Gonzales' terminations?
A. That's true.
Q. During the course of your
communications with Mr. Barrett about the
termination of Lolita and Dolores Gonzales, did
Mr. Barrett articulate to you what his reasoning
was for those terminations?
A. I believe, as far as Lolita goes, I
believe it was initially he had a problem with

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

her tardiness, the number of tardies she had,
and the fact that she was -- she was driving
several people, also, and making them all late.
I don't know that that was the
reason or at the time that he let her go.
Although, I think it may have been, because -and I think there's an e-mail to that that
speaks about this -- no one trusted her. She
wasn't getting along well with others in the
facility. I believe that's what I read or was
told.
As far as Dolores goes, Linc had
initiated a policy whereby after three absences
you would be asked to leave. And Dolores had
been out three days, because of an illness. And
he had e-mailed me to say she should be let go,
because she's been out three days. And I
e-mailed him back saying, "Well, wait a second,
this is one incident; is it not? Or are you
saying that three days out for an illness
constitutes three incidents or is this one
incident?"
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And I think he wrote back and said
that he needed to treat everybody equally and
this was her third day and she was going to be
let go.
Q. Did he say that in reference to her
termination or was that during an earlier time
period when he said that?
A. No. I believe that was in
reference to her termination. That's what I
recall, anyway.
Q. Do you know whether or not Thomas
Johnson -- we've also been referring to him here
as "TAJ" -- do you know whether he was
interviewed in connection with the Michelle
Despertt sexual harassment complaint?
A. I do not know that, because, again,
everything went to Venturi. Venturi was dealing
directly with Blockbuster, and I don't have
knowledge that that happened. It could have,
but I don't have knowledge of it.
Q. Okay. So you were never provided
with the results of any interview with TAJ,
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Page 173

1 regarding the Michelle Despertt complaint?
2

A.

No.

3

Q.

Were you ever provided with any

4 information about the results of an interview
5 with Lincoln Barrett, concerning the Michelle
6 Despertt complaint?
7

A.

No, I was not.

8

Q.

Okay. I want to show you a

9 document that will be marked Exhibit 18 -10

MR. PHILLIPS: Actually, strike

11

that. We don't have to mark this. This

12

has previously been marked. This was a

13

document that was marked Francis 9. So,

14

for the record, I'm showing the witness a

15

document previously marked as Francis

16

Exhibit 9.

17

Q.

(By Mr. Phillips) Ms. Brown, if

18 you could go ahead and look through the document
19 just to determine if you can identify it, and I
20 will draw your attention to the specific
21 portions.
22

A.

Yes, I am familiar with this

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computerized report, with the names of all those
people who had been hired, the dates of their
hire, the dates that they actually ended, and
the reasons that they were ended, from a choice
of a dropdown menu, basically, from the dates of
November, 2004, to September, 2005.
Q. And did you obtain this document
from Express Personnel records?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And was this obtained from a
paper record or was obtained from computerized
data?
A. Computerized data.
Q. Do you know who made the entries on
this document, pages 127 to 129?
A. I made the entries to this
document.
Q. Okay. And if you could look at the
column that says "Assignment Status." And can
you tell me, first of all, what does that column
"Assignment Status" -- what does that
information denote?

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document.
Q. All right. Ms. Brown, can you
identify what Francis Exhibit 9 is?
A. This is a fax of documents that
were requested by Judy Nervero-Kirlan (phonetic)
of E.E.O.C., in August of '06, regarding
Dolores' and, I think, Lolita's timecards, and
the interviews -- copies of the interview notes
that were taken at the May 13th investigation.
Q. Okay. Thank you.
So Francis 9, you did, in fact,
provide this to Ms. Kirlan?
A. I did.
Q. And if you could turn to the second
page of this document, which is labeled
"E.E.O.C. 127"?
A. Yes.
Q. And, also, look at 128 and 129.
A. Yes.
Q. And what is this document, the
three pages labeled 127 to 129?
A. This is a computer report, a

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Page 176

1

A.

It denotes whether the employee was

2 let go because they either walked out of the job
3 or they ended their assignment themselves, or
4 the client ended the assignment, because they
5 were dissatisfied with the associate or it could
6 have been any number of reasons.
7

It never gave -- there was no

8 choice as to reasons. It was just that the
9 client would be dissatisfied with the associate
10 or that the client had hired the person on to
11 their payroll.
12

Q.

Okay. So you, just now, one of the

13 dropdowns you were referencing was the dropdown,
14 fourth line down, "Client dissatisfied with
15 associate," correct?
16

A.

Yes.

17

Q.

And if you go to the first line

18 under "Assignment Status" it says, "Client ended
19 early," and then in parens, "Workload." Do you
20 see that?
21

A.

Yes.

22

Q.

What does that communicate to you?
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A. It means that in a temporary hiring
or in a situation where there are a certain
number of associates needed to perform a job
that is at peak level, when the workload of the
company is decreased then the client indicates
to the agency that that person is no longer
needed to do the job. And that's why clients
hire on a temporary basis, many times.
Q. Now, in situations where it said,
"Client dissatisfied with associate," and,
again, going to the forth line down, under
"Assignment status," was there any indication in
this document as to why the client was
dissatisfied?
A. No, there was not.
Q. When the client was dissatisfied
with an associate and that was the reason for
determination, did anyone from Blockbuster
provide you with that information?
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.
THE WITNESS: Linc Barrett would
have.

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Q. (By The Witness) Let me ask the
question in a different way.
When you put an entry here "Client
dissatisfied with the associate," how did you
know that that was the dropdown that you should
enter for that person?
A. From elimination of the others,
which would have been the client ended early,
because of workload, or there was a
no-show/no-call by the associate.
In other words, if the client
called and said, "I want you to end the
employment of this associate," for any reason,
other than the "Workload was decreased," we
would put "Client dissatisfied with the
associate." It had to be some reason that he
did not want that associate to continue working,
either because of absences or tardies or not
being able to meet the job requirements. It
could have been that the person didn't get along
well with the others that they were working
with. I mean, it could have been a number of

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

reasons.
Q.
Did Mr. Barrett always give you a
reason why the company was dissatisfied when he
would call you to terminate an assignment?
A. Yes. Yes, he did.
Q. Okay. If you could turn to page
130, E.E.O.C. 130, which at the top it say
"Express Personnel Services Group Time Sheet."
Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Looking down at the bottom
of 130, do you see where it says "Client's
Signature"?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recognize the signature in
that line?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Whose signature is that?
A. That's Linc Barrett's signature.
Q. Okay. And go to the next page,
131, do you see at the bottom it says "Client's
Signature"?
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A. Yes.
Q. Do you recognize that signature?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Whose signature is that?
A. That's Linc Barrett's.
Q. All right. I want to ask you about
some of the entries in this document, but first
just to be clear, was this a document that was
filled out at the warehouse regarding time of
the temp workers?
A. Yes. Yes.
Q. And do you know if the temp workers
would enter this information themselves or was
it entered by someone else?
A. No. It was entered by someone
else, either it would have been either Linc or
one of the leads.
Q. Okay. And I want to ask you, now,
about a couple of items in here. Could you look
in the row that starts with the name "Takara
Martin"? Do you see that?
A. Yes.
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Q. Okay. And if you could look to the
right of that, you see a number of columns
which, I guess, pertain to the various days of
the week?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. I see on the second column,
all the way to the last column, dated the 26th,
there is a notation that says "Out." Do you see
that?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Do you know what that means?
A. I believe that Takara -- she was
married to a military person, I believe, a
military man and, I believe, that he was
transferred to a base in Florida, or someplace
south, and that she was out for that week to
join him. That was my understanding of what
"Out" meant there.
Q. Do you see where, near the top, it
says "Week Ending 6/26/05." Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know if, at any point after

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Page 182

1 this week, Ms. Martin returned to work at the
2 warehouse at Gaithersburg?
3

A.

I was told that she was going to

4 return.
5

Q.

Who told you that?

6

A.

Linc Barrett, but I don't believe

7 that she did. I don't recall that she did.
8

Q.

And Mr. Barrett told you that it

9 was his intention to allow her to return?
10

A.

Yes.

11

Q.

Let's look at the first name. It's

12 Atem, A-T-E-M, Mbecha, M-B-E-C-H-A. Do you see
13 that?
14

A.

Yes.

15

Q.

Looking at the first column next to

16 her name, there's an entry that says "Off,"
17 O-F-F. Do you see that?
18

A.

Yes.

19

Q.

What does the entry "Off" mean in

20 this type of document?
21

A.

It means that they did not work

22 that day. Their schedule was for the other -BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

another five days of the week. They tried to
cover their weekend schedule by having some
people work through some of the weekends days,
as opposed to just the five days a week.
Q. Okay. And if you could look down
to an entry that says "Thaddeus Pope." Do you
see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And if you could look over to the
third column next to Mr. Pope, do you see where
it says "Out," O-U-T?
A. Yes.
Q. I know we're really straining your
recollection. Do you recall Mr. Pope being out,
for any reason, the week of 6/26/2005?
A. I absolutely do not.
Q. Okay.
A. But, I believe, that Linc would
have put that down if someone had called in sick
or had asked for the day off for some particular
reason, he would have put "Out" that day, as
opposed to "Off," indicating they weren't
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scheduled.
Q. Was there a notation regarding the
group time sheet for someone who was a no-show
on a given day, someone who's scheduled to work
but did not show up for work?
A. I don't recall one.
Q. Do you know if "Out" was ever used
as a notation for someone who was a no-show?
A. I cannot say that I recall that. I
know that if someone was a no-call/no-show, I
would have been called by Linc. And it would
have been noted in the associate's profile that
he was a no-call/no-show and I would have called
him to find out where he was and why he wasn't
there.
Q. And when you say "the associate's
profile," you're referring to the computerized
records reference in your prior testimony?
A. That's right.
Q. That was specific to individual
associates?
A. That's right.
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A. It was a young man.
Q. Do you remember his name?
A. Let me just review the names and
see if I can...
Q. Certainly.
A. I think it may have been -- I'm not
sure that I'm going to be able to recall. I
remember that he had an accident or he was shot.
Actually, he was shot in Washington, DC, and he
was in the hospital for -- and doing rehab for a
very long time, but I can't remember his name.
Q. All right. Let's go on to the next
page, 134. And actually, I believe, we've gone
over this with Ms. Speights before. Can I ask
you to flip through the remaining pages of the
document up to page 157, so starting at 134 to
157.
And I'm not going to ask you to
read every word, but rather focus on the names
that are written at the top of the document for
each of these interviews, and then let me know
when you've done that, please.

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A. Okay.
Q. And going through the document, you
should have seen the names "Elizabeth Ledesma,
Say Wing, Emetem Nkwetta, Bamba Affisiatu,
Lolita Gonzales"?
A. Yes.
Q. "Takara Hughes-Martin"?
A. Yes.
Q. "Moniquie Spears"?
A. Yes.
Q. "Julian Carter"?
A. Yes.
Q. "Sergio Santizo"?
A. Yes.
Q. Kevin Malloy?
A. Yes.
Q. "Fernando Holquin"?
A. Yes.
Q. And "Basheen Byrd"?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Are those the individuals
that you and Mr. Francis interviewed, during the

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

May, 2005, investigation, conducted at the
Gaithersburg warehouse?
A. They are.
Q. Okay. Do you recall any other
individuals who were interviewed for that
investigation that are not listed among the
names that we just read off together?
A. I do not recall anyone else.
Q. Okay. And regarding those
interviews, was Mr. Francis with you, and in
attendance, at all of those interviews?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. And was Mr. Francis taking notes of
those interviews?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. If you could turn to page 137, and
you see in the upper right-hand corner, there's
a written notation, "Say Wing." Do you see
that?
A. Yes.
Q. Under Item 13, the question reads:
"Have you seen or heard any sexual jokes or
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inappropriate language? Tell me what occurred,"
which is in parens. Can you read the
handwritten notations under that Item 13?
A. Yes. "Respect, Mr. Linc," meaning
Linc Barrett, "Disrespect, TAJ and Koffi."
Q. Do you recollect what was meant by
"Disrespect, TAJ and Koffi" in the notation you
just read?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Okay. Can you tell me?
A. That term was used by most of the
women that I interviewed, either in this
particular instance or at other times, when I
would ask how things were going.
The term "disrespect" was a term
used to denote some sexual harassment. And it
was a term that -- that's all I'll say. That
that was what it denoted. And I was told that
by Emetem, that the term "disrespect" was a term
used for some type of sexual-something said or
gesture, or whatever.
Q. Did you communicate that
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information about the meaning of disrespect to
Barry Francis?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And this reference to
"disrespect," was this the term you referenced
earlier in your testimony when you were talking
about limited English proficient workers, who
are unable to articulate, because of language
barriers exactly what was happening?
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.
MR. PHILLIPS: You can answer.
THE WITNESS: That is true.
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) Okay. If you
could turn to page 138, do you see the reference
at the top, "Emetem Nkwetta"?
A. Yes.
Q. Looking down at No. 6, it reads:
"Who is your boss," question mark. And then in
parens, "If you are late for work or make a
mistake, who would speak with you?" closed
parens. Can you read the handwritten notation
under Item 6?

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Page 194

1

A.

"TAJ would send Lolita home for the

2 day to punish her. Linc, then, would want him
3 to apologize."
4

Q.

Okay. Do you recall what

5 Ms. Nkwetta said about TAJ sending Lolita home
6 for the day to punish her?
7

A.

I don't remember any more than what

8 is written here that would have been said by
9 Emetem, but I do know of an incident where
10 Lolita was sent home.
11

Q.

Did you receive any information as

12 to why that may have been the case, that she was
13 sent home?
14

MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.

15

You can answer.

16

MR. PHILLIPS: Sure. I'll withdraw

17

the question and rephrase it.

18

Q.

(By Mr. Phillips) Did you have any

19 communications with anyone about Lolita Gonzales
20 being sent home by TAJ, other than this
21 conversation reflected with Ms. Nkwetta in May
22 of 2005?
BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

A. Yes. And, I believe, that I noted
it -- either in an e-mail or in the client
profile or in Lolita's profile -- that she had
been sent home, but I did know that she was sent
home and I don't recall why she was sent home.
Q. Do you recall who told you she was
sent home?
A. I believe it was Lolita, herself,
but I'm not positive.
Q. Do you recall when she told you she
have sent home, by TAJ?
A. I don't. I do not. The thing that
I recollect is that there was a time that she
did not show up for work. And my
recollection -- but I could be wrong here -- my
recollection is that that was following her
being sent home, that she did not come back to
work.
And Linc had e-mailed me or called
me to say Lolita is a no-call/no-show, and that
he wanted her dismissed. And I had said,
"Well," you know, "let me call her and find out
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why she wasn't there." And when I spoke with
Lolita, she said, I believe at that time, that
she had been let go early and made to go home,
because she -- and I don't know the words
exactly that she used -- but that she had been
made to go home early and that she had not come
back, because she had gone to a concert in New
York.
And I remember her saying "I do
stupid things sometimes." And I said, "You
don't do things, but you make some bad choices.
If you decide to go to a concert and not come
back to work."
But I talked to Linc or I e-mailed
him. I believe I talked to him. And, again, I
don't remember -- I don't remember the sequence,
but I know that I said to him, you know, "She's
one of your better workers," you know, "Why?
What happened?" I was trying to find out why
she had been let go or made to go home early.
I think my understanding was that
she had loss face and, I believe, that was one
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of the reasons that she hadn't shown up again.
But that was only reading into it, on my part.
Q. Okay.
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection. Move to
strike.
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) If you could
turn to page 139, please. And I know you've
already read this handwritten notation under
Item 12. I just wanted to verify that this is
your handwriting.
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recall, sitting here
today, that Ms. Nkwetta stated that TAJ talked
about people's butts walking by about all the
girls? Do you recall that?
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.
THE WITNESS: Yes.
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) And was
Mr. Francis present, in the interview, when
Ms. Nkwetta indicated that?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. And, similarly, going back from

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page 137, Item 13, where we had some testimony, 1
just now, about Ms. Wing saying TAJ and Koffi
2
disrespect her?
3
A. Yes.
4
Q. Was Mr. Barrett [sic] present,
5
during the interview, when Ms. Wing expressed
6
that?
7
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.
8
Mr. Barrett?
9
MR. PHILLIPS: I'm sorry. Strike
10
that.
11
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) Was Mr. Francis
12
present when Ms. Wing stated that?
13
A. Yes, he was.
14
Q. And, again, just so I'm clear as to
15
page 139, in case I said "Barrett," I apologize.
16
Was Mr. Francis present when
17
Ms. Nkwetta made that statement reflected under 18
Item 12, page 139?
19
A. Yes, Mr. Francis was present.
20
Q. Okay. If you could turn to page
21
147, please. Looking at pages 146 and 147, do 22

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

these reflect notes that you took regarding an
interview with Moniquie Spears?
A. Yes.
Q. And taking a look at page 147,
Item 12, again, I'll read the question: "Have
you seen or heard any behavior that has been
inappropriate or of a sexual nature?" And in
parens, "Tell me what occurred."
Could you read the handwritten
notation under Item 12, please?
A. "Looks, TAJ and Koffi, on African
ladies, where long T-shirts."
Q. Do you recall what Ms. Spears said
about that, in regard to this handwritten entry?
A. I do.
Q. What did she say?
A. That she said that TAJ and Koffi
Tu-Tu looked at the butts, the rear-ends, that
most of the women there were aware of that, and
they would wear long T-shirts in order to cover
up their rear-ends.
Q. And was Mr. Francis present when
Page 200

Ms. Spears communicated that information?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. And if you could look under
Item 13, again: "Have you seen or heard any
sexual jokes or inappropriate language,"
question mark, and then in parens, "Tell me what
occurred."
Can you read the handwriting
notation under Item 13, please?
A. "Jokes go along with this looking"
or "with the looking."
Q. Do you recall what jokes Ms. Spears
was referencing in response to this question,
Item 13?
A. I do.
Q. What jokes was she referencing?
A. She was referencing the jokes with
the sexual commentation.
Q. Okay. And did she identify who was
making the jokes?
A. She was referencing back to her
previous answer, which was TAJ and Koffi Tu-Tu.
Pages 197 - 200

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Q. And do you recall, sitting here
today, do you recall any of the specific jokes.
The wording that she used to describe them?
A. No, I would not.
Q. Okay. Nevertheless, when
Ms. Speers communicated this information during
her interview, was Mr. Francis present?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. If you could turn to page 149,
please, and also just so you know the context,
148, which is the previous page, do these pages
reflect notes of a "Julian Carter"?
A. Yes, they do.
Q. And you authored these notes?
A. I did.
Q. If you could turn to page 149,
Item 12, again the question: "Have you seen or
heard any behavior that has been inappropriate
or of a sexual nature," question mark. And then
in parens, "Tell me what occurred."
Can you read the handwritten
notation there, please?

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A. It says "Every day in there," with
an exclamation point.
Q. Sitting here today, do you have a
recollection of what Mr. Carter said in response
to Item 12?
A. I do.
Q. What did Mr. Carter say?
A. That the occurrence of sexual
remarks -- and I don't know if he used the word
"behavior," but people saying sexual things was
an everyday occurrence in the facility.
Q. Okay. Did he identify who was
making the sexual remarks?
A. I don't recall if he gave any
names.
Q. Was the focus of the investigation
in May of 2005 specifically on potential sexual
harassment by Thomas Johnson?
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.
MR. PHILLIPS: You can answer.
THE WITNESS: Can you clarify what
you mean my "potential"?

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Q. (By Mr. Phillips) Sure. Meaning
allegations of sexual harassment.
A. Allegations. Yes, it was.
Q. And did you and Mr. Francis have
occasion to question any of the witnesses
concerning sexual remarks or comments among
co-workers or was the focus specifically on
Mr. Johnson?
A. Well, the way the questions were
asked of the associates, it was not geared to
asking about Mr. Johnson, in particular. It was
in general so that they could have responded if
there had been remarks or jokes made among the
co-workers, also.
Q. Okay. But, nevertheless, it was
your intention to delve into allegations
regarding Mr. Johnson and sexual harassment,
correct?
A. Mr. Johnson, Koffi Tu-Tu.
Q. And did Mr. Francis communicate to
you that that was his focus during these
interviews?
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A. During the premeeting, I don't
remember the exact words, but my understanding
was that we were investigating the sexual
allegations that has been made -- claims that
had been mentioned.
Q. Against Mr. Johnson?
A. And against Mr. Johnson and
Mr. Tu-Tu.
Q. Mr. Tu-Tu. If you could turn to
page 155, please. And the same thing, look at
154 and 155, just for context. Then I'll draw
your specific attention to Item 12.
A. Yes.
Q. Does 155 reflect notes taken that
you took of an interview with Fernando Holquin?
A. Yes.
Q. And, again, looking at Item 12
where it says: "Have you seen or heard any
behavior that has been inappropriate or of a
sexual nature," question mark. And then in
parens, "Tell me what occurred."
Could you read the handwritten
Pages 201 - 204

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notation under Item 12?
A. "Michelle, who worked on by TAJ,"
and I have an equal sign, meaning that it went
to -- he told Fernando or she told Fernando, and
then I have under that "management," slash,
"TAJ," I don't know what that word is.
Q. Read what you can.
A. "Aaron Grant good work, good
worker, but" something "threatens him" -"threatened him."
Q. Okay. Looking at the first line
where it said -- where you read "Michelle worked
on by TAJ, equals, told Fernando." Do you
recall what Mr. Holquin stated about that topic?
A. I do not.
Q. Okay. Do you know if Mr. Holquin
was referencing Michelle Despertt in this first
line, under Item 12?
A. I believe so, because I don't think
there was any other Michelle there but, at this
moment, I can't say for sure, other than the
fact that there were no other Michelles.

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Q. Where it says "worked on by TAJ,"
do you know if based on your reading of this and
your recollection, do you recall whether
Mr. Holquin was stating that TAJ was trying to
induce Michelle Despertt into a sexual
relationship?
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.
THE WITNESS: Because the notes are
written under the question: "Have you
heard any behavior that has been
inappropriate or of a sexual nature," that
would be my conclusion.
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.
THE WITNESS: Since we know that
Michelle filed a sexual complaint.
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection. Move to
strike. Non-responsive.
MR. PHILLIPS: I may be done with
this exhibit. Just give me a moment,
please.
(Brief pause)

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Q. (By Mr. Phillips) Was Mr. Francis
present continuously throughout the interview of
Fernando Holquin?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. And was Mr. Francis present
continuously during the interview of Julian
Carter?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Earlier in your testimony,
you referenced a conversation that you had with
Scott Collen concerning Blockbuster's decision
to not terminate Lincoln Barrett and Thomas
Johnson. Do you recall giving that testimony
earlier today?
A. I do.
Q. And you stated, I believe, during
that testimony that you were astounded that
Blockbuster was not terminating Mr. Johnson and
Mr. Barrett. Do you recall giving that
testimony?
A. I do.
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Q. Do you recall expressing that
astonishment, being "astounded," as you stated,
to Mr. Collen?
A. I did not express it as
"astonishment" because, again, he was not a
client, but I -- but I -Q. Do you recall -- I'm sorry. I
didn't mean to interrupt you. Go ahead.
A. But I did comment to him that I was
very surprised having heard what Barry and I,
together, heard during the interviews, that
there would not have been something done fairly
immediately. And I remember Scott said, and
wrote it actually into the company profile, that
Barry did not believe that he had enough
information to let them go immediately and that
he wanted to proceed with some type of a series
of goals that they would have to meet or a plan
that they would have to meet, which yes, I have,
by the way, here, the plan that was sent to me,
so I have a copy if you -- in that packet.
Q. Oh, you have a copy of the action
Pages 205 - 208

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plan?
A.
Q.

Yes.
Okay. Can we see that, please?
MS. SPEIGHTS: This is not on the
record.
(Off record discussion)

Q. (By Mr. Phillips) And I'm going to
ask you this, okay: Do you recall saying
anything else to Scott, other than what you've
already described -- I'm sorry -- do you recall
saying -- strike that.
Do you recall saying anything
else to Scott Collen during this discussion
about this decision to not terminate TAJ and
Lincoln Barrett, beyond what you've already
testified to?
A. No. The only thing I remember was
that he said there was a plan in place of
certain goals that they would have to meet and
he would send me a copy of that plan, which he

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did.

1
Q. What was your basis for believing
2
that Mr. Johnson and Mr. Barrett should have
3
been terminated at that point?
4
A. I believed that we had heard enough
5
testimony that had been actually corroborated by
6
each person that came in, to indicate that they
7
had been guilty of sexual harassment, in both
8
forms, both words and gestures.
9
Q. Okay. And, in fact, did you tell
10
Mr. Collen -- did you say to him "Don't you
11
think you have enough to go on from the
12
interviews to terminate?" Did you say that to
13
him?
14
A. I believe so.
15
Q. Okay.
16
A. Or words though that affect,
17
certainly.
18
Q. So you communicated to Mr. Collen
19
that you believed the sexual harassment
20
complaints were substantiated?
21
A. I did.
22

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Q. Do you recall at the end of the
May, 2005, investigation at the Gaithersburg
warehouse, how the workers were selected for
interview, if there was a method for determining
who would have interviewed that day?
A. No. There was no specific method,
first of all. Before going into the facility,
we knew that we didn't know exactly who would be
there that day, and that we would just ask the
person that was nearest to the office to come in
and to grab them, as their work permitted them
to be grabbed.
In other words, if they were right
in the middle of a stack when sorting through,
we would say "When you're finished with that,
would you be prepared to come in and speak with
us?"
So actually, as one person left,
they would, sort of, tag the next person, that
type of thing.
Q. Okay. Did you go out on the floor
and bring the temporary workers in for
Page 212

interview?
A. No, my recollection is that we both
were in the room, and the person that had just
finished with the interview would go out and
send the next person in.
Q. Okay.
A. That's my recollection. Now, if
there had been a lull in that, I would have been
the one to go out. I don't recall doing that.
Q. Okay. You referenced earlier that
there were, in the possession of Express
Personnel Services, computer files that recorded
information regarding complaints from the
associates. Do you recall that testimony?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recall, also, testifying
that there was a paper file specific to sexual
harassment complaints?
A. Yes.
Q. Did anyone from Blockbuster ever
ask you for those documents?
A. No.
Pages 209 - 212

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Page 215

Q. Did anyone from Blockbuster ever
1
ask you if you kept files on employee complaints
2
of sexual harassment?
3
A. No. But let me just qualify my
4
previous answer. I believe they felt that any
5
complaints that were formally lodged, I would
6
have sent to them, by June, at Venturi.
7
Q. Okay. So by "formal complaints,"
8
you mean complaints that were documented by the 9
individual making the complaint?
10
A. Right.
11
Q. Okay. Did anyone from Blockbuster
12
ever ask you for any documents or data
13
concerning complaints that were informal,
14
meaning complaints that were verbal but were not 15
documented by the person making the complaint? 16
A. Other than Say Wing, who refused
17
to, I don't believe that that was asked. The
18
information that I was receiving and any remarks 19
that I heard, I would pass on to June. And,
20
again, my understanding was that she would pass 21
those on to Blockbuster.
22
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Q. What was the basis for your
understanding that June Davis would pass that
information that you provided to her about
sexual remarks on to Blockbuster?
A. Because she would say, "I will call
Scott," or "I will speak to Scott," or I will
e-mail Scott."
Q. Did she confirm, for you, at any
point, that she had done that? Did she come
back to you and say words to the affect, that
she had spoken to Scott about those remarks?
A. Yes. There are some e-mails, I
believe, in the packet that I supplied that she
actually does confirms some of the times that
she spoke to Scott. Other times, on the phone,
and she would say that she had spoken to Scott
or that she was going to speak to Scott.
Q. Do you remember who was reporting
to you these remarks that were never formalized
in the form of a written complaint document? Do
you recall who was making those reports to you,
specifically sexual remarks?

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

A.

Yes. I would say that I would not

be able to give you any names or what they said,
but that most of the women, at one time or
another, would make a remark that would indicate
that there was something not right.
Q.

Did they say -MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection. Move to

strike. Non-responsive.
Q.

(By Mr. Phillips) Did the

individuals who made complaints to you, were
they referencing sexual remarks made by someone
else?
A.

Yes.

Q.

All right. Do you recall the names

of persons who were said to have made the sexual
marks?
A.

Oh, it was always TAJ or Koffi

Tu-Tu. Always.
Q.

Did Blockbuster ever ask you for

information about -- verbal information provided
to you by associates regarding sexual remarks
being made at the facility?
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A. Do you mean Blockbuster directly
asking me? Someone from Blockbuster?
Q. Yes.
A. No. At least I don't recall that
anyhow. And, again, we're talking about three
and a half years ago, so -- but I do not recall
that, no.
Q. Okay. We talked earlier about
Michelle Despertt and, I believe, you referenced
that the reasons given for Ms. Despertt's
termination were that she was not making numbers
and tardy. Do you recall giving that testimony?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Do you recall who told you
that?
A. It would have been Linc. He was
the one who I was given the directive to dismiss
someone and usually he gave the reason why.
Q. Now, we talked about formal
complaints of sexual harassment, and you
referenced earlier in your testimony that you
insisted that the person making the complaint
Pages 213 - 216

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Page 223

A. I believe Yasmina was one and
1
Takara was the other.
2
Q. Takara Martin?
3
A. Takara Martin.
4
Q. If you could turn to Brown
5
Exhibit 10, the e-mail from June Davis, and I
6
want to draw your attention to the top of the
7
e-mail from June Davis to Scott Collen at
8
Blockbuster.com. And the second sentence down, 9
could you read that sentence, please, for the
10
record?
11
A. "The Person that made the
12
allegation that one of the leads touched her
13
inappropriately," Say Wing in parentheses, "is
14
still not willing to put anything in writing.
15
Q. Do you recall Say Wing telling you
16
that one of the leads had touched her
17
inappropriately?
18
A. I cannot recall her words, saying
19
that to me. But if that is what is written
20
here, then that was something that I would have 21
written.
22
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Q. Okay. But you do recall that
Ms. Wing was raising a complaint about being
sexually harassed by one of the leads?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recall which leads she was
implicating?
A. I do not. I do not.
Q. The third sentence says: "Cinnie's
office phone is 410-561-7810." It then goes on
to give your cell number, and it says "If you
want to contact her directly." Do you see that
sentence?
A. I do.
Q. Okay. Did Mr. Collen call you to
get specific details regarding Ms. Wing's
complaint?
A. He may have. I know that, at some
point, he called to clarify something. It may
be in the company profile, but I don't know if
it was specifically about Say Wing. This was in
April, so, you know, I'm just not recalling.
Q. Okay. Thank you. That's fine.

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

(Brief break)
MR. PHILLIPS:
Let's go back on the record.
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) Ms. Brown,
earlier in your testimony you stated that Emetem
was very vocal about things she felt that was
going on?
A. Yes.
Q. And sitting here now, do you recall
what she was referencing as far as things going
on?
A. She was referencing some of the
sexual harassment that was going on. She, as
far as -- I believe it was Emetem, who brought
to my attention that Say Wing had a sexual
complaint. And then I pursued it with Say Wing
and, of course, she would not write anything
down.
And I think I asked Emetem if she
would translate for Say Wing, because she spoke
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French, also. And, I believe, she said she
would. But, again, Say Wing would not write
anything down or speak through an interpreter to
me, over the phone, or even in person -certainly not in person.
Q. Do you recall when the first time
Ms. Nkwetta told you there was sexual harassment
going on?
MS. SPEIGHTS: Objection.
THE WITNESS: Again, date-wise, I
would not able to.
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) Do you recall if
Ms. Nkwetta said anything about sexual
harassment prior to Michelle Despertt's in March
of 2005?
A. No, I really don't recall.
Q. Okay. And, I believe, we
referenced this document already in your
testimony. It's the large exhibit.
Looking at Brown Exhibit 4, and
we're turning to a page marked in the lower
left-hand corner, page 10. Do you see that?
Pages 221 - 224

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Q. Could you take a look at that
folder, please?
MR. PHILLIPS: For the record, the
folder has three business cards stapled to
it.
Q. (By Mr. Phillips) And could you
read the names on the business cards, please?
A. "Scott Collen, Barry Francis," and
"Brian Hand."
Q. Regarding the last name, Brian
Hand, can you tell me how you came to obtain a
Blockbuster business card from Mr. Hand?
A. I do not know, because I don't
recall ever speaking to Mr. Hand.
Q. All right. You don't recall
meeting him or being introduced to him at all?
A. I don't. But I must have been,
because I have his card here, but I don't recall
it.
Q. Okay. Earlier in your testimony,
do you recall giving testimony that Express
Personnel Services was the employer of the temp

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A. Yes.
Q. And I'm asking you if you're
familiar with the legal standards for
determining who is the employer of a worker,
within the definition of Title 7 of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 and the case law interpreting
that?
A. I am not familiar with it.
Q. And just a few more questions
Ms. Brown and I think I'll be finished.
To be clear, did Express Personnel
Services have the power to take disciplinary
action against Thomas Johnson?
A. No.
Q. Okay. Did Express Personnel
Services have the power to take disciplinary
action against Koffi Tu-Tu?
A. No.
Q. And did Express Personnel Services
have the power to take disciplinary action
against Lincoln Barrett?
A. No. They were not the employees of

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workers working at the Gaithersburg warehouse of
Blockbuster?
A. Yes. We were the employer of
record.
Q. And when you say "employer of
record," what do you mean by that?
A. Meaning that we were the one that
cut their checks, paid them through our payroll
system, even though they were employed,
physically, one of our clients.
Q. And are you familiar with the legal
standards for determining whether a worker
is -- strike that.
Are you familiar with the legal
standards for determining whether a corporation
is a temporary worker's employer within the
meaning of Title 7 of Civil Rights Act of 1964?
A. I'm not sure exactly what you're
referring to.
Q. Okay. Title 7 of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 defines what and employee and an
employer are.

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

Page 232

1 Express Personnel.
2

Q.

And did Express Personnel have the

3 authority to take any other corrective action
4 against any of those three individuals?
5

A.

6

MR. PHILLIPS: I pass the witness.

7
8

No.
MS. SPEIGHTS: Just a few

questions.

9
10
11

FURTHER EXAMINATION BY MS. SPEIGHTS:

12
13

Q.

Did Express have the power to take

14 workers out of the Gaithersburg facility?
15

A.

Only at the direction of the

16 client, either at Venturi or Blockbuster.
17

Q.

Were there any reasons, other than

18 getting some direction from the client or
19 Blockbuster, that Express Personnel could change
20 the assignment of a temporary worker, move them
21 from one employer to another employer?
22

A.

Not unless -- once the employee was
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in a position at a company, the only one that
could make a decision as to either end that
employment would be either the client or the
associate, himself.
Q. Did, at some point, you believed
that an associate or an employee of Express was
in danger in a client's facility, did you have
the authority or power to do anything about
that?
MR. PHILLIPS: Objection to form.
You can answer.
THE WITNESS: I really don't know
how to answer that, because I've never ran
into it in all the years I did staffing.
I think if we wanted to lose the
client, we certainly could take them out,
or if there was someone there that was
threatening them, we probably could take
them out. But it would not have been
something that I would ever have done
because I never ran into a situation -Q. (By Ms. Speights) But you think

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you could have done it?
A. -- that demanded it.
MR. PHILLIPS: Same objection.
Q. (By Ms. Speights) But you think
you could have done it if you ran into that
situation?
MR. PHILLIPS: Same objection.
THE WITNESS: Probably.
Q. (By Ms. Speights) Now,
Mr. Phillips asked you some questions about, I
think her name was, Fati Toure?
A. Yes.
Q. And there was an e-mail, which is
in Francis 9 concerning Fati Toure's
hospitalization?
A. Yes.
Q. And you had gotten a call from her
sister about her being in the hospital?
A. Right.
Q. Do you know how many days Ms. Toure
was out from work for her hospitalization?
A. I was have absolutely no

BLOCKBUSTER.transcript.brown.dep

recollection of that, other than what would have
been on the payroll, the payroll documents.
Q. Do you know if Ms. Gonzales missed
any days during 2005, because she was
hospitalized, Dolores Gonzales?
A. I was not aware that she was
hospitalized. I knew she was out sick.
Q. But you're not aware of any
hospitalization of Md. Dolores Gonzolas, during
2005?
A. No. Not that I can recollect.
Q. I think you also mentioned that
during your testimony that you believe Linc
Barrett complained about Ms. Lolita Gonzales'
tardiness after the May investigation; is that
right?
A. I think I recall saying that. I
couldn't remember exactly when that was. I
think it was after the May.
Q. Right.
A. I think it was in June, but I think
that was prior -- just prior to when she was let
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go, but I don't remember exactly.
Q. Okay. Could you take a look at the
Company Profile Report. Do you have that in
front of you?
A. Okay. I do.
Q. If you will turn to page 7 of the
Company Profile Report?
A. Okay.
Q. If you will go to 4/27, 2005?
A. Yes.
Q. "Lincoln Barrett," do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. "Other call-telephone CA Brown."
Do you see that?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. And the result section it says, he
says: "Lolita not doing job well. Was out for
two days and did not call in"?
A. Yes.
Q. And that's something that he told
you during that telephone conversation?
A. Yes.
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