Archives

Computing expert sues Yavapai College

PRESCOTT — Debra Linn Sweepe has been fixing computers, servers and more at Yavapai College for 25 years. But in 2007, the workplace became hostile to women, she claims, and now she’s calling her male counterparts into court.

Sweepe has filed a complaint in Yavapai County Superior Court claiming she was discriminated against when it came to several promotions and work assignments at the taxpayer funded college. It has an annual budget of $70 million and more than 20,000 students enrolled in more than 80 certificated and degree programs.

In 2006 and 2007, Sweepe claims she made several formal complaints about gender discrimination in the workplace. Specifically, she claims she was ignored at staff meetings, had additional assignments heaped on her and that her male co-workers refused to take directions from her. She was the only woman in the college’s information technology, or IT, department.

She claims nothing was done to correct the situation. When a new managing job was posted in June 2007, she says she applied for the position but was never granted an interview – which was contrary to the college’s practices, she claims. A college administrator moved her supervisor up into the position and allegedly told Sweepe she had “previous problems” with other male co-workers, the complaint states.

“Management positions at the Yavapai College IT Department have been offered to other males who are unqualified,” the complaint claims. “Many of these positions were not advertised or posted, and the males were simply placed into the positions without competition or the application process.”

In February, Sweepe took about six weeks off under the Family Medical Leave Act to take care of her ill son. Administrators offered her a promotion upon her return, which was later rescinded by her supervisor, she claims. in April, she received a negative performance review and was put on an “improvement plan,” the complaint claims.

She is suing the college under the Civil Rights Act; however, the complaint does not mention whether she had her case reviewed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Sweepe is represented by Prescott lawyer Charles Anthony Shaw.

SWAT training accident spurs lawsuit

CASA GRANDE — The wife of a former police officer here is suing Pinal County for negligence after her husband died during a training exercise for the SWAT team.

The complaint filed in Pinal County Superior Court by Christie Lynch dates back to events in October 2007. That’s when her husband, Tate A. Lynch, a Casa Grande police officer, was allegedly part of a training exercise being held at the county’s jail in Florence.

Christie Lynch claims that her husband was asked to help out during tryouts for new recruits. Part of that involved observing a rappelling exercise conducted by Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Benjamin Cook. The technique involves shinnying down a taut rope at high speeds and is frequently used by rock climbers and military troops exiting a hovering helicopter.

At the end of the exercise, she claims, Tate Lynch rappelled down the wall. His descent became uncontrolled due to the deputy’s alleged negligence, she claims. Tate Lynch fell to the ground and suffered fatal injuries.

Now Christie Lynch is suing the county, the sheriff’s department and Cook. She is represented by Tucson lawyers Philip Hall and Stanley Feldman.

Catfight brews over pet cemetery

TUCSON — An outside investor group wrested control of one of the city’s largest pet cemeteries away from its original owner, thanks in part to its connections at the Bank of Tucson, a recent lawsuit claims.

The court action comes from Darla Norrish, who ran the Pet Cemetery of Tucson from 1998 until last May. She claims an investor group comprised mostly of officials from the Bank of Tucson conspired against her to gain control of the business, and she is asking Pima County Superior Court Judge John Kelly to give it back.

The roots of her complaint date back to December 2006. That’s when Norrish says the group, led by business broker Lea Marquez-Peterson, approached her with an offer to invest in the cemetery . The cemetery is located just south of Fort Lowell Park near Craycroft and Grant roads.

At the time, Norrish says she was licensed to provide cemetery, mortuary and crematory services there for pet owners in Tucson. But she had outstanding debts.

So when the investor group offered her a $134,000 loan, she accepted and used the money to clean up the debt. They included $40,000 in delinquent taxes, $78,600 in outstanding loans for cremation equipment and other liabilities, and a $15,000 consulting fee for Marquez-Peterson, according to the complaint.

But only weeks later, relations between Norrish and the group allegedly soured. She says a sales agreement was never reached, but that the investors did not demand she repay the note.

That demand came later, in December 2007, Norrish claims. Two months later, Dennis J. Clancy named himself the new trustee under the cemetery’s deed of trust and put the business up for sale at public auction on the same day, the complaint claims. The basis for the sale was that Norrish had failed to pay off the loan.

Norrish claims she never received a notice of breach prior to the sale, or that the sale notice was posted on the property. When the auction was held in May, the investor group bought the cemetery. The group is comprised of Sylvia E. Cotton and Patricia A. Taylor, who are a director and an officer for the Bank of Tucson, respectively.

But the saga continued. Norrish claims she was physically removed from the property on the day of the sale, and that she was barred from retrieving her car and other items. They included a 1993 Ford Taurus and eight pot-bellied pigs.

She was allowed to remove the pigs three days later, but one of them died. Norrish also claims the investors threw some of her remaining personal items into the pigpen during monsoon season.

Norrish says all of this was done "with the purposes of wrongfully acquiring The Pet Cemetery, acquiring its goodwill and customers, and crippling [Norrish] financially so that she could not compete with [the investors] and could not challenge [the investors'] misconduct."

She is asking Judge Kelly to void the sale and grant her quiet title to the cemetery, along with any compensatory and punitive damages. She is represented by Tucson lawyers Michael A. Fleishman and Ned Garn.

Tot-beater could face death penalty

MESA — A jury will decide whether a Mesa man will spend life in prison or face the death penalty for beating his friend’s baby to death.

The case stems from a February 2005 incident in which Christohper Langin, 33, was left to babysit the daughter of his neighbor, Michael Plummer, 34. The two men were friends from high school, and Langin lived in a trailer behind Plummer’s east Mesa home at the time.

The 3-year-old girl, Angeline, was developmentally delayed and could barely speak. She was found 24 hours later inside Langin’s fetid trailer beaten and bruised head to toe, according to court records.

Plummer knew Langin had a history of substance abuse and violent tendencies, said Maricopa County prosecutor Patricia Stevens, but he still allowed Langin to care for his daughter.

Records say that the actual cause of death was due to “blunt force trauma to her head.”

In September, a jury in Maricopa County Superior Court found Langin guilty of first-degree murder, child abuse and aggravated assault, according to court documents. Now its members must decide if Langin should face the death penalty.

Joey Hamby, a defense lawyer for Langin, told jurors last week that they should spare Langin from the death penalty because his client suffered from “potential methamphetamine induced psychosis” at the time of Angeline’s death.

Hamby also stated that they planned to bring in expert witnesses to testify Langin’s history of family tragedy, significant brain impairment, and long-standing substance abuse and childhood domestic abuse.

“We will not deny the fact that Chris did abuse meth and alcohol, he has suffered through multiple relapses and has about 11 teeth left, which indicates harsh drug use,” Hamby said.

Growing up, Langin was a special education student who did not graduate from high school or receive a GED, Hamby added. He has no arrest record in Arizona, so the death penalty is too harsh, he said.

“So is life in prison the right sentence, or is death? I believe life in prison is the right decision for Chris Langin,” Hamby told the jury.

Stevens, however, said a sad “life story” should not be a mitigating factor to justify Langin’s actions.

The jury is set to decide Langin’s fate by Nov. 20.

= = =

>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Probation for Mesa man charged with indecent exposure

MESA — A 31-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years probation after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted public sexual indecency to minors last Friday at Maricopa County Superior Court.

Police arrested Jason Robert Zuchowski, of Mesa, after three children witnessed him masturbating in his car outside of Taft Elementary School. Zuchowski was apprehended after the children wrote down his license plate number and called the police.

Under the conditions of his sentencing, Zuchowski will pay a fine of $500, and must undergo counseling and submit to a DNA test.

Zuchowski denied intentionally exposing himself to the children.

“He did not know the children were there,” said defense attorney Vicki Lopez. “When the officers talked to him about the children, he was shocked and very upset.”

Zuchowski is subject to early termination of probation if he does well, said Superior Court Judge Silvia Arellano.

“He has already taken initiative to begin counseling and we are confident that he will succeed in probation,” she said.

= = =

>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Endangered birds at risk in Southwest, biologists say

TUCSON — A local nonprofit says the southwestern willow flycatcher faces extinction, and it is asking a federal judge to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to set aside more land for the bird population to flourish.

The case stems from a longstanding legal tussle between federal wildlife officials and the Center for Biological Diversity, a 40,000-member nonprofit based in Tucson that is dedicated to preserving and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity.

In this case, the fight involves the southwest willow flycatcher, a small migratory bird barely 15 centimeters long. It travels throughout the Southwest – from west Texas to southern California – to breed between the months of April and September. The flycatcher nests in riparian habitats where there is running water and dense growths of trees.

It was listed as endangered in 1995, and a plan was hatched to protect and preserve it. The nonprofit says Interior officials have shirked this duty.

In its 17-page complaint, the nonprofit claims wildlife officials have:

• failed to designate enough land for the flycatcher population to recover,
• incorrectly interpreted the research for the recovery plan,
• allowed politics to taint the scientific data used,
• and excluded ideal places that previous studies found to be perfect for the flycatcher’s recovery.

The nonprofit sent a letter to Interior officials in August 2007 indicating their intent to sue the department over these issues. They never responded, the complaint states.

It also states that officials left several lands out of the preservation plan that scientists said were necessary for the flycatcher’s successful recovery. Officials cut about 50 percent of the streamside areas away, according to the complaint.

Politics may have played a role. The complaint cites a recent report from the Inspector General’s office, whose investigators found deputy assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie MacDonald influenced how the flycatcher’s recovery area was decided.

"The reduction of habitat proposed for designation (376,095 acres) to the amount which was included in the final designation (120,824 acres) is partially attributable to this improper political interference," the complaint claims.

If they are correct, it would be another instance of political interference on science under the Bush administration. White House lawyers were recently found to have altered public reports about global warming that were based on scientific data.

Geoff Hickcox, a lawyer at the Western Environmental Law Center in Durango, Colo., is representing the Center for Biological Diversity.

Bank seeks $9.5M from Tucson condo project

TUCSON — A group of California investors intent on converting apartments into condominiums walked out on a $12.6 million loan and is keeping the rent from the units in the meantime, according to a recent complaint.

Texas-based Comerica Bank filed suit against Pantano Coastal LLC and its main principal, Ralph Giannella of La Jolla, Calif., who had received the loan to upgrade and convert 136 apartments near the corner of Broadway and Pantano roads.

It’s the latest sign of the Arizona real estate debacle, which has led to a record number of mechanic liens, loan defaults and foreclosures.

According to the 32-page complaint, Comerica agreed to loan Pantano Coastal money in March 2006. To secure repayment of the loan, Pantano pledged the entire property and its rents as colateral.

But as the real estate scene soured, so did the financial outlook for the condo-conversion project. The maturity date of the loan was extended 90 days until December 2007, and other parts of the deal were tweaked, according to the complaint.

But after the maturity date came and went, Pantano Coastal had yet to make a single payment on the loan, the complaint claims. Any missed payments were subject to a 5 percent charge.

Comerica claims the company also withheld rent monies at the time and did not pay almost $60,000 in property taxes that were due for the site. It is upset because this impairs the bank’s security for the loan.

By the Comerica’s math, Pantano Coastal now owes $9.5 million on the project. It is asking a federal judge in Tucson to rule against the company and foreclose on the property to bring it under bank control.

Phoenix lawyers Mark Nadeau and Allison Harvey are representing Comerica Bank.

Patient care, racial issues lead to TMC Healthcare suit

TUCSON — Two former employees at one of the city’s largest medical facilities are accusing their old bosses of discriminating against blacks and sweeping a possible patient assault under the rug, according to a recent lawsuit.

The 12-page complaint comes from Akhere and Debbie Okojie, an African-American couple who worked for TMC Healthcare from January 2004 until September 2007.

The Okojies, who are originally from Nigeria, claim the problems at TMC began in December 2005. That’s when Debbie notified her boss by email that a co-worker was allegedly creating a hostile work environment by making sexual jokes while they worked together at the Youth Unit, the complaint states.

The co-worker allegedly discussed his first orgasm, sex with his wife and made racial jokes such as, "South Africa was better when the whites ruled; now all they have is criminals who can’t run the country," according to the complaint. Debbie claims he also insulted her and mentioned a white-supremacist group. She says the hospital did not investigate the matter.

According to the complaint, problems at the hospital started to snowball. Debbie claims the co-worker showed inappropriate moves containing nudity to kids in the Youth Unit; she witnessed TMC security guards allegedly restraining and assaulting an 18-year-old patient; and supervisors created a hostile work environment by ignoring her repeated emails for help, transferring her to another unit and firing her husband, Akhere.

But TMC’s top executive, Frank Alvarez, reinstated Akhere. One week later, he left office.

Debbie claims the problems continued until she and her husband were terminated on the same day for allegedly committing time card fraud.

The Arizona Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated the incidents and found the Okojies had a right to sue the hospital. Now the matter is before a federal judge in Tucson.

Tucson lawyers Don Awerkamp and Ivelisse Bonilla are representing the Okojies.