November 19, 2004

ESUHSD trustee Craig Mann files wrongful employment termination claim against city

District 7 Councilmem-ber Gregory entangled in controversy

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

A day before Evergreen resident Craig Mann was re-elected to a third term on the East Side Union High School District board of trustees, he was ready to do what he had been dreading since he stopped working as District 7 San Jose City Councilman Terry Gregory’s chief of staff in January.

Evergreen resident Craig Mann alleges District 7 San Jose City Councilman Terry Gregory fired him for confronting him about unethical and illegal activities.

With the assistance of his attorney, Michael Hurley, he filed a wrongful employment termination claim against the city alleging he was fired from his $75,000-a-year job when he confronted Gregory with allegations that he had solicited and accepted substantial gifts from businesses and individuals who had interests in matters before the city council.

Mann’s claim is the fourth legal hurdle faced by Gregory, who is being investigated by San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, the blue ribbon task force on ethics, the San Jose Elections Commission and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. The investigations began after the San Jose Mercury News published stories about Gregory’s alleged misconduct this past summer regarding Dennis Fong bribing him with a case of expensive wine and other transactions similar to those Mann said he confronted his former boss with.

Mann is seeking reinstatement of employment with incidental back pay and benefits retroactive to Jan. 3, 2004, the date of his termination, in amounts that would fall within the unlimited jurisdiction of the Superior Court.

Several calls left at Gregory’s District 7 office were not returned to the Evergreen Times by press time. Contacted by the Evergreen Times to discuss the charges made against Gregory, Mann said in an e-mail that under the advice of his lawyer, he couldn’t speak about the matter and referred this reporter to the claim filed against the city.

San Jose City Attorney Richard Doyle said his office takes wrongful employment termination claims seriously and will investigate Mann’s allegations and come to a conclusion in the next 60 days or first part of the year. “We try to move quickly to get through the facts. It’s too early to say anything more because we don’t have all the facts,” Doyle said.

The confrontation between Mann and Gregory came after Mann met with Tommy Fulcher, a well known local African-American community activist, in November of 2003, to discuss what he said were reports that Gregory was involved in unethical and possibly illegal activities.

“Mr. Fulcher felt that in several cases, Mr. Gregory’s actions went well beyond the mere appearance of misconduct,” Mann wrote in a copy of the claim obtained by the Evergreen Times, adding that Fulcher wanted to meet with Gregory himself to express his concern and to advise him that the activities had to stop.

“As a result of my meeting with Mr. Fulcher, I was convinced that many activities I had observed as Mr. Gregory’s chief of staff were at best unethical and that more than a few of them appeared to be illegal,” Mann said in the claim.

Fulcher, past president of the local NAACP and president of the non-profit Economic and Social Opportunities, Inc. organization, said this week that he originally wanted to meet with Gregory about his concerns regarding telephone calls from different people who complained Gregory was asking for gratuities and gifts as soon as the councilman took office.

“Some of the people were involved in different projects with the city, not necessarily development projects, but non-profit organizations,” Fulcher said. “I thought I was being helpful to Mr. Gregory to let him know about the things that were being said and that were coming from a lot of different quarters. There was no politics involved.”

Fulcher, who supported Gregory’s opponent when he ran for city council, said he hoped San Jose officials would get to the bottom of the allegations against Gregory and take appropriate action depending on what the investigations reveal.

He said he hoped the investigations would not impede Gregory’s ability to serve the constituents of District 7. “I’m hoping that the allegations prove to be without substance,” he said. “But I hate to see someone lose their employment unfairly. Mr. Mann had the responsibility to relay my message to the councilman that he worked for. That was part of his job, and I hope that’s not the reason he was terminated.”

The claim then lists six examples Mann was personally aware of, which he believes were in violation of city code and state law.

In January 2003, Gregory attended a lavish dinner at the Dynasty Restaurant but neither paid for his dinner nor reported it as a gift.

Gregory received free food from King Eggroll, whose management wanted a traffic signal improvement near its business.

In early April 2003, Gregory asked Mann to destroy checks for $3,430 in contributions made to his 2002 election outside of the campaign contribution period. Mann claims he suggested that he return them to the donors, but that Gregory was adamant they be destroyed.

In August 2003, Mann says Gregory asked him to contact John DiNapoli, who owns a potential major league baseball stadium site in the city, to “remind him of the A’s game tickets.” He believes Gregory solicited and accepted four Oakland A’s tickets from DiNapoli.

With respect to certain ordinances and codes applicable to Costco’s Senter Road store, Gregory pressured Costco’s Vice President Arthur Jackson to “pay to play” by making contributions to the District 7 community events account.

Gregory allegedly pressured Amy Hill, community relations director of Wal-Mart, to arrange a $5,000 donation to the District 7 community events account as “pay to play” in return for Gregory’s promise to maintain a “hands-off” posture regarding Wal-Mart’s efforts to move into an empty K-Mart on Story Road.

After meeting with Fulcher, Mann said in his claim he went to Gregory and told him of his meeting with Fulcher. He allegedly gave Gregory a copy of the city’s gift ordinance and asked him to stop soliciting or accepting gifts. He said he also sent an e-mail to all District 7 staff, advising them of his concerns.

According to the claim, Gregory informed Mann that his services were no longer needed and asked him to be out of the office by Dec. 31, 2003. Gregory hired Mann on Dec. 13, 2002 as his chief of staff. Mann began working for him Jan. 1, 2003.

“I believe Mr. Gregory fired me because I confronted him about his unethical and probably criminal behavior, because I told him that he had to put a stop to it, and because I sent the same message to all of my subordinates on the District 7 staff,” Mann said in the claim.

He also said when an aide was fired earlier in 2003, Gregory threatened her, saying that she had better “leave quietly or else.” He also said on more than one occasion, Gregory had commented in his presence on how easy it would be to give a “crack head” $50 to “take care” of an enemy.

“Because of comments like these I have been reluctant to bring attention to the circumstances of my unjust dismissal out of fear for my own safety and fear for the safety of my family,” Mann said in the claim.

In his signed complaint against the city, however, Mann said he waited almost a year after he was fired to file the charges because he became “less and less optimistic” that the city council would “act promptly and decisively regarding the abundant evidence of Mr. Gregory’s corruption that was emerging.”

“I respectfully request that the city council give careful consideration to the facts I have presented, look into Mr. Gregory’s reasons for firing me and do the right thing by reinstating my employment and providing me with back pay and benefits retroactive to Jan. 3, 2004,” he wrote in an affidavit attached to the claim.

On Nov. 9, Mann and his attorney filed an amended claim with the city called an “application for leave to present late claim.” In essence, Hurley wants to make sure the city doesn’t deny Mann’s claim since it was filed after the six-month reporting requirement from the time of the alleged damages to persons or personal property that the city imposes on any claim.

Hurley wrote that claims based upon contract are timely if filed within one year of the breach and that Mann’s claim was filed within that period. He also wrote that wrongful employment terminations are considered personal injury claims and would therefore be timely under the law.

He also excuses Mann’s delay in filing the claim because he said Mann believed the city would promptly investigate the allegations, and because he feared for his safety and the safety of his family.