Laborers for JUSTICE© 1997-2006 All Rights reserved. Not for republication on the internet without permission.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ----------------------------------------------x UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
-against- Plaintiffs, 90 CIV 5722
(CSH)
DISTRICT COUNCIL OF NEW YORK CITY
AND VICINITY OF THE UNITED
BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND
JOINERS OF AMERICA, et. al.,
Defendants.
x
Independent Investigator Deposition
DEPOSITION of MICHAEL DOLPHIN, taken by the Independent Investigator, Walter Mack, Esq., pursuant to letter subpoena, at the Offices of Doar, Rieck & Mack,Esqs.,217 Broadway,7th Floor, New York, New York 10007-2911,before Stewart Nissenbaum, on Monday, October 4,2004,at 4:20 p.m., a Shorthand Reporter and Notary Public of the State of New York.
ORIGINAL
TANKOOS REPORTING COMPANY, INC 305 Madison Avenue . 142 Willis Avenue Suite 449 P.O. BOX 347 New York,N.Y.10165 Mineola,N.Y.11501 (212)349-9692 (516)741-5235
(212) 349-9692 TANKOOS REPORTING COMPANY, INC.(516) 741-5235
1 2
APPEARANCE S:
2
DOAR RIECK & MACK
3 217 Broadway - 7th Floor
New York, New York 10007-2911
4
BY: WALTER MACK, ESQ.
5 Independent Investigator
6
BENJAMIN TORRANCE, ESQ.
7 Assistant United States Attorney
United States Department of Justice
8 86 Chambers Street
New York, New York 10007
9
10 O'DWYER & BERNSTEIN, ESQS.
Attorneys for Union
11 52 Duane Street
New York, New York 10007
12
BY: JASON FUIMAN, ESQ.
13
14 RUBINSTEIN & COROZZO, LLP
Attorneys for Witness
15 260 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10016
16
BY: RONALD RUBINSTEIN, ESQ.
17
18 ALSO PRESENT:
19 DONALD SOBOCIENSKI
20 * *
21
22
23
24
25
Laborers for JUSTICE© 1997-2006 All Rights reserved. Not for republication on the internet without permission.
1 3
2 MR. MACK: On the record.
3 I'm going to take a number of
4 minutes to describe what we are doing,
5 Mr. Dolphin, and hopefully answer any
6 questions you or your counsel may have
7 about what is happening today, and its
8 significance to me, and who I am.
9 My name is Walter Mack, and I am
10 the Independent Investigator appointed
11 by Judge Haight, who is a Federal Judge
12 sitting in the Southern District of New
13 York. And the Order appointing me, you
14 and your counsel have received a copy of
15 a few moments ago, but it is a public
16 document; and I have basically been
17 functioning as the Independent
18 Investigator for approximately eighteen
19 or nineteen months, maybe a little bit
20 longer.
21 I have a number of duties that
22 are set forth in the Order which you
23 have, but one of the duties that I have
24 is the authority to undertake and
25 investigate, when questions arise
1 M. Dolphin 4
2 concerning job referral lists and the
3 assignment of shop stewards to
4 particular jobsites under the
5 jurisdiction of the District Council of
6 Carpenters. I have the authority to
7 obtain information and facts about that;
8 and you've received a notice, which I'll
9 mark at some time, which basically
10 requires you, as you have today, to
11 appear, with counsel if it is your
12 choice, to respond to questions
13 concerning complaints or other subjects
14 that are of significance to me.
15 Let me go carefully,if I may,
16 through what my authority is. I am not
17 part of the District Council. I work
18 for the judge; in other words, I'm an
19 agent of the Court. I have no
20 independent authority to discipline you
21 or to take any action against you
22 directly, and you are one of many
23 individuals who have been here as part
24 of my program of gathering data
25 concerning complaints that are made to
1 M. Dolphin 5
2 the hotline, which, if you have seen the
3 Order, is part of my responsibility.
4 We've received complaints as to some
5 shop stewards, concerning how they have
6 come to be assigned to particular
7 jobsites over the time period, and some
8 of those complaints I look into
9 personally, others I rely on the
10 District Council to do.
11 And so you should not look upon
12 this as a situation where I am
13 necessarily looking into your conduct,
14 or that you have done anything wrong,
15, but I have considered it more important
16 in my time here, to actually describe
17 for the Government, for the District
18 Council, and for the Court, how the
19 procedures have specifically worked.
20 As a result, I have had a number
21 of shop stewards in over the last maybe
22 eight or nine months. Eventually, I'll
23 be preparing a report to the Court about
24 what my findings are. Those findings
25 generally go as to how the system is
1 M. Dolphin 6
2 functioning. It's been my opinion, as
3 time goes on, that very few people truly
4 understand how the system works, and it
5 is my belief that the judge does not
6 understand it, and therefore, I have
7 been gathering facts and evidence.
8 My criticisms, if I have
9 criticisms, may really be about the
10 District Council. You shouldn't look at
11 your presence here being directed at
12 you. I will be asking you about
13 subjects as far back as 1998. I will
14 give you records that I have obtained
15 from the District Council, which I will
16 be asking you for information about, so
17 I can understand.
18 Now, one of the things that I
19 want to make sure that you understand,
20 I'm not an agent of the District
21 Council, and I say that because today I
22 received a letter addressed to a
23 District Attorney in Kings County about
24 another matter which seems to imply that
25 I'm part and parcel of the District
1 M. Dolphin 7
2 Council's own enforcement mechanism.
3 That's not true.
4 I will go at some length today to
5 make sure you understand you have
6 different rights, and there may be
7 different issues with respect to my
8 gathering of information.
9 Shortly, you will be placed under
10 oath, and probably the most important
11 thing that I have to say to you, which
12 I'm sure your lawyer, who I've known for
13 a long time, has already told you, is
14 that you should tell the truth and honor
15 your oath. The reason I talk about
16 that, I assume that you would, but there
17 have been a number of carpenters who
18 have appeared before me in other
19 matters, who, for reasons of their own,
20 have chosen to deceive me, or try to
21 deceive me, and I need to tell you, and
22 there's nothing I'm saying to you that I
23 don't say to every person who sits where
24 you are, and that is, that I am a
25 federal officer, and when you're under
1 M. Dolphin 8
2 oath, you will be obliged to tell the
3 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
4 the truth. If you choose not to do
5 that, for whatever reason, you run the
6 risk of being charged with a federal
7 crime, which is lying under oath, or
8 perjury. I don't expect you to do that,
9 but I want to make certain that, as I
10 said, that basically my role, more than
11 anything else, is seeking the truth,
12 seeking the facts, so that I can write
13 up those facts and present them to the
14 Court for whatever information or for
15 whatever value they have.
16 In addition to that, since I am
17 trying to gather information about how
18 shop stewards receive their work and how
19 they are assigned to particular
20 jobsites, and whether that system, as
21 such, is working the way that at least I
22 was led to believe it works, should you
23 not provide information to me, or give
24 me false information or withhold
25 information, you also run the risk of
1 M. Dolphin 9
2 being charged with the crime of
3 obstruction of justice, or withholding
4 information so that I am not able to be
5 accurate in my description to the Court.
6 At the end of talking to many
7 shop stewards, or a number, I will be
8 preparing a report to the Court which
9 will be presented to the Court with
10 copies to the District Council and to
11 the U.S. Attorney's Office, and in
12 essence, I will be making certain
13 recommendations, or I will be describing
14 the system as I have found it. There
15 will be a transcript made, and that
16 transcript is being taken by the
17 handsome gentleman to your left; and his
18 purpose here is to ensure that I have an
19 accurate record of my questions, your
20 answers, and what has happened.
21 Now, there have been individuals
22 who, when I go through the subject
23 matter of my questions -- and I will try
24 to give you as much assistance with
25 respect to documentation at the District
1 M. Dolphin 10
2 Council, so that you can follow along
3 what I'm asking, and you will have the
4 same records I have. Of course, you
5 will have the benefit of your own
6 recollection and your own knowledge
7 about why things happened and how things
8 happened.
9 Because this is a proceeding as
10 if it were being conducted in court, you
11 have certain rights here which go beyond
12 what you would have were this a
13 proceeding of the District Council. And
14 that is, if you choose, and you feel
15 that I have asked a question which, in
16 your opinion, and that of your counsel,
17 would tend to incriminate you, you
18 believe that it might, -- and I know
19 your lawyer certainly knows the Fifth
20 Amendment privilege -- you have the
21 right to assert that privilege in this
22 proceeding.
23 This is not a criminal
24 proceeding, this is a civil proceeding.
25 I was appointed under a civil index
1 M. Dolphin 11
2 number, a civil case, a stipulation, and
3 what have you. I am not a prosecutor.
4 I have been a prosecutor. I have been a
5 defense lawyer. I basically am a person
6 seeking information as accurately as
7 possible. If you choose to take the
8 Fifth Amendment -- I have no idea why
9 you would, and I would say there have
10 been very few assertions of the Fifth
11 Amendment; there have been many more,
12 shall we say, false statements to me by
13 a series of carpenters who will be
14 facing possible consequences of federal
15 prosecution. But those people basically
16 lied under oath, and they will have to
17 face the consequences of those acts. I
18 don't expect you will do that. But the
19 reason I mention to you the Fifth
20 Amendment, if I should ask a question,
21 you have very informed and experienced
22 counsel here, and it is your choice to
23 take the Fifth Amendment, that is up to
24 you.
25 I would say this: The District
1 M. Dolphin 12
2 Council has the view -- and I'm going
3 to go around and introduce everybody in
4 the room so you know who is here and
5 what is happening -- they have at least
6 told me that they do not recognize that
7 a member of the District Council has a
8 Fifth Amendment privilege, should they
9 ask you questions and should they bring
10 you down to talk about the same subject
11 matter.
12 And basically -- I cannot advise
13 you as to what the significance is of
14 your taking the Fifth Amendment in the
15 presence of an attorney from the
16 District Council who is with us here
17 today, and I'm going to introduce him in
18 a moment. I don't really know what the
19 policy is; I know what they say, but I
20 have not seen, in the time that I have
21 been around, what I would call a
22 vigorous follow-up to Fifth Amendment
23 type assertions. But I can't speak for
24 them. That's one of the reasons they
25 have their own counsel here present.
1 M. Dolphin 13
2 It is Mr. Jason Fuiman who is
3 here. He's an attorney for the District
4 Council. He doesn't represent you, he
5 represents them. But at the same time,
6 from time to time, I know that people
7 who are represented by their own lawyers
8 have asked to speak to a representative
9 of the District Council about subjects
10 that might be mutual, or something that
11 they need some assistance on. And
12 Mr. Fuiman, as a representative of the
13 District Council, is here as my guest.
14 What I've done under most
15 circumstances, when I conduct
16 proceedings like this, is invite a
17 representative of the two parties to the
18 civil litigation. The U.S. Attorney's
19 Office, Civil Division, is represented
20 today by Mr. Benjamin Torrance,
21 Assistant United States Attorney in the
22 Civil Division. He is not a prosecutor.
23 He is a representative of the United
24 States, who, as your attorney may have
25 told you, is one of the signatories to
1 M. Dolphin 14
2 the Stipulation and Order appointing me.
3 They are here, as well, as my
4 guest, and they also are permitted to
5 ask questions if they wish, in order to
6 clarify a point. My reason for this is,
7 because often information -- let me put
8 it another way. Often I'm ignorant, I'm
9 a lawyer, not a carpenter, and I find
10 people who have had more experience, and
11 what have you, will ask something that
12 needs to be asked. But basically, this
13 is my proceeding in the sense of an
14 Independent Investigator's proceeding,
15 and it is a proceeding being conducted
16 under the Order appointing me.
17 The Fifth Amendment privilege
18 which you assert, should you do so,
19 that's your choice; and before you do
20 so, discuss that matter with
21 Mr. Rubinstein outside, and decide
22 whether you wish to do so.
23 While on that topic, I should say
24 this: The things I'm saying, I say to
25 everybody that comes here. I'm not
1 M. Dolphin 15
2 singling you out for a particular
3 drastic warning. I've accentuated the
4 importance of telling the truth, the
5 whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
6 But I have been unhappy that some
7 individuals felt they could tell
8 untruths to me and the District Council.
9 That would be a mistake, in my judgment.
10 I know there are a number of carpenters
11 that regret that act. I don't expect
12 you to do that.
13 One final matter that's
14 important. If you take the Fifth
15 Amendment, which is your constitutional
16 right in this proceeding, I am
17 permitted, if I wish, to infer or
18 decide, as a result of that, to rely on
19 other evidence that I have available to
20 me in drawing conclusions about certain
21 subjects. I'm going to be asking
22 straightforward stuff. I personally
23 don't understand why it would be
24 necessary to take the Fifth Amendment;
25 but that's up to you. Should you take
1 M. Dolphin 16
2 it, since this is a civil proceeding, I
3 am permitted basically to draw an
4 inference or to draw some meaning from
5 that, that you were unwilling to talk
6 about certain things, and that may be of
7 some value in my reporting.
8 So there's maybe a cost to taking
9 the Fifth Amendment in this proceeding;
10 but that's up to me, and it is a matter
11 of discretion. And everything I do,
12 everything I do is subject to Judge
13 Haight's review, and I certainly cannot
14 speak for the judge, whether I draw
15 conclusions, make a recommendation, make
16 a finding, that's me, I'm just his
17 agent; and on the proceedings that have
18 happened so far and will happen in the
19 future, I prepare a report. That report
20 is submitted to the judge. The
21 Government and the District Council have
22 a right to comment on the report
23 beforehand, it then gets presented to
24 the Court, the judge assesses it,
25 decides whether it is adequate, and
1 M. Dolphin 17
2 decides whether it should be put in the
3 public record or not.
4 So, what I've tried to do in a
5 few minutes, is explain the process that
6 is underway, and what's happening. In
7 your specific circumstances, if you're
8 wondering why you are here, I can tell
9 you your name has been mentioned in
10 anonymous calls to our hotline, that you
11 function as an individual working for
12 Prince Carpentry, and that's not
13 consistent with the job referral rules.
14 I didn't pick your name out of a hat.
15 I'm following up on the complaints,
16 recognizing the way I found it, many
17 times one's intuitive understanding of
18 the system is different from how it
19 actually works. Time and time again, I
20 learn more about the system by listening
21 to the individuals involved, such as
22 yourself or other shop stewards that you
23 may know, and that doesn't mean that you
24 have done anything wrong, it simply may
25 mean you've taken advantage of the way
1 M. Dolphin 18
2 the rules have been enforced or the way
3 things happened.
4 I don't have disciplinary
5 authority. Basically, I'm conducting a
6 factfinding mission to understand
7 certain aspects of your work record and
8 your job referral history. So I'm going
9 to proceed pretty much chronologically.
10 I'll begin with copies of your work
11 referral history, your benefit records,
12 certain dispatches, and I'll ask you
13 questions about specific events during
14 the course of that. That's how the
15 matter is going to proceed today.
16 Having said that, let me see if
17 there's anything else I should tell you.
18 I think I've said that any time you want
19 to ask a question of me, or your counsel
20 wishes to ask a question of me, I want
21 to be as fair and as direct and ask as
22 good questions as I can, that are easily
23 understood; and the judge would expect
24 no less of me. If at any time you would
25 like to talk with Mr. Rubinstein outside
1 M. Dolphin 19
2 about something raised, all you have to
3 do is say, I would like to talk to my
4 lawyer, you will have an opportunity to
5 do that. I know the judge will hold me
6 to a high standard of being fair.
7 This may not be the most favorite
8 thing you would like to do today; but a
9 number of other individuals have had to
10 do this. And I personally think at the
11 end of the day, the system will work
12 better, or at least it will be better
13 understood. It might be changed. I
14 keep challenging the District Council:
15 If you don't like the system, you have
16 the right to go to the judge and change
17 it.
18 Your name has come up on a number
19 of occasions in association with Prince.
20 There are a number of questions I want
21 to go into today, and I want to be
22 efficient. We are starting at 4:00
23 o'clock so that a working carpenter
24 doesn't lose a day of work.
25 Having said all that, do you have
1 M. Dolphin 20
2 any questions, or anything you would
3 like to ask me before we begin today?
4 I'm going to introduce everybody around
5 here, and you can ask questions any
6 time. You get another chance to ask it.
7 I wanted to give you a fair, concise
8 summary of what we are doing and why you
9 are here today.
10 Is there anything you would like
11 to ask me, Mr. Dolphin?
12 MR. DOLPHIN: No. Besides can I
13 get a bottle of water.
14 MR. MACK: That's for you. Help
15 yourself.
16 I'll introduce the other people
17 and give Mr. Rubinstein an opportunity
18 to ask what he wants to ask.
19 The gentleman to my right is Don
20 Sobocienski. He is part of the
21 Independent Investigator's staff, and
22 he's far more knowledgeable than I am
23 about most factual things that occurred.
24 He will, or may, ask a question from
25 time to time. But basically, he is an
1 M. Dolphin 21
2 individual who is basically my right
3 hand, and the individual most
4 knowledgable about what's happening, and
5 he assists me.
6 I've already introduced Jason
7 Fuiman, a lawyer to the District Council
8 of Carpenters. He's here to represent
9 them, to ask questions. But if you have
10 questions that you would like to address
11 to the District Council outside the room
12 with your lawyer, he is here, he's here
13 to make sure that I'm fair and that if
14 there's anything he thinks needs to be
15 brought out, or that I overlooked, he
16 can do that. That's one of the reasons
17 he's here at my invitation.
18 As I've mentioned to you,
19 Mr. Torrance is an Assistant Attorney
20 from the Civil Division, not a
21 prosecutor. He is here to represent his
22 client, the United States, who is a
23 party to the Consent Decree and
24 Stipulation which basically give me my
25 authority.
1 M. Dolphin 22
2 Mr. Rubinstein, you and I have
3 known each other for some time. I'm
4 glad to see you here, and I know Mr.
5 Dolphin has the benefit of an
6 experienced counsel.Anything you would
7 like to ask or say?
8 MR. RUBINSTEIN: Not at this
9 time. Thank you.
10 MR. MACK: Fine. That being
11 said, let's me ask that the witness be
12 sworn:
13 MICHAEL DOLPHIN, the witness
14 herein, being first duly sworn by Stewart
15 Nissenbaum, a Notary Public of the State of
16 New York, was examined and testified as
17 follows:
18 EXAMINATION BY
19 MR. MACK:
20 Q. Mr. Dolphin,I want to go through
21 a couple of things. I have sort of a routine
22 here which I will try to follow; but the
23 first thing that I always do, and I'm sure
24 your lawyer will acknowledge this, what I've
25 done is marked certain pieces of paper. The
1 M. Dolphin 23
2 markings and the initials and numbers mean
3 nothing on their own. They are simply a way
4 for me to keep track of the various records.
5 So the first thing I want to show
6 you is a notice which is marked MD-1. I'm
7 providing you a copy; it should be a copy of
8 what you've already received. I would like
9 you to take a look at it. I will provide
10 courtesy copies.
11 My question to you would be: Is
12 this a copy of the document you received
13 which asks for your presence here,
14 eventually? It was adjourned until today.
15 A. Yes.
16 (Notice to Appear marked Exhibit
17 MD-1.)
18 Q. One of the things you'll see in
19 there, is that I asked you to bring with you
20 certain records, including shop steward
21 reports, various records and certifications
22 for carpenter skills and training.
23 Let me ask you this: Do you have
24 any shop steward reports during the time or
25 for sites at which you worked at Prince
1 M. Dolphin 24
2 Carpentry?
3 A. I don't have them. I didn't keep
4 them. Whatever I signed, I turned in.
5 Papers I might have did over, I threw them
6 out.
7 Q. When you received this notice,
8 you had basically no copies of shop steward
9 reports for your work at Prince?
10 A. No.
11 Q. Are there any other records or
12 documents which contain information about
13 your work as a shop steward for Prince?
14 A. No.
15 Q. In answering that question, then,
16 it would be fair to say that you, yourself,
17 have no records concerning your shop
18 stewardship for Prince Carpentry; is that
19 correct?
20 A. That's correct.
21 Q. What about any records and
22 certifications for your skills? In other
23 words, do you have anything with you? And we
24 can make a copy during the break.
25 A. I was told that you guys had all
1 M. Dolphin 25
2 this.
3 Q. We have the underlying records at
4 the District Council, but we don't have the
5 actual copies of your certifications.
6 We can do that during our break.
7 We take a break about every 45 minute to
8 give our expert stenographer a few moments,
9 and during that period, we can take them and
10 make copies and give you back the originals,
11 just so we have it, so you don't have to be
12 taking your time now, and we can proceed.
13 What I intend to do today is,
14 carefully and pretty much in chronological
15 order -- there's a copy of a number of
16 documents that have been presented to me by
17 the District Council which concern your
18 stewardship and your various referrals as a
19 carpenter. So I'm going to give you copies
20 of those; also a copy to your counsel, so you
21 can follow along with questions, so you will
22 have the same documents I have.
23 These documents are yours to keep
24 and you can take them with you. I don't know
25 if you have copies of your job referral
1 M. Dolphin 26
2 history, but they are available to you and
3 you will have a copy today, and they will
4 hopefully make the questions a little bit
5 clearer.
6 The first thing I want to do is
7 give you what has been presented to me as a
8 record of your benefit fund contribution
9 history at the District Council. That's
10 marked MD-2. I am going to ask that you
11 maybe look on with Mr. Rubinstein --
12 actually, -- yes, a copy for you,
13 Mr. Torrance and Mr. Fuiman.
14 MR. MACK: Actually, I will have
15 an extra copy here, Ron.
16 MR. RUBINSTEIN: Thank you.
17 MR. MACK: That will assist you.
18 (Benefits record marked Exhibit
19 MD-2.)
20 Q. You take a few moments. But, in
21 essence, what that is, is a record produced
22 to us which concerns the benefit
23 contributions made in your name, and actually
24 they started the last page with the first
25 entry being May 31, 1998. These are
1 M. Dolphin 27
2 contributions you will see which are
3 primarily from Prince Carpentry, and run
4 through August 10m 2004, with a gap, and
5 basically these records are a record of what
6 contributions have been made in your name
7 from that time period, maintained at the
8 District Council Benefit Funds.
9 Next I'm going to give you a copy
10 of, at least as of the end of August, what is
11 known as your job referral history,
12 maintained at the District Council, and this
13 is a record, again, of the out-of-work list
14 entries with respect to you.
15 I'm going to give you a copy, to
16 your counsel as well, so he can follow along
17 with me, and copies to our colleagues from
18 the Government and from the District Council.
19 You will notice that your skills,
20 at least as of the date of August 25, are on
21 the first page of MD-4.
22 (Job referral history marked
23 Exhibit MD-4.)
24 Q. Then I want to give you what is,
25 at least, what I have again been furnished by
1 M. Dolphin 28
2 the District Council, the various dispatches
3 you had to particular jobsites, and I believe
4 it is complete, starting in February, 1999,
5 and going to the present. That's marked as
6 MD-3. Let me give you a copy of that.
7 (Record, dispatches, marked
8 Exhibit MD-3.)
9 Q. These are documents again
10 maintained at the District Council and these
11 also will be a subject of some of my
12 questions today.
13 You might want to take just a few
14 moments to familiarize yourself with what
15 they are. I'll do my best to make sure that
16 you understand what I'm asking you about, and
17 I will try to refer to the documents, so that
18 you understand what I'm about.
19 I'm going to ask you just a
20 couple of questions here about your current
21 status. Are you currently working, at the
22 moment?
23 A. Yes, I am.
24 Q. Where are you working' what
25 jobsite are you actually working on?
1 M. Dolphin 29
2 A. I'm working on 92nd and First
3 Avenue.
4 Q. Is that a Prince Carpentry job?
5 A. Yes, it is.
6 Q. I think what I'll do is just
7 start in a chronological sense. If you turn
8 to MD-4, which is your job referral history,
9 to the second page, although the District
10 Council has taken the view that asking
11 questions about the subject matter as far
12 back as '98 is not as much significant, in
13 fact, given their action so far, they don't
14 seem to believe that it is fair to consider
15 these time periods or it is too long ago. I
16 have thought about it and taken the view
17 that, at least since I have no disciplinary
18 authority of my own, and I am interested as
19 to some of the rules that were in place back
20 then, to at least ask you some specific
21 questions.
22 I see in the entry there, that
23 you were added to the out-of-work list on
24 October 9, 1998. Do you see what I'm
25 referring to up there?
1 M. Dolphin 30
2 A. Yes, I do.
3 Q. If I look at your benefit
4 history, which is MD-2, it would be the very
5 first page, it appears to me that you would
6 have been working at that time for Prince
7 Carpentry. So my first question is: Why
8 would it be permissible for you to add
9 yourself to the out-of-work list, maybe you
10 didn't, maybe I'm assuming, but it appears to
11 me, if I look at your benefit history -- it
12 is actually the last page in MD-4 --
13 MR. RUBINSTEIN: The last page in
14 MD-2.
15 MR. MACK: Correct. And the
16 second page in MD-4.
17 Q. You can take a moment and look at
18 that. But at least, it appears to me that
19 you were working for Prince Carpentry -- let
20 me say this in fairness. We have not
21 subpoenaed Prince Carpentry. I have the
22 authority, with the judge's permission, to
23 subpoena them and require their recordkeeper
24 to come in with all -- so this is a record of
25 their report, of the hours that you worked,
1 M. Dolphin 31
2 to the District Council from which they have
3 paid benefits.
4 Most carpenters that I have
5 talked to, when they are in the situation, I
6 tell them, and I want to reiterate to you,
7 will say, "I wasn't working then, Prince made
8 a mistake." I say, fine, if in fact you were
9 not working when you added yourself to the
10 out-of-work list, I will take an additional
11 step of subpoenaing from Prince, all of
12 their, basically, payroll records. That's
13 possible.
14 I don't want to mislead you here,
15 that these benefit records are based on
16 Prince's payment and report to the District
17 Council Benefits Fund. It is at least
18 theoretically possible that they are
19 mistaken, that they were paying benefits and
20 you weren't working. But I would tell you,
21 that that is not necessarily something you
22 can rely on. Most people have decided, when
23 I give that option, to say, you know, I
24 believe I was working and you don't need to
25 go there.
1 M. Dolphin 32
2 I also want to point out, these
3 are not Prince's records;these are record of
4 the District Council as a result of reports
5 by Prince and payment by Prince into the
6 benefits fund for these time periods.
7 Do you understand what I've told
8 you?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. That being said, were you working
11 in October of 1998, for Prince Carpentry?
12 A. To the best of my knowledge, yes.
13 Q. So what would be the reason that
14 you would put your name on at least what is
15 called the out-of-work list, in that period?
16 A. Because I guess the job was
17 winding down and I put my name on the list
18 again.
19 Q. I need to understand that.
20 Recognize I am a reporter, in essence, of
21 facts. Were you of the view that you could
22 put yourself on the out-of-work list even if
23 you were working at the time?
24 A. When you say "were you of the
25 view," what do you mean?
1 M. Dolphin 33
2 Q. Did somebody tell you, you know,
3 it is okay to be on the out-of-work list even
4 if you're working, as long the job is winding
5 down?
6 A. No. No. I put my name on the
7 list. They didn't tell me. I knew the job
8 was winding down; I needed another job after
9 that job was finished.
10 Q. I'm trying to determine whether
11 you were advised that that was okay, or you
12 just assumed that was okay.
13 A. I assumed it.
14 Q. Now, I want to pull out -- I want
15 to go to the next period; and again I realize
16 this is some time ago, and I want to go to
17 what I believe to be, at least I'm able to
18 see it, it appears to me that you were
19 working for Prince, if I rely on your Benefit
20 Fund records, for October, you can look at
21 these and check them, I'm reading them, for
22 October '98, November '98, December '98,
23 January '99, February '99, and that you were
24 receiving basically full month hours for all
25 of those months; is that accurate?
1 M. Dolphin 34
2 A. That's accurate.
3 Q. At the same time, at least the
4 records on the out-of-work list, have you on
5 the out-of-work list for that entire period.
6 You can just correct me, but I see you go on
7 in October '98; you're resequenced, you stay
8 on it, they are unable to reach you in
9 December. I don't know if you're familiar
10 with these things --
11 A. I'm not.
12 Q. Take your time, I'll try to
13 explain it to you. I see you go on the
14 157 -- let me show you one of the things
15 here. When you go on in October, '89, you go
16 on 608 North?
17 A. Where?
18 Q. At the very top, October 9, 1998.
19 A. I see that. I don't see where I
20 go on.
21 Q. Keep going down the list there.
22 You go on 608?
23 A. Got you.
24 Q. On 608, which is distinguished
25 from 608 North?
1 M. Dolphin 35
2 A. Back then back to 608.
3 Q. You're resequenced and put there.
4 They don't reach you, they can't reach you,
5 and then you put yourself on February 3rd,
6 1999, on the 157 list. If you take a look at
7 the date, 2/03/99.
8 A. I'm following.
9 Q. On February 8, you're actually
10 referred out. So at least it is my view, I
11 may be wrong, that the records say that
12 during that entire time period you were
13 actually at work for Prince Carpentry?
14 A. That's probably correct.
15 Q. Do you remember where you were
16 working then?
17 A. No, sir.
18 Q. I think you told me just a few
19 moments ago that the job was winding down?
20 A. That's why, I assume, I put my
21 name on the list.
22 Q. You put your name on the list in
23 October. Did that job wind down and you go
24 on another job after October?
25 A. Another job with Prince.
1 M. Dolphin 36
2 Q. Do you remember what job that
3 was?
4 A. No, sir.
5 Q. I'm going to see if I can help
6 you here with some of these things. If you
7 look at MD-3, I think you'll need all of
8 these, this is the one that has a big "MD-3"
9 on the top, and basically the one I'm looking
10 at is the one that talks about February 8,
11 1999. It is the top one, the top page; and
12 then the pages underneath it talk about it.
13 They are all related to February 8, February
14 9.
15 A. This one here?
16 Q. Yes. Actually, if you look at
17 it, it is the first three pages of MD-3. All
18 three of those pages refer to this dispatch.
19 Again you may not be familiar with these, but
20 let me try to be as clear as I can. This
21 refers to a job at 42nd Street, looks like
22 jobsite 41st Street and Eighth Avenue.
23 A. Where are you?
24 Q. I'm looking at the first page;
25 but also if you look at the page you were
1 M. Dolphin 37
2 looking at, you will also see where it says
3 "Job Address."
4 A. Job name, 42nd Street
5 Development.
6 Q. Underneath, it says 41st Street
7 and Eighth?
8 A. Okay.
9 Q. Job: Basement shanty; foreman's
10 name, John Ree. Job start, February 9, 1999.
11 A. Okay.
12 Q. I think you've acknowledged that
13 basically you were working during this time
14 period. I would like to know, were you aware
15 that Prince needed a shop steward for this
16 job at 41st and Eighth?
17 A. Yeah.
18 Q. Did you have any discussions with
19 people from Prince that this job would be one
20 that they wanted you at?
21 A. It's probably more I wanted to be
22 there. I seen the job coming up, and I put
23 my name on the list.
24 Q. Okay. Now, again, I want to
25 understand this situation. You put your name
1 M. Dolphin 38
2 on the list, but you were working. So what
3 is happening there; how were you able to put
4 yourself on the out-of-work list if you're at
5 work? What was your thinking on that
6 subject?
7 A. What was my thinking to put my
8 name on the list?
9 Q. Right.
10 A. To get a job.
11 Q. Were you, at least it's been
12 explained to me, and I may be wrong, because
13 I have a somewhat cynical view of the
14 out-of-work list myself, but the out-of-work
15 list, you were at work; and in fact were at
16 work during this entire time period and were
17 working, and were dispatched as if you were
18 out of work. Do you understand what I'm
19 saying?
20 A. One hundred percent.
21 Q. So, again I don't want to put
22 words in your mouth. You wanted to be
23 dispatched as a shop steward to another
24 Prince job. Would that be fair?
25 A. That's fair.
1 M. Dolphin 39
2 Q. And this job at 41st and Eighth
3 was a job that you knew about that was coming
4 down the pike; is that correct?
5 A. That's correct.
6 Q. How did you know that? In other
7 words, you're working for Prince; were you on
8 a different jobsite at the time?
9 A. Yes, but I walk by there to go to
10 the union hall.
11 Q. So; how did you become aware that
12 Prince would be having a job here on 41st and
13 Eighth?
14 A. I guess by working with the
15 foremen, or they told me there's another job
16 coming up.
17 Q. Was there a particular -- was it
18 John Ree who you had those discussions with?
19 A. No. That was the first job I
20 ever worked with him.
21 Q. Do you recall who it was that
22 told you --
23 A. I'm not going to say one hundred
24 percent, but the job where there was a guy
25 Pete Atta; he was the foreman. He didn't
1 M. Dolphin 40
2 specifically tell me, I knew -- locker room
3 talk: There's a job coming up.
4 Q. So what I'm trying to figure out
5 is, you know, because that was the nature of
6 the complaint that was made. Again, my job
7 is to describe the system, not to make
8 judgment --
9 A. Okay.
10 Q. -- you know, in terms of what
11 should have happened, and what have you. It
12 is important that I understand how the system
13 was actually functioning during this time
14 period. Okay? And this is a job that you
15 knew was coming down the pike, I think, to
16 use your word?
17 A. So to speak. I didn't say
18 "pike"; I think you used it.
19 Q. It's not an unfair description?
20 A. One hundred percent.
21 Q. So, did you take any particular
22 action that would permit you to be dispatched
23 to this job?
24 A. Put my name on the list.
25 Let me ask you this: You had a
1 M. Dolphin 41
2 skill at that time called foreman/layout, and
3 the specific skill that was placed in this
4 dispatch, you can see that is foreman/layout.
5 If you take that second page, it is actually
6 in front of you right now, turn the page
7 back. Either page, either the second or
8 third page, it will say: Skills needed for
9 job, foreman/layout. On the third page it
10 says skill: Foreman/layout.
11 MR. RUBINSTEIN: You see that,
12 Mike?
13 THE WITNESS: Yes, I see it.
14 Q. So, my question is, do you
15 remember having a discuss with anybody at
16 Prince about what skills should be requested
17 for this job at 41st and Eighth?
18 A. I could have had a discussion
19 with the foreman saying that I should put
20 this down.
21 Q. Foreman/layout?
22 A. Yes, it is possible.
23 Q. Do you think that happened?
24 A. Probably. But --
25 Q. Finish the answer.
1 M. Dolphin 42
2 A. -- not one hundred percent.
3 Q. Now, I noticed at a later time,
4 that's why I ask it, actually in 2000, you
5 delete the skill foreman/layout, we'll get to
6 it. So do you have any recollection of why
7 you would have had it on, and then deleted
8 it? I can wait until we get there when you
9 do it.
10 A. Probably to get the job.
11 Q. We'll get there. Now, do you
12 have like any special relationship with
13 Prince, or do they just appreciate that you
14 did a fine job as a shop steward, and they
15 want you on their jobs?
16 A. I have absolutely no
17 relationship. I started with them, and I
18 just continued with them. Relationship in
19 the sense of shop steward and a boss, that's
20 it. There's no other further relationship.
21 Q. I don't mean to imply anything
22 wrong.
23 A. There's is none, absolutely
24 nothing; no dinners, nothing.
25 Q. Who is the person at Prince that
1 M. Dolphin 43
2 is someone that you're closest to,
3 professionally closest to?
4 A. I'm close to all the people I
5 work with. I've got a relationship, I can't
6 say -- you know, we butt heads, no question I
7 butt heads with every one of them.
8 Q. In terms of your relationship, I
9 look at your benefit history and I see you've
10 worked primarily for Prince since 1998, and
11 that's one of the reasons why you're here, is
12 to see how that happens.I think I know both
13 sides, because I've heard both sides. Right
14 now, I'm trying to flesh out what happened.
15 Are there particular people at
16 Prince that are most respectful and
17 appreciative of your work at Prince?
18 A. I would say so, yes.
19 Q. Who would you put there?
20 A. The super.
21 Q. Who is that?
22 A. Freddie Dorschug.
23 Q. Could you spell the last name, or
24 do the best you can?
25 A. Okay. D-o-r-s-c-h-u-g, I think.
1 M. Dolphin 44
2 Q. He's the super?
3 A. He's the super, he is the boss.
4 He is not the owner; he is the super.
5 Q. Who else there would you say are
6 people who are appreciative and feel that you
7 are a good shop steward, and like to work
8 with you?
9 A. I don't know if any of them
10 appreciate. You know, I'm put there and we
11 develop a relationship. Again, we butt
12 heads, we try to come to an understanding
13 with every issue.
14 Q. I'm not implying anything wrong.
15 I just want to know who are the people who
16 let you know, for instance, that there's a
17 Prince job and give you some idea when it is
18 available, when it is going to start, you
19 know, and assist you in the sense of being
20 available for it; who are the people in that
21 category?
22 A. Only one person, would be
23 Freddie, he is the super of the company.
24 Q. Would it be fair to say that from
25 time to time, he would let you know there's a
1 M. Dolphin 45
2 Prince job starting up at a certain location
3 at a certain time?
4 A. He could, or a foreman who I'm
5 working with.
6 Q. Who would be the foremen that you
7 would list as people who might do that to
8 assist you?
9 A. I guess any one of the particular
10 foreman I worked with at the time, from
11 Prince. I might have worked with four of
12 them, five of them.
13 Q. Would it be fair to say that
14 those would let you know that a Prince job
15 was coming and give you some, at least
16 heads-up, if that's the right word, that
17 there would be a Prince job coming up that
18 you might be interested in?
19 A. I don't know if --
20 Q. Put it in your own words.
21 A. The way you put it made it look a
22 little different. Talk: There's work, we
23 got a job on Governors Island, we got fifteen
24 jobs coming up, we have one starting
25 Downtown. And then it might be me who
1 M. Dolphin 46
2 initiates it: Oh, this one is winding down.
3 Q. They would answer questions of
4 you, in other words, where's the job, when
5 would it be starting, things of that nature.
6 Would that be fair?
7 A. Yeah. f
8 Q. Let me continue here and ask you
9 some questions. We are going to basically
10 proceed chronologically. I see you, I think
11 you worked continuously at least for Prince,
12 I see you added a skill in June of 1999, and
13 we are looking at MD-4, second page. It
14 actually says Page 1.
15 A. '99 what?
16 Q. June 7th, 1999. I see you add --
17 that skill is Hilty Ramset?
18 A. It is a shotgun they shoot the
19 brake with.
20 Q. This might be a long-shot. Is
21 there any particular reason you added that
22 skill in June 1999, or is that something you
23 received training on?
24 A. We received a certificate from
25 the District Council; that was one of the
1 M. Dolphin 47
2 eight classes we had to take to become a shop
3 steward.
4 Q. I see you, in February 2000,
5 adding yourself to the out-of-work list.
6 Again, when I go to your benefit history, at
7 least it appears to me in that benefit
8 history that you have steady work. Your
9 benefit history is MD-2; we start from the
10 back. And I see you with steady work at
11 Prince all the way through '99. Were you at
12 that 41st Street job that entire time period?
13 A. That's correct.
14 How long did that job go on?
15 A. To the best of my knowledge, it
16 was right after the new year, maybe around
17 February 2000.
18 Q. Again I see, going through your
19 benefit history, that you are basically
20 working for Prince right through January and
21 through February.
22 A. Of what?
23 Q. Of 2000. I see you added to the
24 out-of-work list on February 10th, 2000.
25 Take a look at it. It is on the top there,
1 M. Dolphin 48
2 the third page, you see that, added to 157.
3 A. February.
4 Q. 2/10/2000. The first thing, it
5 says, add list 157, carpenter number, 608.
6 1607.
7 A. I have it.
8 Q. You add yourself to that list,
9 all right?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Your benefit history has you
12 working through February. That could
13 theoretically be wrong, but I don't know that
14 it is. Do you have a recollection of what
15 was happening there in February, and why you
16 were adding yourself to the out-of-work list?
17 A. I guess the job was winding down.
18 Q. But you still were working?
19 A. That's correct.
20 Q. Did anyone ever say to you, or
21 describe to you, gee, you have to be out of
22 work before you put yourself on the
23 out-of-work list?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Did you see the out-of-work list
1 M. Dolphin 49
2 as a means simply to make yourself available,
3 whether you were working or not; in this case
4 you were working, so that you could be
5 available for the next job that Prince had?
6 A. No, it was to get on that list
7 that took maybe four,five months before they
8 called you.
9 Q. Okay. But you're working during
10 that time period; so in essence, you're
11 building in lead time; is that right?
12 A. Yeah; to bring it down.
13 Q. So by the time the time had gone
14 by, you would be low enough on the list to be
15 referred to a shop steward job; is that
16 right?
17 A. That's correct.
18 Q. Did you have any reason to
19 believe that that was not the way the rules
20 were supposed to work?
21 A. No, I didn't -- maybe I didn't
22 care. I don't know.
23 Q. That's a fair answer. I mean,
24 one of the things I'm looking at is not only
25 what you were doing and whether you believed
Laborers for JUSTICE© 1997-2006 All Rights reserved. Not for republication on the internet without permission.
1 M. Dolphin 50
2 that was okay or not okay; did you believe it
3 was okay or not or didn't you care it was
4 okay or not?
5 A. That's correct.
6 Q. The latter?
7 A. Yes. I needed work. I had to
8 work.
9 Q. I understand that. You are not
10 the only individual who sat there who said
11 the same thing.
12 A. You tell me to swear the truth.
13 That's what I tell you.
14 Q. The truth allows me to do a
15 better job in seeing what happened. Did
16 anybody ever come to you from the District
17 Council, a business agent or anyone else, and
18 say -- and probably didn't call you Mr.
19 Dolphin, whatever your nickname is: Hey,
20 you're working; you're on the out-of-work
21 list; did anybody say to you that's not the
22 way it is supposed to function?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Has anybody, to this date, said
25 to you that the people on the out-of-work
1 M. Dolphin 51
2 list have to be out of work, that's why it is
3 called the out-of-work list?
4 A. They might have brought it up at
5 the meetings, if they caught you, they were
6 going to fine you $100, I think. I know they
7 brought it up at the meetings, that if you
8 get caught working on the out-of-work list,
9 it is a fine.
10 Q. Do you remember when? Was that a
11 recent meeting?
12 A. I haven't been to no meetings in
13 two years.
14 Q. Was it your decision, you tell
15 me: The worst that can happen, I'll get
16 fined 100 bucks, and otherwise I can work the
17 entire time period. What was your thinking
18 about --
19 A. To get the next job.
20 Q. If the fine were greater, would
21 that have influenced your judgment?
22 A. Very possible. I didn't think of
23 it. I put my name on the list to get another
24 job.
25 Q. In terms of being concerned
1 M. Dolphin 52
2 whether being caught or not, tell me what
3 your thinking was on that.
4 A. I didn't hear many people get
5 caught. There was people that got caught,
6 but it wasn't that many.
7 Q. Tell me what your thinking was. I
8 mean, when you say not that many, how few?
9 A. You might hear in bar-room talk,
10 he got caught working on the out-of-work
11 list. It is only a $100 fine. That was the
12 understanding.
13 Q. Did you know anybody who was
14 caught, as a shop steward, and fined?
15 A. No.
16 Q. I appreciate your candor, Mr.
17 Dolphin. I don't want you to feel, you
18 know -- part of my job is to describe how the
19 system worked and whether people -- there was
20 a vigorous system in place to find whether
21 people were working or not. Whose fault is
22 that? Those are questions that are too
23 complex for me to be able to assess. Now I'm
24 trying to find out how these things worked
25 and what the thinking was of the people that
1 M. Dolphin 53
2 were working on the out-of-work list.
3 So you were at work. Did you
4 have a job in mind when you put your name
5 back on the out-of-work list in February
6 2000?
7 A. I'm sure I did, if there was a
8 job coming up. We were winding down; if we
9 were winding down in February, I put my name
10 on the list, hoping to get another job with
11 Prince.
12 Q. Basically, was there any
13 particular way that you tried to figure out
14 when you would be low enough, how much lead
15 time you needed in order to be available when
16 Prince was going to look for another shop
17 steward?
18 A. Not so much that particular.
19 They were taking people at 400 off the list,
20 so you knew you were coming close. If I
21 heard it, hey, what number were you? Four,
22 five,600,they might take a shop steward off
23 the list.
24 Q. Is that Prince or the District
25 Council when you say that?
1 M. Dolphin 54
2 A. District Council.
3 Q. You wanted to go back to a Prince
4 job; would that be fair?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. How did you make it more likely
7 than not that you would end up at a Prince
8 job again in the future? What was the system
9 or what was your method, or what was your
10 thinking?
11 A. Bring it all the way down as far
12 as I could go to the bottom, and tell the
13 boss I'm down at the bottom.
14 Q. You would tell the Prince boss,
15 I'm down real close now?
16 A. Yeah.
17 Q. It is a good time to ask for a
18 shop steward; is that fair?
19 A. Correct.
20 Q. Is that fair?
21 A. That's fair.
22 Q. Let's continue. I have a number
23 of skill changes, and it is on your work
24 referral history; and I'm just wondering
25 whether any of these trigger any particular
1 M. Dolphin 55
2 reason why you did or not.
3 The first entry I have is March
4 23rd, 2000. There's a whole series there of
5 skill adds: Drywall, framing, refrigeration,
6 heavy-gauge framing. On April 6, you add
7 yourself to the 608 list. Go down, you
8 change your phone number, you go from
9 917-488-2612,you change the number, it might
10 have been a wrong number, 917-488-0612. Was
11 that a cell phone?
12 A. No. Same number. 0612 is the
13 proper number.
14 Q. It was just a wrong number they
15 had for you?
16 A. Yeah, I guess.
17 Q. Then you delete your
18 foreman/layout skill on April 18, and then
19 that very day, I want you to look at it, you
20 are dispatched to a Prince job at HMV
21 Palladium. You can see that by looking at
22 Page 4 of MD-3. I guess the question is, if
23 you could just describe to me what happened
24 there.
25 A. I have no idea what you mean,
1 M. Dolphin 56
2 what happened.
3 Q. Let me give you the full picture
4 I have, so you can try to explain to me, if
5 you remember. And we'll go slowly.
6 In fact, let me do this, let take
7 a five-minute break to allow the
8 stenographer, the hardest-working person
9 here, to take a five-minute break. And then
10 we'll pick up with that job. Okay?
11 A. You're the boss.
12 MR. MACK: That's the first time
13 I've had that appellation. Let's take a
14 break.
15 (Short recess taken.)
16 MR. MACK: On the record.
17 Q. Mr. Dolphin, let me remind you,
18 as you know, you're still under oath. Any
19 questions, anything you want to ask before we
20 keep going?
21 A. No, sir.
22 Q. Where we left off here, we were
23 talking about this HMV Palladium job. The
24 reason I'm asking you about it is, I see a
25 lot of skills being added, your phone number
1 M. Dolphin 57
2 is, I think maybe the best thing is,
3 corrected. Foreman/layout is deleted. And
4 the other factor which you may or may not
5 remember, but I mention to you as possibly
6 assisting you in remembering what was going
7 on here, is that there was a shop steward on
8 that job by the name of Michael Cullen who
9 had been dispatched there approximately three
10 months before, and who was replaced by you.
11 So having said all that, does
12 that, in any way, refresh your recollection
13 of what was happening there, what had gone
14 on?
15 You're absolutely right to be
16 looking at the fifth page in, which you have
17 open there in front of you, that dispatch
18 from Jimmy. And it says on there, "I spoke
19 to Fred Kennedy, he said hold the job." You
20 see that right there in that little
21 description at the bottom, "it's okay now"?
22 The reason I'm mentioning those to you, I'm
23 trying to refresh your recollection about,
24 first of all, why was the shop steward who
25 was on this job replaced? What were the
1 M. Dolphin 58
2 circumstances of your dispatch to it?
3 A. The only recollection that I was
4 told was, that he was never there and if he
5 was there, he was drunk.
6 Q. Is that right?
7 A. The only thing I was told, he had
8 a problem with a girlfriend or a wife, and he
9 was drinking.
10 Q. I see.
11 A. That's the best that I knew about
12 that.
13 Q. And so did you know that at least
14 some people wanted to replace him with you?
15 A. No.
16 Q. So was this a job that you
17 knew -- I'm trying to figure out how you got
18 to be dispatched to this job. Putting aside
19 the fact that you were working for Prince
20 anyway, during this time period, do you
21 remember, you know, getting ready to take
22 this job or a business agent or a person from
23 Prince trying to assist you to get the job?
24 The reason I say that is, that on
25 the very day, the very day you're deleting a
1 M. Dolphin 59
2 skill, and less than a month before, you are
3 adding skills that are specifically placed or
4 put on this skill required, I'm trying to see
5 whether or not there was some assistance or
6 coordination getting you to the site.
7 A. No, no, there was definitely no
8 assistance. I don't know why I deleted or
9 even changed Locals or add Locals, whatever.
10 I don't know if that's adding or changing.
11 Q. Okay. There are a couple of
12 things that may or may not be true, and you
13 may or may not remember this. Your benefit
14 record reflects you are working steadily for
15 Prince during this entire time period;
16 somewhere, anyway.
17 A. Right.
18 Q. So, putting that aside, on March
19 23rd, 2000, you add a whole number of skills
20 which, on April 18, 2000, are placed, and are
21 placed on the request for the dispatch. Let
22 me tell you what skills those are. The
23 reason that I'm asking you about it, is, that
24 when Mr. Cullen was dispatched, none of these
25 skills were on his dispatch. So between his
1 M. Dolphin 60
2 dispatch and yours, drywall, framing,
3 refrigeration, and heavy-gauge framing were
4 all added by you, and showed up on Jimmy's,
5 or whoever it was, skill requirements.
6 I'm at least intrigued as to why
7 all that was done, especially when you say
8 Michael Cullen wasn't exhibiting the best
9 skills of a shop steward. It is, to me, a
10 desire on their part to get somebody working
11 for Prince.
12 Are you telling me that, or are
13 you telling me you don't remember how you got
14 to the site?
15 A. Everything was there;
16 refrigeration, I don't know where it came
17 from. Maybe I put it on there. I told the
18 boss I don't remember that there was heavy-
19 gauge metal, sheetrock, protection, the
20 Hilty.
21 Q. Refrigeration stands out to me.
22 A. I don't know why that was put
23 there. First of all, it is not even our
24 field, refrigeration.
25 Q. When I see refrigeration on a
1 M. Dolphin 61
2 request, I always perk up a little bit.
3 A. Sure.
4 Q. I'm asking you why, if you know
5 why refrigeration would have been on Prince's
6 request, and do you have any knowledge about
7 Fred Kennedy being involved in this jobsite?
8 A. No. I might have met him once
9 there. I don't think I dealt with him there.
10 I went up with the papers, I think it was
11 Lawrence that I dealt with. Freddie
12 definitely came to the job there.
13 Q. Was there some effort to get
14 Cullen, Michael Cullen, removed from that
15 site because he was not measuring up to what
16 was required of him?
17 A. I don't know nothing about that,
18 if there was.
19 Q. Do you recall whether or not you
20 knew beforehand that you were going to be
21 called and asked to go to this jobsite? The
22 reason I say that, the day before, your
23 number is changed to reflect a cell phone, if
24 you look on 4/17, and that's why it is
25 confusing.
1 M. Dolphin 62
2 A. I see 4/17, 9:00 o'clock in
3 morning.
4 Q. The actual time is 9:01; the
5 number goes back and forth --
6 A. I never had a phone 2612.
7 Q. Then it goes back.
8 A. I don't know whose phone it is.
9 My only number was 488, and it was my
10 sister's phone, 0612.
11 Q. Is the correct number 0612, or --
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Do you have any recollection of
14 making number changes during that time
15 period?
16 A. Absolutely not.
17 MR. RUBINSTEIN: Walter, you see
18 the time before, it looks like someone
19 changed the number, the entry before on
20 6/17, from 0612 to 2612o. Then they
21 changed it back to the correct number.
22 In other words, this is clearly an
23 incorrect number.
24 A. It is all done in the same day.
25 Is that the same time?
1 M. Dolphin 63
2 Q. Yes.
3 A. 9:00 o'clock in the morning.
4 Q. 9:01. The first one is at 9:01
5 and the second one is at 9:01?
6 A. The next day is 9:18.
7 Q. The next day it is 12:16. Add
8 three, it is California time. You delete
9 foreman/layout, and approximately two hours
10 later, you're referred to this job to replace
11 Michael Cullen, with refrigeration skill,
12 amongst others.
13 A. I don't remember. I'm sure my
14 name was on the bottom of the list, but I
15 don't remember exactly.
16 Q. I guess that's a result of
17 somebody checking up to make sure they had
18 the right phone number. Somebody is at least
19 calling to make sure you can be reached
20 without fail.
21 A. Then they say I changed it and
22 then changed it back.
23 Q. That's what it says.
24 A. At the same time, or is that
25 three hours later? Nine o'clock in the
1 M. Dolphin 64
2 morning, I had one number and three hours
3 later, I changed it back?
4 Q. No. It looks like there was a
5 double-check and a change to ensure the right
6 number was there.
7 A. I'm looking at the next day, the
8 18th.
9 Q. I'm going back to the 17th. All
10 I'm trying to do is show this to you -- all
11 of this is dynamics, skills, phones, calls--
12 to see whether that refreshes your
13 recollection as to why you were the person
14 who was chosen to replace Michael Cullen.
15 A. I don't know, sir.
16 Q. Was there any type of
17 prearrangement or interaction with Prince
18 that would have permitted this dispatch for
19 you to Prince?
20 A. I might have told them that I was
21 winding down or I was on the list where I was
22 working.
23 Q. In terms of Michael Cullen, was
24 Michael Cullen on the job when you got there,
25 or did any business agent tell you this guy
1 M. Dolphin 65
2 Cullen --
3 A. The foreman told me.
4 Q. Did the foreman tell you he
5 needed to be laid off?
6 A. He wasn't there, he said he was
7 drunk all the time, he wasn't even there.
8 But I think he came to the job then, and he
9 was drunk, he told one of the guys working
10 there that he had a problem with his wife or
11 girlfriend.
12 Q. Did you have any discussion with
13 Michael Cullen?
14 A. No.
15 Q. The other point I want to make, I
16 guess, is that when Michael Cullen was
17 originally dispatched to the job, the only
18 skills he had were drywall, framing,
19 protection, and shop steward. So all the
20 skills that were added in April, including
21 refrigeration, which always catches my
22 attention, and you added as well, gives me
23 reason to think that there might have been
24 some discussion back and forth about getting
25 you to that job. But you don't remember
1 M. Dolphin 66
2 anything?
3 A. No, I don't remember. Could have
4 been.
5 Q. Okay, fair enough.
6 MR. SOBOCIENSKI: Was there any
7 need for refrigeration at that job?
8 THE WITNESS': No. It is 638
9 guys.
10 MR. SOBOCIENSKI: Was there any
11 refrigeration done on that jobsite?
12 THE WITNESS: It was a school,
13 NYU. Was there refrigeration? I'm sure
14 the 638 guys do it. I don't even
15 know -- we can't lift a forklift, the 14
16 guys and the 5 guys do that.
17 Q. That being true, why did you add
18 the skill of refrigeration?
19 A. I have no idea.
20 Q. As I mentioned to you, on March
21 23, you add refrigeration to your skill set,
22 2000. And so I'm just -- all I'm trying to
23 do is see whether that refreshes your
24 recollection that somebody said to you, you
25 know, that it would be to your advantage to
1 M. Dolphin 67
2 have refrigeration available as a skill.
3 A. No, but it definitely stands out.
4 Nobody said nothing to me.
5 Q. My understanding is, that you
6 just don't remember why you added
7 refrigeration to your skill set.
8 A. I don't remember.
9 MR. MACK: Anything else,
10 Mr. Sobocienski?
11 MR. SOBOCIENSKI: No.
12 Q. How long did that job last there
13 that you -- that we have just been talking
14 about, the HMV Palladium job, 114 East
15 14th Street?
16 A. I guess it lasted maybe a year,
17 you know, I don't know the exactly date.
18 Q. Let me see if your job referral
19 history can help us.I see a May 10,2001 --
20 A. Where are we?
21 Q. It is Exhibit MD-4, your job
22 referral history, it is May 10th, 2001, at
23 1:37 p.m. when you add the three hours, and
24 it says Michael Dolphin add to work list, 45.
25 A. At 638 May 10th.
1 M. Dolphin 68
2 Q. May 10th.10:37 a.m. I'm adding
3 three hours and getting 1:37 p.m.?
4 A. Okay. 45.
5 Q. Right.
6 A. And 60, and then nothing?
7 Q. I'm going to ask you questions.
8 I have you working steadily at Prince
9 throughout this entire time period, so at
10 least the benefit records seem to -- I don't
11 want to assume anything, but it appears that
12 you were working at the time you put yourself
13 on the list.
14 A. In May of 2001?
15 Q. I have Prince reporting on MD-2,
16 204 hours for a period ending May 31, 2001,
17 which would at least give me strong reason to
18 believe that when you added yourself to the
19 out-of-work list in May 2001, May 10th, you
20 had for that month, 204 hours reported by
21 Prince on your behalf.
22 A. Yeah.
23 Q. May I assume that you were
24 working during the period that you put
25 yourself on the list there?
1 M. Dolphin 69
2 A. That's correct, May 10th, yes.
3 Q. I then see on June 11, 2001, that
4 you add foreman/layout again. You added it,
5 took it off, and added it again. So I'm
6 trying to figure out, was there any
7 particular thing that you have in mind as to
8 why you're putting foreman/layout on and off?
9 A. Maybe the next job needed
10 foreman/layout.
11 Q. That's possible. I'm asking if
12 you remember.
13 A. I don't remember one hundred
14 percent, no. I'm trying to follow you.
15 Q. Let's take --
16 A. June?
17 Q. We are in 2001. If we start
18 here, if you just go down the list, on May
19 10th, you add yourself to 608 and 45, you
20 have changed your phone again to another
21 phone, to Exchange 347 837-5414, then they
22 can't reach you, unable to reach you.
23 A. When?
24 Q. May 21st. They are trying to
25 reach you on a referral. You're working at
1 M. Dolphin 70
2 the time.
3 A. Okay.
4 Q. June 6 they are unable to reach
5 you. They miss you on June 7th; June 8th.
6 Then you add on June 11, foreman/layout. You
7 see they are unable to reach you all those
8 time periods to give you a referral because
9 you're working at the time.
10 A. Where do you have the add-on on
11 June 8th?
12 Q. The skill added, June 11, 2001,
13 it says 6:57 a.m.?
14 A. Gotcha.
15 Q. They are unable to reach you for
16 a referral. They are assuming incorrectly
17 you're not working, and they are trying to
18 give you referrals and they can't reach you.
19 I don't know whether they are calling a wrong
20 number or you're just ducking them.
21 A. I don't know. I don't know why
22 they didn't reach me.
23 Q. You couldn't have worked, anyway;
24 you were working for Prince at that time.
25 Isn't that correct?
1 M. Dolphin 71
2 A. I was working, yeah.
3 Q. You add yourself back to the
4 out-of-work list on June 21, 2001.
5 A. I was taken off in June?
6 Q. You were taken off because they
7 were unable to reach you. You submitted a $5
8 pager bill,and you were resequenced, meaning
9 that you were taken off, you added yourself
10 back on, and said, basically, nobody could
11 reach you because your pager wasn't working.
12 Was that accurate?
13 A. It could be accurate. I don't
14 remember. I don't remember one hundred
15 percent.
16 Q. You then put, just follow along
17 with me here, a series of hold calls starting
18 June 27th, 2001.
19 A. Okay.
20 Q. Where it says "hold calls."
21 6/27, at 11:22 a.m., the real time of that is
22 actually 2:22 p.m., it is in the afternoon,
23 probably near the end of the workday.
24 You know the rules, that
25 basically you're not permitted to put hold
1 M. Dolphin 72
2 calls if you're working.
3 A. Right.
4 Q. You were working during this time
5 period, if you look at your benefits, you'll
6 see that, right through June. In fairness,
7 here, I see you working through June, and
8 then in July, you don't get your full
9 complement of carpentry hours, so you may
10 want to look at it.
11 A. This?
12 Q. Yes, MD-2.
13 A. Is that all I got for July?
14 Q. It looks like only 62 hours.
15 A. We were finished there. I went
16 with this company for four days, Unistall,
17 they put in the beds and the desks in the
18 same job. Then I was out, I was out for a
19 little while there.
20 Q. That's what I'm asking.
21 A. I was unemployed, I don't know,
22 maybe two weeks, four weeks. I don't
23 remember. But I definitely left them, Prince
24 was finished and I went with Unistall.
25 Q. What was happening with Prince at
1 M. Dolphin 73
2 that time, were they not working, or are you
3 looking for another job? What was going on?
4 A. I guess my name was still
5 probably on the list.
6 Q. It was.
7 A. So I guess I was looking for
8 another job. I went with them and then I
9 think I went on unemployment, I don't know
10 how long.
11 Q. As that summer goes on, I see you
12 adding skills.
13 A. Where are we?
14 Q. We are moving through July. I
15 have you working for at least 62 --
16 A. Which is about a week and a half.
17 Q. Was there any reason -- you were
18 holding calls, the calls go from June 27th,
19 you were working during that time period,
20 so -- did there come a time in July when you
21 remember you stopped working for Prince, you
22 worked for a week and a half in July, I just
23 don't know when. Do you know?
24 A. No,I don't know, but I know that
25 I definitely went from Prince to Unistall.
1 M. Dolphin 74
2 Q. Then you will see on August 22,
3 you're adding skills, and on August 24,
4 you're dispatched to Prince again. I want
5 to -- let's pull that together and look at
6 it.
7 What I'm trying to find is how
8 you were able to get to another Prince job,
9 that's the gist of the question. You'll need
10 to have in front of you, MD-3,the August 24,
11 2001 dispatch, the job is 220 Riverside
12 Boulevard, Building B, at 70th Street and
13 Riverside Boulevard.
14 I see you adding skills, you
15 added laser safety and power activated tool.
16 The company asked for power-activated tool.
17 So there's at least an implication that you
18 at least are aware that there's a job coming
19 up for Prince, if I'm wrong straighten me
20 out, and basically you added that skilled;
21 and sure enough, two days later, you are
22 referred to another Prince job.
23 So I'm asking whether you have
24 any recollection of communications with
25 Prince on this subject, or about, you know,
1 M. Dolphin 75
2 getting requested or dispatched as a shop
3 steward on August 24, 2001.
4 A. I don't know why, I know I took
5 these two classes in school, I guess. I
6 might have talked to them and told them I put
7 it on my list.
8 Q. Take your time. You know, the
9 reason is, here's another Prince job, okay --
10 A. No question.
11 Q. -- and there are changes, skill
12 changes, specific requests that, at the very
13 least, you've basically had hold calls
14 starting in June, running throughout the
15 month of June, into August. Then near the
16 end of August, you add a skill which is
17 requested; and you end up again as a Prince
18 shop steward.
19 So that's, at least
20 circumstantially, evidence that you may have
21 been in discussion about how you could become
22 eligible or available for Prince as a shop
23 steward; and this particular job site is at
24 70th Street and Riverside Boulevard. Looking
25 at all of those developments, does it refresh
1 M. Dolphin 76
2 your recollection as to how this job was
3 secured?
4 A. There was no secure -- I added
5 them and maybe he asked for them, and he told
6 me this is what he needed, and I added them.
7 Q. Who is the "he" in that sentence?
8 A. It would be the super.
9 Q. What is his name again?
10 A. Freddie.
11 Q. The foreman on this job was Kevin
12 Corrigan?
13 A. That's correct.
14 Q. Was he someone you had any
15 discussions with before being dispatched to
16 that job?
17 A. No, I talked to him. As far as
18 discussions --
19 Q. Did you have discussions with him
20 before you were dispatched to this jobsite?
21 A. No. We could butt heads.
22 Q. It would be Freddie who would be
23 the one who would give you the best data to
24 allow you to know what skills to have
25 available?
1 M. Dolphin 77
2 A. What I did have, and maybe what
3 he was looking for, I don't know. I guess
4 what he's looking for is plain, there's
5 nothing outstanding; laser and power tool.
6 Q. Right. The reason I ask you, is
7 this: Power-activated tool is added by you
8 two days before this dispatch. Okay? You
9 can look at your job referral history.
10 A. I see it.
11 Q. It was not on your list until you
12 added it on August 22, 2001, and then this
13 dispatch comes down with that skill listed.
14 A. Yeah.
15 Q. Okay? The question I have is:
16 Was that as a result of a conversation that
17 that was a skill you should put down?
18 A. It is very possible. I don't
19 remember it directly, but at the same time,
20 these were two skills that were mandatory to
21 take, of eight skills we were mandatory to
22 take.
23 Q. I'm not challenging that. But
24 when you add to that, the timing of your
25 adding it on a particular date and it being
1 M. Dolphin 78
2 requested by the company, in order to get you
3 to a company that you have routinely worked
4 at, there's at least an implication, in my
5 mind, that there had to be some coordination.
6 Would you dispute that?
7 A. No, not at all.
8 Q. Let's continue here. How long
9 was that job, basically, that we just talked
10 about there at Riverside Boulevard; how long
11 did that last?
12 A. It lasted -- it probably lasted a
13 year, went to 2002.
14 Q. Then I see you go back -- so
15 after that job ended, what did you do after
16 that?
17 A. I went to college.
18 Q. Great. Just tell me, because I
19 see you working for Prince through November,
20 2002.
21 A. Right.
22 Q. What happened to your carpentry
23 profession at that time? Again, there's
24 nothing wrong, I just don't know where you
25 were from November 2002 unti