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Approaching six years ago (summer, 2003) I drove my MGB from New York to Ohio after inducement from the Zanesville shop owner to upgrade it with a more powerful engine and troublefree transmission. It was a fixed price contract and I have exhibits confirming his pledge that if I brought him the car by fall, he would deliver it to me the next spring.
I have documented a dozen different and repeated excuses of why he needed “just a couple more months” including: mother sick, mother hospitalized, mother died, father sick, father hospitalized, father awarded custody of his kids and needed help with child care, shop moved, month in hospital after girlfriend beat him up, custody battles, more childcare issues, and ultimately being jailed for traffic an/or domestic violence crimes.
Before recognizing the gravity of the situation, I made the serious mistake of giving him a large deposit and over the course of the first few years (upon his repeated complaints of insufficient funds on hand to purchase components needed for completion) providing the remainder and more both through direct mailed and in person check and cash payments and in one case sitting in his office long into the night letting him use my credit card for online purchases of over a thousand dollars in “final” equipment, some of which has allegedly been installed on other customer cars in a blatant fraudulent business practice.
I politely and clearly summarized the case for his lawyer in writing. I asked him to intercede and mediate with his client for prompt delivery to avoid litigation. The attorney flatly refused, stated he would only discuss the case if I retained a local attorney, and threatened to have me arrested if I wrote him again.
The tortious interference aspect against his attorney arises as follows and every element for proving it appears met.
I have clear, dated pictures of the attorney’s car in the shop receiving service on two of the twenty dates I stopped by to check on progress with my car... plus reports when I asked about this car I kept seeing coming and going that it was there “often” and “regularly”. I have the shop owner recorded on phone and in EMails saying that due to his mounting civil and criminal legal issues he was having difficulty “keeping the lights on and paying people” and that he was lucky he had an “understanding attorney” because he could not handle legal bills on top of everyday overhead.
It is my allegation and opinion (which I believe will be confirmed by testimony of former employees and other informed parties under oath in depositions or during trial) that in whole or in part there is an ongoing exchange of mechanical repair for legal services including the component that whenever it arrives the attorney’s car gets first priority ahead of vehicles which have been in the shop longer... whether a month or five years. Also that this was presented by the attorney as the only way he would continue to represent the late-paying shop owner. Every time the attorney’s car took an hour, a day, or a week of the shop owner’s time it set the completion of my vehicle back by that amount and both persons knew it as the attorney reportedly commented on and took note of my vehicle still being there.
The attorney thus encouraged the shop owner to breach his contract with me and disrupted the ability of the shop owner to perform his obligations under the contract thereby preventing me from receiving the performance promised.
His attorney may not have been the only car owner to “jump in line” ahead of me with offers of special favors or higher reimbursement for work, but I suspect he was the only one with such a glaring conflict of interest. He is also the only one against whom I have documentary evidence (his certified letter to me) that where he could have assisted in resolving the non-performance (by cooperating in my initial offer of mediated negotiation) he chose to prolong it to his advantage by advancing this canard that he could not talk to me about the case directly but I had to retain local legal counsel. I can find no judicial or professional requirement for that in Ohio.
It is also possible that he has violated Ohio ethical canons of attorney behavior by deliberately obfuscating the issue and creating roadblocks to the prompt and efficient attainment of justice. If so I would encourage such a complaint be pursued toward permanent disbarment or at least temporary suspension from practice and censure of the firm. From my repeated attempts at initial contact with him specifying the MGB link and problem, other staff knew or should have known of his conduct, realized it reflected badly on the firm, and intervened to change it.
I have made at least twenty trips to Zanesville to determine progress and plead for completion but got only new excuses, a hand extended for additional advances, and congenially renewed but ultimately worthless promises. To fill the void in my vehicle lineup I have rented and purchased other “placeholder” autos including a Corvette convertible and driven them there telling the shop owner I would much prefer to be in the MGB. Early on I made assurances to friends and significant others of the imminent arrival and use of the MGB which failure lowered their opinion of my intelligence, reliability, and suitability as friend or spouse.
Through you I will be seeking court orders, agreements, and actions to achieve:
1. stoppage of work on any other vehicle at this shop until completion of this vehicle within thirty days (including installation of all promised components and upgrades and thorough road testing by (and remedying any shortcomings or defects reported by) my designated representative including reimbursement for that cost)
2. Delivery by professional carrier. Shop owner has repeatedly promised to deliver it to me first in New York and the past three years in Florida “no charge because you have been so patient and I need a Florida vacation” [related conversation transcripts on file]
3. a three year and 36,000 mile warranty where he will reimburse for any repairs or replacement parts needed
4. compensation for multiple travel to Zanesville and time lost in the amount of $8,500.00
5. compensation for loss of use necessitating substitute vehicle rental/purchase/disadvantageous sale in the amount of $32,000
6. compensation for deliberate infliction of humiliation and other emotional distress in the amount of $500,000
7. suspension and/or disbarment of his attorney and censure of the firm
8. evidence of remorse via written and locally published admissions of responsibility and apologies from the attorney and the shop owner
9. reimbursement of fees I have advanced you up to that point and an additional amount calculated as your contingency from total award.
10. such other relief as you consider appropriate.
Only an E-mailed brief initial expression of interest from you to FAAEZTEST@aol.com is sought at this time. We can discuss the case by phone thereafter or (should multiple responses arrive over the next month) I may suggest an abbreviated RFP format for formal response.