pregnancy discrimination trial, april 2015: part 1

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CMH OCR RMR CRR FCRR

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

- - - - - - - - - - - - - X

VERONIKA CHAUCA, :10-CV-5304(ENV)

Plaintiff :

-against- : United States CourthouseBrooklyn, New York

PARK MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS,LLC, et al., :

April 13, 2015Defendant. : 11:45 o'clock a.m.

- - - - - - - - - - - - X

TRANSCRIPT OF TRIALBEFORE THE HONORABLE ERIC N. VITALIANOUNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE, and a jury.

APPEARANCES:

For the Plaintiff: LAW OFFICE OF ANNE DONNELLY BUSH8 Main StreetHastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706-1646

BY: ANNE DONNELLY BUSH, ESQ.

For the Defendants: ARTHUR H. FORMAN, ESQ.98-20 Metropolitan AvenueForest Hills, NY 11375

Court Reporter: Charleane M. Heading225 Cadman Plaza EastBrooklyn, New York(718) 613-2643

Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography, transcriptproduced by computer-aided transcription.

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(In open court; outside the presence of the jury.)

THE CLERK: Case on the calendar is Chauca versus

Park Management LLC, case number 10-CV-5304, on for a jury

trial.

Will the attorneys please note their appearance

beginning with plaintiff's counsel.

MS. BUSH: Anne Donnelly Bush for the plaintiff

Veronika Chauca.

THE COURT: Good morning.

MR. FORMAN: Good morning. Arthur H. Forman for the

defendants.

THE COURT: Good morning.

Do we have housekeeping from counsel? The jury is

in the jury room.

MR. FORMAN: I just have, I have a copy of a

transcript I might be using for Veronika Chauca and a copy of

my trial exhibits.

THE COURT: Anything from you, Ms. Bush?

MS. BUSH: Just one exhibit for Ms. Chauca.

THE COURT: Here is what I propose to do since we

are this late. We certainly have Ms. Chauca's unexpected

run-in with a truck this morning. What we will do is, given

the hour, we will, unless this goes exceedingly fast, we will

just do my preliminary instructions to the jury and the

opening statements. Everybody has an opening statement.

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MR. FORMAN: Yes, I do.

MS. BUSH: Yes.

THE COURT: I am assuming. Okay.

Then we will do that. And should it really go like

a hot knife through butter, I might consider, I will meet with

counsel at side bar, but I probably would take the lunch break

and then come back and start fresh after lunch, because the

jury, obviously, has been here since before 10. So I am sure

they are chomping at the bit.

If there is nothing else, we will bring the jury in.

MR. FORMAN: Judge, is there any assistance that

Dr. Abraham can have for hearing?

THE COURT: In what sense, Mr. Forman?

MR. FORMAN: Is there any sort of devices for the

courtroom?

THE COURT: Other than the mic.

MR. FORMAN: Okay.

THE COURT: That I am aware of. Maybe William is

aware of things that I am not aware of. It is all amplified.

Sometimes we get a lot of feedback, but for the most part, it

works.

MR. FORMAN: The other thing, Your Honor, is I

believe that there's a witness in the courtroom. I would ask

that --

THE COURT: Yes. All witnesses, other than,

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Jury Instructions


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obviously, the parties should be excluded.

MS. BUSH: There's no witnesses.

MR. FORMAN: Okay.

(Jury enters.)

THE COURT: Counsel stipulate that the jury is

present, properly seated and is satisfactory?

MS. BUSH: Yes.

MR. FORMAN: And for the defendant, we do.

THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I

am Judge Eric Vitaliano. I will be privileged to preside over

this trial and I am going to ask our deputy William to swear

you in as jurors. Take the oath and respond.

THE CLERK: Raise your right hands.

(Jury sworn.)

THE CLERK: Thank you.

THE COURT: The jury has been sworn.

Ladies and gentlemen, we want to first of all not

only appreciate your service, but to apologize for the delay.

There are circumstances that are beyond our control. I want

to assure you, however, of our, and I mean all of us, our

commitment to try to make your stay as brief as possible, not

only overall, but during any day. If there are times when we

can excuse you early or there is still going to be things that

sometimes the lawyers and the judge do alone, we will do that.

We will try to give you as much notice about that as we can.

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Jury Instructions


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Everybody else can be seated.

As you might imagine, there are certain

contingencies that arise that prevent us from doing things

according to the schedule, that we plan to do them and so we

will apologize in advance, apologize retroactively and

prospectively for those kinds of delays.

Now, I first, again, want to congratulate you also.

America does its justice a little different than a lot of

places. We rely on ordinary people to make some of the most

important decisions both in civil cases like this one and

criminal cases as well.

Other countries that we would believe and denote as

democratic and free oftentimes rely exclusively on judges. So

we rely on ordinary people. So what that means is that our

justice system, the things that our flag stands for, the

things that our men and women have fought wars about are

reliant on people like you who are willing to put aside their

own business and accept service on a jury and make the system

work.

The system does not work without people doing

exactly what you are doing and I tell every jury, whether it

is in a civil case like this one or a criminal case the same,

that other than putting on a uniform and defending your

country in a time of war, there is no greater act of

citizenship and patriotism than to put aside your own personal

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Jury Instructions


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and business of work, put that aside and come and serve as a

juror. So we congratulate you on that.

Now, I am going to ask through my deputy clerk of

court and my law clerk, Amanda Elbogen, we are going to give

you some preliminary instructions before the trial actually

unfolds.

THE LAW CLERK: Members of the jury, we are about to

start the trial of this case about which you have heard some

details by Chief Magistrate Gold for jury selection. Before

the trial begins, however, there are certain instructions you

should have in order to understand what you will hear and see

and how you should conduct yourself during trial.

The plaintiff, Veronika Chauca, brings this action

against the defendants, Park Management Center, LLC, also

known as Park Health Center, Dr. Jamil Abraham and Ann Marie

Garriques, under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and

amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the

New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human

Rights Law.

Plaintiff claims the defendants unlawfully

discriminated against her when they failed to reinstate her

employment following her maternity leave. The defendants

claim they did so for nondiscriminatory, legitimate business

reasons.

At the close of the case, I will give you detailed

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Jury Instructions


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instructions about what the plaintiff must prove to establish

her claim and other applicable principles of law and those

instructions will control your deliberations and decisions.

But in order to help you follow the evidence, I will now give

you a brief summary of the elements which plaintiff must prove

to make her case.

To prevail on her claim that she was discriminated

against in violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and

Title VII, plaintiff must prove two things to you by a

preponderance of the evidence. First, that the defendant,

Park Health Center, took an adverse employment action against

her. Second, that plaintiff's pregnancy was a motivating

factor in the defendants's action. Other factors may also

have been at play, but a motivating factor is one that plays

some part in the defendants's employment decision or practice.

The standard under New York State law is the same,

but it additionally allows Ms. Chauca to sue individual

defendants, here, Dr. Jamil Abraham and Ann Marie Garriques.

The standard under New York City law, which has a different

formulation not relevant here, still allows Chauca to prevail

on her discrimination claim if she can show that her pregnancy

was a motivating factor in the defendants's decision not to

reinstate her. It also permits Chauca to sue individual

defendants.

When I have completed these opening instructions to

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Jury Instructions


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you, the attorneys will make opening statements to you in

which each will outline for you what he or she expects to

prove. The purpose of such opening statements is to tell you

about each parties's contentions so that you will have a

better understanding of the evidence as it is introduced.

What is said in such opening statements is not evidence. The

evidence upon which you will base your decision will come from

the testimony of witnesses here in court, or in the

transcripts or depositions taken before trial, or in the form

of photographs, documents or other exhibits received in

evidence, or facts stipulated to by the parties, or noticed by

the court as uncontested.

Plaintiff makes an opening statement first and is

followed by defendant. After the opening statements,

plaintiff will introduce evidence in support of her claim.

Upon completion of the introduction of evidence, the

attorneys will again speak to you in a closing statement or

summation. In summing up, the lawyers will point out what

they believe the evidence has shown, what inferences or

conclusions they believe you should draw from the evidence and

what conclusions they believe you should reach as your

verdict.

What is said by the attorneys in summation, like

what is said by them in their opening statements or in the

making of objections or motions during the trial, is not

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Jury Instructions


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evidence. Summations are intended to present the arguments of

the parties based on the evidence. Under our system, the

defendant sums up first, followed by the plaintiff.

After the summations, I will instruct you on the

rules of law applicable to the case and you will then retire

for your deliberations. Your function as jurors is to decide

what has or has not been proved, and apply the rules of law

that I give you to the facts as you find them to be.

The decision you reach will be your verdict. Your

decision will be based on the evidence admitted before you

during the trial. You are the sole and exclusive judges of

the facts, and nothing I say or do should be taken by you as

any indication of my opinion as to the facts.

As to the facts, neither I nor anyone else may

invade your area of responsibility. I will preside

impartially and not express any opinion concerning the facts.

Any opinions of mine on the facts would, in any event, be

totally irrelevant because the facts are for you to decide.

On the other hand, and with equal emphasis, I

instruct you that in accordance with the oath you took as

jurors, you are required to accept the rules of law that I

give you, whether you agree with them or not. You are not to

ask anyone else about the law. You should not consider or

accept any advice about the law from anyone else but me.

The evidence from which you will find the facts will

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Jury Instructions


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consist of the testimony of witnesses, documents and other

things received into the record as exhibits, and any facts

that the lawyers agree to or stipulate to or that the Court

may instruct you to find.

After plaintiff has completed the introduction of

all her evidence, defendants may present witnesses and

exhibits. If they do so, plaintiff may be permitted to offer

additional evidence for the purpose of rebutting the

defendants's evidence.

Each witness is first examined by the party who

calls that witness to testify and then the opening party,

sorry, and then the opposing party is permitted to question

the witness. Certain things are not evidence and must not be

considered by you. I will list them for you now.

Statements, arguments and questions by lawyers are

not evidence. Questions put to the witnesses are not

evidence. It is the question, combined with the answer, that

is evidence. In addition to the lawyers's questions, I

occasionally may have asked questions for purposes of

clarification. Please do not assume that the questions are

evidence or that I hold any opinion on the matters to which

any questions may relate. Those questions are asked solely in

an effort or attempt to make something clearer.

Objections to questions are not evidence. Lawyers

have an obligation to their clients to make objections when

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Jury Instructions


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they believe evidence being offered is improper under the

rules of evidence. You should not be influenced by the

objection or by the Court's ruling on it. If the objection is

sustained, ignore the question. If it is overruled, treat the

answer like any other.

If you are instructed that some item of evidence is

received for a limited purpose only, you must follow that

instruction. Testimony that the Court has excluded or told

you to disregard is not evidence and must not be considered.

Anything you may have seen or heard outside the courtroom is

not evidence and must be disregarded. You are to decide the

case solely on the evidence presented here in the courtroom.

There are two kinds of evidence, direct and

circumstantial. Direct evidence is direct proof of a fact

such as testimony of an eyewitness. Circumstantial evidence

is proof of facts from which you may infer or conclude that

other facts exist. I will give you further instructions on

these as well as other matters at the end of the case, but

keep in mind that you may consider both kinds of evidence.

The law does not, however, require you to accept all

of the evidence I shall admit. In deciding what evidence you

will accept, you must make your own evaluation of the

testimony given by each of the witnesses and decide how much

weight you choose to give to that testimony. The testimony of

a witness may not conform to the facts as they occurred

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Jury Instructions


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because he or she is intentionally lying, because the witness

did not accurately see or hear what he or she is testifying

about because the witnesses's recollection is faulty, or

because the witness has not expressed himself or herself

clearly in testifying. There is no magical formula by which

you evaluate testimony. You bring with you to this courtroom

all of the experience and background of your lives.

In your every day affairs, you decide for yourselves

the reliability or unreliability of things people tell you.

The same tests that you use in your every day dealings are the

tests which you apply in your deliberations. The interest or

lack of interest of any witness in the outcome of this case,

the bias or prejudice of a witness, if there be any, the

appearance, the manner in which the witness gives testimony on

the stand, the opportunity that the witness had to observe the

facts about which he or she testifies, the probability or

improbability of the witnesses's testimony when considered in

light of all of the other evidence in the case, are all items

to be considered by you in deciding how much weight, if any,

you will give to that witness's testimony.

If it appears that there is a discrepancy in the

evidence, you will have to consider whether the apparent

discrepancy can be reconciled by fitting the two stories

together. If, however, that is not possible, you will then

have to decide which of the conflicting stories you will

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Jury Instructions


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accept.

This is a civil case and as such, the plaintiff has

the burden of proving the material allegations of her

complaint by a preponderance of the evidence. That means the

plaintiff has to produce evidence which, considered in the

light of all the facts, leads you to believe that what the

plaintiff claims is more likely true than not.

Those of you who have sat on criminal cases will

have heard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That

requirement does not apply in a civil case. Therefore, you

should put it out of your mind.

If, after considering all of the testimony, you are

satisfied that the plaintiff has carried her burden on each

essential point as to which she has the burden of proof, then

you must find for the plaintiff on her claims. If, after such

consideration, you find the testimony of both parties to be in

balance or equally probable, then the plaintiff has failed to

sustain her burden and you must find for the defendant.

If, upon the consideration of all the facts on the

issue of whether defendants discriminated against plaintiff,

you find that the plaintiff has failed to sustain her burden

of proof, then you should proceed no further and your verdict

must be for the defendants. If, however, you find that the

plaintiff has sustained the burden on this issue, then you

should proceed to consider the issue of whether defendant had

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Jury Instructions


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a legitimate business reason to act as they did.

In this regard, the burden is on the defendant to

establish the affirmative defense of a legitimate business

purpose. If you determine that the defendants have sustained

their burden of establishing the affirmative defense, then you

should proceed no further and your verdict must be for the

defendant.

If, however, you find that the plaintiff has

established the essential elements of her case and that the

defendants have not sustained their burden of the affirmative

defense, then you should proceed to consider the issue of

damages.

The purpose of the rules I have outlined for you is

to make sure that a just result is reached when you decide the

case. For the same purpose, you should keep in mind several

rules governing your own conduct during any recess, that is,

at any time you are not in the courtroom.

During the course of this trial, do not visit or go

by any location identified in testimony or documents. Also,

do not try to do any research or make any investigation on

your own about the case or any individuals or entities

involved in the case.

Do not read, listen or watch any accounts of this

case should it be covered by any media. Please do not discuss

the case either among yourselves or with anyone else during

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Jury Instructions


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the course of the trial. In fairness to the parties to this

lawsuit, you should keep an open mind throughout the trial,

reaching your conclusion only during your final deliberations

after all the evidence is in and you have heard the attorneys'

summations, and my instructions to you on the law, and then

only after an interchange of views with the other members of

the jury.

Please do not permit any person to discuss this case

in your presence, and if anyone does so, despite your telling

the person not to, report that to me as soon as you are able.

You should not, however, discuss with your fellow jurors

either that fact or any other fact you feel necessary to bring

to my attention.

Although it is a normal human tendency to talk to

people with whom one comes in contact, please do not, during

the time you serve on this jury, talk whether in or out of the

courtroom with any of the parties or their attorneys or any

witness. By this, I mean not only do not talk about the case,

but do not talk to them at all, even to pass the time of day.

In no other way can all parties be assured of the absolute

impartiality they are entitled to expect from you as jurors.

The description of trial procedure, the rules

governing your conduct and the legal principles I have

discussed with you will, I believe, make it easier for you to

understand the trial as it goes on and to reach a just result

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Openings - Bush


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at its conclusion.

We will now proceed with the next step in the trial,

which is the opening statement by the attorney for the

plaintiff.

THE COURT: Thank you, Ms. Elbogen.

All right. Ladies and gentlemen, we have completed

the first building block and we are now going to begin on the

next building block which is the set of opening statements.

Under our rules, the plaintiff proceeds first and can be

followed by the defendant.

So I call on Ms. Anne Bush, attorney for the

plaintiffs.

MS. BUSH: This is a case about pregnancy

discrimination. Plaintiff lost her job without notice while

she was out on maternity leave, and we will prove today that

she was fired from her job and that she was fired because she

was on maternity leave.

May it please the Court, Judge Vitaliano,

Mr. Forman, and ladies and gentlemen of the jury. The case

that the plaintiff will present today is compelling. She

worked for the defendants for three years as a physical

therapy aid. She got pregnant in 2009 and just about as she's

about to return back from maternity leave, she was fired by

the defendants. I represent the plaintiff, Veronika Chauca.

Opening statement is my chance to show and the

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Openings - Bush


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defendant counsel's chance to show what we think will be

proved in this case, and after you've seen all the evidence,

after you have heard from all the witnesses, after you have

seen all the exhibits, we'll speak to you again at the end of

the case in the summation.

Ladies and gentlemen, what do we expect to show in

this case? Well, the plaintiff expects to prove that she was

fired because she took maternity leave, that she was replaced

by a co-worker, and that the defendants had a pattern and

practice of firing other female employees while they were out

on maternity leave.

So we will expect to show that Veronika was fired.

Why was she fired? She was a good employee. She had been

working for the defendants for three years. She was a

certified physical therapy aid and she trained other

employees.

In 2009, in January, she got pregnant for the first

time at the age of 38. It was her first pregnancy and it's

produced her one and only child, Joshua.

Now, she was quite nervous about telling her

employers she was pregnant and she was taking maternity leave

because, as she will testify, she's previously witnessed them

try to fire other employees while they were out on maternity

leave. So Veronika was very careful to make sure she gave

written notice to her employers of her pregnancy, and she

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Openings - Bush


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wrote them a letter, and you will see the letter as an exhibit

in this case, and she told them that she would be taking

maternity leave and she would be returning in November.

Plaintiff's child was born in September 2009 and as

any new mother, she was thrilled to be, to have a baby,

however, when it came to returning to work, she called her

supervisor, Ms. Garriques, and her supervisor told her your

services are no longer needed. The plaintiff will testify

that she was fired from her employment just as she was about

to return from maternity leave.

The plaintiff tried to get her job back. She called

them in December and she called them again in January and in

February, and she called and she called and they would not

return her calls. And she never, in fact, got her job back.

The plaintiff became very depressed. She had a new

baby, she had no job. It was three weeks before the Christmas

holidays. She was so depressed that she went to see her

doctor and her doctor prescribed her sleeping pills and muscle

relaxants, and she began to get severe headaches, and Veronika

was referred to a neurologist because of her headaches. She

had MRIs and different scans, but they couldn't find anything

other than stress.

The second thing we expect the evidence to show is

that Veronika was replaced. She was replaced by a co-worker

named Debra. Her position was never eliminated. It was never

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Openings - Bush


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downsized. Her duties of the job remained the same, but the

job was given, lock, stock and barrel, to Debra by the

defendants.

We also expect to show that the defendants had a

pattern and practice of discrimination, and you will hear

plaintiff testify and the plaintiff's witnesses testify that

they had seen the defendants try to fire other women after

maternity leave.

Now, this case doesn't have a smoking gun. There is

no comments that have been made about Veronika's pregnancy and

Veronika will testify that she, that the defendants will claim

that she was fired for other reasons, for non-discriminatory

reasons. The defendants will claim that they fired her

because business was slowing down and because there had been

layoffs, and that staff were having their hours cut; however,

as you will see, the defendants have never produced one piece

of evidence to show that their business was slowing down, and

in fact, the only person who was laid off from the physical

therapy department was the plaintiff.

We also expect that the defendants will claim that

Veronika did not return any calls, did not call the defendants

after she, after the 2nd of December when she was fired, but

Veronika will testify that she did call and she called, but

they didn't return her calls.

In sum, ladies and gentlemen, the evidence will show

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Opening Statement - Mr. Forman


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that my client was fired because she was out on maternity

leave, that she was replaced by a co-worker, and that the

defendants had a pattern and practice of pregnancy

discrimination.

We also intend to show that the reasons given by

defendants for letting plaintiff go are pretext. They're

simply not true. And the real reason she was fired was

because she took maternity leave.

Now, the defendants expected Veronika to walk away

quietly, but she didn't, and that's why she's here today.

She's trying to fight for justice.

Ladies and gentlemen, we ask you to listen very

carefully to all the evidence and assess the credibility of

the witnesses, and I'm confident that you'll see that the real

reason she was fired was because she went out on maternity

leave.

Now, Veronika has been harmed. She was, she

suffered from depression, she was stressed, she had to seek

medical advice, and because she has been harmed, she should be

awarded damages.

At the end of the case, I'll speak to you again in

summation and I will be asking you for justice for Veronika in

this case, and I'll be asking you to return a verdict for the

plaintiff.

Thank you.

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Openings - Forman


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THE COURT: Thank you, Ms. Bush.

Arthur Forman will make an opening statement for the

defendants.

Mr. Forman.

MR. FORMAN: Your Honor, members of the jury. This

case is not about an employer treating an employee badly.

There's no law against that. The law is that you cannot

discriminate against employees because they're female. A part

of this case is also about gender discrimination and you

cannot discriminate against employees because they become

pregnant.

The plaintiff is suing for pregnancy discrimination

and gender discrimination. She's claiming that Park Health

Center and the two named defendants did not want to take her

back after she was on maternity leave because she had given

birth and taken time off, but there will be no proof that Park

Health Center does not want employees who are pregnant working

for them. There will be no proof that plaintiff's being

pregnant interfered with their business. Rather, the proof

will show that plaintiff took advantage of the fact that she

was pregnant while she was at work, so that she could stay

home with her newborn rather than come back to work, collect

unemployment, and sue Park Health Center for tens of thousands

of dollars.

Now, there's no direct proof that the defendant Park

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Health Center or any of the individual defendants ever said

anything bad about employees being pregnant to anyone, but

there's lots of proof that they were fine with employees being

young, female, giving birth, leaving for a time to give birth

and coming back to work.

In fact, the plaintiff was a physical therapy aid,

worked with two other female employees, Debra and Jackie, both

of them gave birth around the same time as the plaintiff and

they are still there now. Plus, Park Health Center, of

course, has many female and young female patients. They get a

lot of income from young females around that age and pregnant,

and there's no reason why anybody at Park Health Center would

be embarrassed about any of the workers showing that they're

pregnant. Many of their patients are new mothers or potential

mothers and they do a lot of community outreach for young

mothers, mammograms, and for children they give scholarships.

The two individual plaintiffs, Dr. Jamil Abraham has

never been sued before for any type of discrimination,

although he's been at Park Health Center for many, many years.

(Continued on next page.)

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Opening Statement - Forman

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(continuing)

MR. FORMAN: Annmarie Garriques has worked at Park

Health Center also for many years, not only has never been

sued before for any type of discrimination, she herself was a

single working mother all her life.

There are three incidents that will be key in this

case. The first one will be a conversation with Dr. Jamil

Abraham and the plaintiff when the plaintiff claims that she

asked -- when she advises Dr. Abraham she will be taking off

for her pregnancy, that she's pregnant, and that in two months

she will be leaving with her pregnancy.

There will be no proof that after Dr. Jamil Abraham

knew that he was pregnant, that he took any adverse action

against her while she was still there at work. There was no

discussions about what day she wants to leave, whether she can

have three months to take off, whether she has to stay longer

than the time she wants to leave. Dr. Jamil Abraham was very

happy for her and whatever time she wanted, he said that would

be okay.

The second conversation is when the plaintiff wants

to return to work, that's around Thanksgiving, and she claims

that she talked to Annmarie Garriques and that Annmarie told

her in no uncertain terms that she was fired. The interesting

thing is that the conversation with Dr. Abraham, when

Dr. Abraham said everything was fine, take whatever time you

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need, the interesting thing is that the plaintiff

tape-recorded that entire conversation. The other interesting

thing is that when she claims that when Annmarie told her we

don't need you anymore, you're fired, that conversation was

not recorded. And you will hear testimony Annmarie, she never

told the plaintiff she was fired. Annmarie told her things

have slowed down in the physical therapy department, we're

fully staffed and keep in touch with us, we'd like to have you

back.

The third interesting incident is when the plaintiff

applies for Unemployment. She receives her Unemployment for

about a year-and-a-half, up until the time she gets another

job. So, for all that time, until she found another job, she

did receive Unemployment and was able to stay home with her

newborn.

Now, plaintiff will be asking you to punish the

defendants for what she alleges they did, for treating her

badly because of her pregnancy and that way, you will hear

that other employers and the Park Health Center will be

deterred from doing such things again in the future, but the

defendants will be respectfully asking you not to reward

Ms. Chauca for suing them. The defendants will show that

Ms. Chauca took advantage of her being pregnant when there was

no reason to believe that the Park Health Center, Dr. Jamil

Abraham or Annmarie Garriques had any ulterior motive or bad

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feelings about any employees who became pregnant at their

health center. Thank you.

THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Forman.

Ms. Bush, are you ready to call your first witness?

MS. BUSH: I would like to call the plaintiff,

Veronika Chauca.

THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Please raise your right hand.

(Continued on following page.)

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Chauca - direct - Bush

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V E R O N I K A C H A U C A,

called by The Plaintiff, having been

first duly sworn, was examined and testified

as follows:

THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Please state your first and

last name spell.

THE WITNESS: Veronika Chauca -- V-E-R-O-N-I-K-A

C-H-A-U-C-A.

THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Thank you, have a seat.

THE COURT: Ms. Bush, you may inquire.

DIRECT EXAMINATION

BY MS. BUSH:

Q Good morning, Ms. Chauca.

A Good morning.

Q Please, can you state your full name for the Court?

A Yes, Veronika Rosario Chauca.

Q How old are you?

A Forty-four.

Q What is your date of birth?

A January 12, 1971.

Q Where were you born?

A Peru.

Q When did you come to the USA?

A When I was six years old. I think it was '76, '77.

Sorry, '76, 1976.

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Q Where did you live when you came here?

A Our first house was in 138th Street and 91st Avenue and

Jamaica Avenue, Queens, New York.

Q And after that?

A After that, we moved to 117-19 93rd Avenue on

Jamaica Avenue also, in Queens.

Q Where do you live today?

A I live in New Jersey, 2115 Meadow Place, Linden,

New Jersey.

Q How long have you lived in New Jersey?

A About almost two years. It's going to be two years,

actually. Since October of 2013.

Q Who do you live with in New Jersey?

A My fiance and my son.

Q What is the name of your son?

A Joshua Carbonel (phonetic).

Q How old is he?

A Five.

Q What was his date of birth?

A September 9th -- September 2009.

Q Is he your only child?

A Yes.

Q Can you please tell the Court your educational

background?

A My public school, I went to IS -- I'm sorry, public

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school, I'm sorry, PS 82 on Jamaica Avenue and 130th Street in

Queens. Then I went to junior high school, which was Susan B.

Anthony on 180th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica. And I

went to Hill Crest High School, which is located on Parsons

Boulevard, Hillside Avenue, Jamaica.

Q Did you graduate from high school?

A No, I didn't. I actually left when I was in the ending

of my 10th grade and I went to satellite, which was on

165th Street to get my GED from there.

Q When did you get your GED?

A It was 1991, yeah, 1991.

Q Do you have any further qualifications or certifications?

A I went to Medical Universal School for physical therapy

aide and CPR.

Q When was that?

A That was in 2003, yeah, around 2003.

Q Can you tell us about your physical therapy aide course?

A Yes. I, it's basically to assist the physical therapist,

it's usually physical therapist, physical therapist assistant

and then the aide. Mainly as to set up the rooms for the

physical therapist, make sure all the rooms are set up for

them, assist them in doing exercise, do the exercise with

them, transporting patients from one place to another,

applying heat and cool packs or paraffin bath on hands or feet

or if they have Whirlpools or usually pool, we assist them

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with that.

Q Can you please tell the Court your job history, your

employment history?

A When I was in high school my first job was Dr. Jay's. I

used to go to school and after high school, I went to work in

Be-Bop, which was after school. From there, after I left

school, I went to J & J Auto Wreckings, which was a auto

wrecking place and I worked there as a receptionist for almost

four years. And from there, I went to Empire, which was

actually a big company back then, too. It was Empire on

Forest Hills and I was with them for almost four years also,

but they closed down the company. And after that, I went to

Avenue Medical, which was on Jamaica Avenue, 105th Street and

Jamaica Avenue. And I was with them for almost five years.

THE COURT: This was before your certification?

THE WITNESS: Yes.

A And after that, is when I went to Park Health.

Q At Avenue Medical, what were your duties?

A I was a physical therapy aide there, also. And then I

was trained there with a machine that the physical therapist

used to use, which is a range of motion machine. A lot of

companies started using them then, so they trained the staff,

which was the -- I was the only one, physical therapy aide,

how to use the machine. As long as the therapy was on the

premises.

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So it was a big deal, a big, you know, certificate

for the, if you were to learn the machine, so I wanted to

learn it and they trained me for it. And that's why when I

went to Park Health, Dr. Abraham asked me about the machine

and I told him yes, I know how to work it, and that was mainly

their concern. He really want to have to have somebody that

knew how to work the machine. Usually the therapist works it,

but they don't have the time to do it so that's why they train

the aid to do it.

Q Can you tell us how you came to work for Park Healthcare?

A Yes. When I was working in Avenue Medical, they started

cutting my hours, so I went from 40 hours a week to 20 hours a

week and I wanted to have a full-time job, so they didn't want

to give me my hours back. They said, you know, the time, it

was a small company. I was, okay, I need 40 hours, I need to

make more money. So I started looking for another job and

that's how I found -- I went through the, actually, drove down

the street, and I found a number, and I just called them, and

asked them for their fax number, and I faxed my resume, and a

few weeks later they called me.

Q Were you interviewed at Park?

A Yes. I was interviewed by Ms. Garriques, Annmarie

Garriques. When I went in, she put me in one of the rooms and

she interviewed me. She had my resume, she went over

everything and she said everything looks good. She said you

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know about this machine, the range of motion. I said yes, I

was trained in my previous job. She said okay, everything

looks fine, I like the resume. She said you speak different

languages? I said yes, I speak Spanish. She said great, that

I would be upstairs in the second floor, which is the physical

therapy department and she said I want you to meet Dr. Abraham

and I said okay. I waited for Dr. Abraham to come into the

room. He walked in, he introduced himself and he asked me

about the range of motion machine. He asked me if I knew how

to do it, which is all the parts, all the different parts of

your body, and I said yes, I know how to do it. He said okay,

when can you start. I say as soon as possible, I'm only

working part-time. So he said okay, he was like, okay, so do

you mind starting next week and I said no problem.

Q What was Ms. Garriques's job title at Park?

A She told me she was the office manager.

Q Did you ever have a supervisor at Park?

A Ms. Annmarie Garriques. She was the only supervisor

manager that everybody knew in the building.

THE COURT: Did that title ever change during your

time there.

THE WITNESS: Never.

Q Please, tell us the duties that you had at Park

Healthcare.

A To assist the physical therapist, making sure all the

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rooms were set up, applying heat and cold packs with all the

patients, assist them with exercise, Whirlpool, which they

had. Mainly just watching when they exercise, when they were

doing exercise and mostly, the range of motion machine, which

I which I focused on. That's really what he wanted me to

focus on, was the range of motion machine, because it was

billed separately than the physical therapy.

Q Did you have any other duties?

A I, yes. I also ordered the office supplies and I also

did receptionist work for them.

Q Were you the only physical therapy aide at Park when you

started?

A Yes.

Q Did there come a time when that changed?

A Yes. About three months, I think three months or four

months later, they hired Jackie Stern. She was working there

only on Fridays and Saturdays.

Q What was her job title?

A She also helped them with receptionist work upstairs and

if they needed her in the back, she would assist the

therapist. If he needed something, she would give it to him,

but she was mostly in the front.

Q Did you have any other co-workers in the physical therapy

department?

A No. It was just me, the therapist and Jackie Stern, when

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she was there.

Q Did anybody else join the physical therapy department?

A Yes. A few months later, Debra Mahearwanlal, she came

upstairs to work the receptionist job upstairs.

THE COURT: Was she downstairs?

THE WITNESS: Yes, she used to work downstairs and

she was a medical assistant downstairs on the first floor and

then, they put her upstairs on the second floor to do

receptionist work.

Q Do you know whether Jackie was experienced in physical

therapy aide when she joined Park?

A No. When we spoke, she told me she was there just doing

the front desk, filing, picking up the phones and sometimes

they would call her to the back, the therapist, because he was

usually alone unless I was there. They would call her to the

back and ask her for a heat pack or can you watch the patient

when he's on exercise, and that's what she would go back there

for.

Q Debra, was she experienced as a physical therapy aide?

A No, she wasn't. She was a medical assistant on the main

floor.

Q Did there come a time when you were involved in training

other staff at Park?

A Yes. A few months later, after Jackie and -- Jackie

actually became full-time. After a few months she started

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working upstairs with me in the back and Dr. Abraham and

Ms. Garriques asked me if I could train Jackie and Debra with

the range of motion machine. I told them fine, I'll do it.

He said the days that you're not here, at least they know how

to do it, would you be able to train them. I said yes, of

course, as long as there's a physical therapist, they're able

do it. And I trained Jackie and Debra with the range of

motion machine and with some of the duties in the back, how to

help them with the physical therapy room and how to set up the

rooms, put the heat packs, the cold packs.

Q Was there a time when you were working at Park when other

co-workers became pregnant?

A Yes. In the first floor, it was Sharene (phonetic), I

forget her last name, I'm sorry. Sharene, I don't recall, I

don't remember her last name right now. Anyway, Sharene, she

was pregnant and she came upstairs to tell us, everybody knew

each other in some way, we weren't close like the people

upstairs on the upstairs floor, but we all knew each other and

she came upstairs and she told us that she was pregnant and we

were happy for her. And a few weeks later, we found out that

she had a miscarriage, so she was out for a little while, and

when she came back, she came upstairs and she told us.

MR. FORMAN: Objection, Your Honor, as to hearsay.

THE COURT: Sustained.

Q You had a conversation with Sharene?

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A Yes.

Q What did you understand was the result of that

conversation?

A They didn't want to take her back because she was out.

She had lost her baby and she was out and they didn't want to

take her back. They didn't want to take her back --

MR. FORMAN: Objection, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Not what she said. You can ask if she

came back.

Q Did there come a time when anybody else at Park became

pregnant?

A Yes. Debra Mahearwanlal, she was pregnant. She went out

on maternity leave and they didn't take her back. She came

upstairs and she told me --

MR. FORMAN: Objection, Your Honor; again, hearsay.

THE COURT: She just didn't come back. Then maybe a

follow-up question.

Q Did you have a conversation with Debra when she was

pregnant?

A Yes. I had a conversation with me and Jackie.


THE COURT: You had a conversation. You can't ask

what the conversation was.

Q What did you understand as a result of that conversation

with Debra?

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MR. FORMAN: Objection, Your Honor. No foundation.

THE COURT: For what? She asked if there was a

conversation.

MR. FORMAN: I understand that Debra came back.

What could she understand about that, other than what she said

Debra told her.

THE COURT: The question is, the appropriate

question is, did Debra come back.

Q Did Debra come back?

A No, she didn't.

Q Did you ever see Debra during her maternity leave?

A Yes. She came to the office when I was having lunch with

my other coworker, which is Jackie Stern the other aide, and

she was very upset. She told us --


THE COURT: You can't tell us -- that's called

hearsay. You can't repeat a conversation with another person

here in court.

Could you tell us, so I can catch up, put some dates

as to when she left and when she came back.

THE WITNESS: Oh boy. She left after her maternity

leave and she didn't come back.

THE COURT: Do you know when the maternity leave

was, approximately? When did she leave the employment to go

on maternity leave?

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THE WITNESS: To go on maternity leave? I don't

remember with a date that was. I think it was a few months

before I was pregnant, so that was...

THE COURT: It was before you became pregnant.

THE WITNESS: Before I became pregnant, yes. That's

when she went out and she didn't come back until after four or

five months.

THE COURT: Did she come back after you were still

pregnant or after you gave birth to Joshua?

THE WITNESS: No, after I was on maternity leave.

THE COURT: And you left on maternity leave in

approximately when in connection with when Joshua was born?

THE WITNESS: Let me see. I'm sorry, I forget

dates. I gave birth to Josh in September, so I had left on

maternity leave around August.

THE COURT: August of that year.

THE WITNESS: Yes.

THE COURT: And when you left on maternity leave,

did this Debra person return yet?

THE WITNESS: No.

THE COURT: All right.

Q Did you have a second conversation with Debra when she

was out on maternity leave?

A Yes, we spoke on the phone.

Q What did you understand as a result of speaking to Debra

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on the phone?

MR. FORMAN: Objection, Your Honor, what could she

possibly understand other than what Debra told her?

THE COURT: Exactly.

Q Did there come a time when you found out that you were

pregnant?

A Yes. January 2009. That's when I found out I was

pregnant.

Q How old were you then?

A Thirty-eight.

Q Did you tell anybody at work that you were pregnant?

A Not for my first three to four months.

Q Why not?

A I tried for years to get pregnant and it never happened,

so when I did get pregnant, due to my age and my religion,

since I'm from Peru, we never really tell anybody we're

pregnant until after three or four months, I just wanted to

make sure everything was okay, that my pregnancy was going to

be all right before I told anybody. And I didn't, I just told

one of my co-workers, I was scared to tell Dr. Abraham,

Annmarie because of what they've done to two girls prior to

me.

Q What had they done?

A They didn't want to take Jackie or -- I mean, I'm sorry

Debra back to work. And she said she was going have a lawsuit

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on them. So, that's why they didn't want to -- I was scared

to tell them anything and so did Sharene. She threatened to

sue them also. Both of them threatened to sue them.

MR. FORMAN: Your Honor, note my objection to all

that testimony.

THE COURT: Okay. Do you want it stricken?

MR. FORMAN: No. They're going to testify later in

the trial.

THE COURT: Okay; so, subject to connection.

Q Did there come a time when you did tell your bosses at

Park?

A Yes. It was after fourth of July weekend. I went to

Dr. Abraham and I took a recorder and I wanted to record the

conversation because I was scared that they were going to fire

me. That's why I took so long to even tell them anything,

because I thought they would do the same thing to me. So, I

took the tape recorder in and I tape record our conversation

just to make sure that they knew that I was going to go on

maternity leave.

And I told them, I knocked on the door, I told him

hi, Dr. Abraham. He said hi, how are you. I said I need to

speak to you. He said have a seat. I said I don't know if

you heard, but I'm pregnant. He said really. I said yes, I'm

7 1/2 months pregnant. He says oh, wow, you're not showing,

you're small. I said, yeah, I'm pretty small. He said, oh my

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God, what's going on here; Debra, then you. I said, yeah, she

rubbed off on me, I guess everybody's getting pregnant now.

And he said, well, congratulations. And I said thank you.

And he said -- I told him, I said well, I just want

to let you know that I'll be going on maternity leave and I

just wanted to make sure that you know. He goes well, did you

tell Ms. Garriques. And I said no, I haven't told her but I'm

pretty sure she knows. Basically, everybody in the building

knows now that I'm pregnant and you know how rumors are. He

said okay, well just let her know and then you'll be fine.

And I said okay, no problem.

So I went upstairs. I was looking for Ms. Garriques

and I found her on the second floor. I told her can I speak

to you. She said no problem. We went into one of the rooms

and I told her, I said Annmarie, I'm pretty sure you heard but

I'm pregnant. She just looked at me, she said okay. I said

well, I spoke to Dr. Abraham and I told him that I'll be going

on maternity leave, I just wanted to let you know he said to

speak to you. She said, okay. And I said I just wanted to

let you know. She was like, okay. And that's how we left the

conversation.

Q Did you have a further conversation with anybody about

your pregnancy?

A I told Ms. Shirlie. Already everybody basically knew

that I was pregnant by then.

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Q Did you ever have a second conversation with Dr. Abraham?

A Yes. It was, I think it was August 20th. I, the night

before, which was the 19th, I typed up a letter telling him

that I was going to go on maternity leave, when I was leaving

and when I was due back, I would be out for the three months

then I would go back to work. The next day I went to his room

I knocked on the door again. He says yes, Veronika. I said

Dr. Abraham, I typed up this letter. I said, this is the

letter that I will be going on maternity leave. I said can

you read it, I said, and just tell me if everything is okay.

He took the letter, he put it on the desk and he

read it and he goes, oh, everything is fine, don't worry. I

said well, can you sign it, I just want to make sure

everything is okay. He said don't worry about it, he signed

it, he stamped it, he hand it back to me and he said give a

copy to Sheila from accounts payable. And that's it.

From there I went upstairs, I made a copy of the

letter and I went to Sheila that she did the paychecks,

accounts. I told Sheila, I said, Sheila I just spoke to

Dr. Abraham and he told me to give you a copy of this letter,

I'll be going on maternity leave. She said okay, have you

done all your papers to go on maternity leave. That's why I'm

here, to ask you for all my papers. She said okay, she helped

me fill out all the paperwork for maternity leave and she said

Veronika, this is -- she said this is Thanksgiving week. And

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I said yeah, but you guys are open on Friday. And she said

just come back on Monday, it makes no sense for you to come

back for one day. And I said okay, no problem, I'll be back

on Monday. So I gave her the letter, she put it in my folder

and from there on, I left.

Q I'd like to introduce an Exhibit that was pre-marked

Plaintiff's Exhibit 3.

THE COURT: Question. Was the tape recording that

you that you referenced, was that visible to Dr. Abraham?

THE WITNESS: No.

THE COURT: No. Okay.

Yes?

MS. BUSH: Your Honor.

THE COURT: Mr. Forman, you've seen this Exhibit?

MR. FORMAN: Yes, we have no objection to that

Exhibit.

THE COURT: It's going in as what number, Ms. Bush?

MS. BUSH: Plaintiff's pre-marked Exhibit 3.

THE COURT: Three. Three now in evidence, without

objection.

(Plaintiff's Exhibit 3 was received in evidence.)

THE COURT: You can describe it for the record, if

you want.

MR. FORMAN: For the record, it's a letter dated

August the 20th, 2009, to Dr. Jamil Abraham from Veronika

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Chauca.

Your Honor, can I approach the jurors, give them a

copy?

THE COURT: You have a copy of the letter?

MR. FORMAN: The letter.

THE COURT: Just pass one around, if you want and

then take it back.

(The above-referred to Exhibit was published to the

jury.)

THE COURT: Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, at the

end of trial these Exhibits that, you will get them in the

jury room so you don't have to memorize them. This is sort of

to assist in your listening to the questions that Ms. Bush

will be asking of the witness that relate to the letter.

Q Ms. Chauca, can you please look at the letter, Exhibit 3.

A Yes.

Q And can you please read it to the Court for the record?

A Sorry, August 20, 2009, to Dr. Jamil Abraham. I will be

going out on maternity leave on August 27th, 2009, and I will

be out for two months. I will return to work on November 23rd

of 2009. Sincerely, Veronika Chauca.

Q Is that your signature?

A Yes.

Q What does it say underneath?

A CC Annmarie Garriques officer manager and the office

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stamp and Dr. Abraham's signature.

Q Thank you. What date did you go out on maternity leave?

A I left I think the following week.

Q What date was that, do you remember?

A Honestly, I really don't. I think it was August 27th.

Q When did you give birth?

A September, 2009. 10th, I'm sorry. September 10th, 2009.

Q Ms. Chauca, did there come a time when you stopped

working at Park?

A Yes.

Q Can you tell us about that. Plea?

A It was around Thanksgiving weekend, I was supposed to be

back to work the following week. I think Thanksgiving was the

27th, yeah the 27th. And I called them on Friday to let

them -- that same Friday I called them to let them know that I

would be back to work on Monday. When I called, I was

transferred to Sheila from accounts payable and I spoke to

her.

I said hi, Sheila, how are you, it's Veronika

Chauca. She said hi, how's the baby. I said everything's

fine. I said, I'm calling for Annmarie and Dr. Abraham but

they transferred me to you, but I'm calling to let you know

that I'll be back on Monday. She said you can't speak to me

about that, you have to speak to Dr. Abraham. I said okay.

She put me on hold then she put me through Dr. Abraham and he

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picked up. And I told him hi, Dr. Abraham, it's Veronika

Chauca. He said how are you. I said Dr. Abraham, I'm just

calling to let you know I'll be back to work on Monday. He

said you can't speak to me about that. I said what do you

mean. He said you can't speak to me about that, you have to

talk to Annmarie about it but she's not here, she is on

vacation. And I said well, I don't think I should speak to

anybody, I'm just calling to let you guys know I'll be back on

Monday. He goes no, you have to speak to Annmarie first. I

said okay. And I said well, when is she coming back. He said

she should be back in two days.

I waited until Monday, I called and she still wasn't

back. They transferred me back and forth again to

Dr. Abraham, he didn't pick up. Back to Sheila again. I

spoke to Sheila. I said, Sheila, what's going on. I said why

are they telling me I have to wait for Annmarie, I'm just

telling you guys I'm going back to work, what's the problem.

She said I don't know, you can't speak to me about this, you

have to wait for Annmarie to come back. I said okay.

I waited for the Tuesday, which was the 2nd, and she

was back already. And I spoke to her and when I told her, I

said Annmarie I'm just, I been calling you, they told me to

speak to you. I said, I was supposed to be back at work on

Monday but they told me you wanted to speak to me. She says I

don't know, you can't speak to me, you have to speak to

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Dr. Abraham. I said what's going on here. I said first is

Sheila telling me I have to speak to you, Dr. Abraham. Now

it's you telling me I have to speak to Dr. Abraham. What's

going on. She goes, I will call you back. I said okay.

She called me back a few hours later and when I

picked up the phone she said Veronika. I said yes. She said

Veronika, we no longer need your services. And I was like,

what? She said yes, we no longer need your services. I said

okay. I stood in shock. So she just hung up the phone. She

didn't give me a reason why she fired me, nothing. So, I of

course, I stood in shock for a while and I was like oh, my

God, have I been fired?

I tried calling back again later on. They didn't

pick up the phone. After that I tried calling back the

following day, which was December. I called back a few times.

I called back in January and in February, I kept trying to

call them to see what was going on and they would give me the

runaround. They wouldn't pick up my call. Every time I would

call, the receptionist would pick up the phone, which I knew

them and they would tell me hi, Veronika. Can you transfer me

to Annmarie? Sure. I would be on hold for 20 minutes,

sometimes 25 minutes. I would call back and say can I speak

to Dr. Abraham, and another ten minutes. Sometimes 20

minutes. I was getting tired of calling. I was like okay, I

guess I'm fired over here, what's going on here.

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I called my co-worker and she was like I don't know,

I don't know what's going on, you know, and I was like I don't

know what's going on, these people are not picking up the

phone on me. They're not returning my calls. I said, I said

Annmarie didn't even give me a reason why she was firing me.

I said all she said is we no longer need your services, and

that's it.

After that I just kept trying to call until

February. After that I realized I was fired because the only

reason that they had to fire me was because I was pregnant. I

never got any verbal notice during the three years I was

working with them, no verbal notice, no written notice that I

didn't do my job. They, if they trusted me to train other

co-workers, their receptionist work for them. When they

didn't have the therapist in the premises, I did the therapist

job that I wasn't supposed to do and I did it for them. So,

why would you fire me? There had to be a reason. It had to

be because I'm pregnant because that's the only reason they

fired me, when I was on maternity leave. Before that, they

never fire me. I never gave them any reason for them to fire

me.

Q What date were you fired, Veronika?

A The 2nd. December 2nd.

Q Did you try to get your job back?

A Yes, I called hem. I called them. I even have my call

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logs --

THE COURT: We've heard that testimony.

MR. FORMAN: Sorry.

A -- that I called them a few times.

THE COURT: No, we're waiting for another question.

THE WITNESS: Oh, sorry.

THE COURT: I don't know if we're changing topics.

Q All right. What happened next?

A After that, it's when I realized I was like okay, I guess

I'm never getting my job back and I knew that was illegal. I

knew that was illegal so you know what, I'm going to go make a

complaint. Everybody else would threaten to do it with then

and none of them ever did it. I wasn't the first one they did

it to. You know, I just, I had the courage to go and make a

complaint. Everybody else didn't do it. I made a complaint

with them and then I got an attorney because I knew what they

did was illegal.

Q Who did you make a complaint to?

A I went to the City, to the Board of, I forgot the name

of, what is it. The complaint department of the division of

complaint departments for employment, I forgot the name, I'm

sorry.

THE COURT: You can refresh.

Q Was it the New York State Division of Human Rights?

A Yes.

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Q What date was your complaint, do you remember?

A I think it was maybe about two months after I was fired,

so that must have been what, December January -- around

February, I think it was.

Q Why did you make a complaint?

A I was upset. I was upset that I was fired because I was

pregnant. That's the only reason they fire me, was because I

was pregnant.

Q So, after lost your job, did you look for another job?

A Yes. After, even though I still would call them here and

there, I would call my co-workers to see what was going on.

Then I found out that Debra had my position and I was, I was

like, wait a minute, why would she have my position.

Meanwhile, she started way three months after me, they should

at least call me back, you know, but none of them ever call me

back. I never received any calls from them. There's nothing

on my call logs that show any of their numbers, but my numbers

on the call logs calling them. So, I knew I was fired because

I was pregnant.

THE COURT: Ms. Bush, we are going to take a break.

I want to get a logical point to break since we are into the

lunch hour.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will take a lunch break.

In an ordinary day we would take a mid-morning break and we

will take a midafternoon break today. We will probably work

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to around 5:00, but again, sometimes we can finish earlier

because it doesn't make sense to move on to another witness.

The opposite sometimes is true, sometimes it makes sense to

continue to work past 5:00 to complete a witness, so there is

no set time for sure that I can tell that you we are going to

complete our work on any given day.

What I can tell you for sure, we are going to take

the break now and I want to repeat the instructions that you

received in the preliminary instructions that I prepared that

Amanda read to you.

When we take the break you are not to discuss this

case amongst yourselves or with anyone else. You are not to

use the time of the break to conduct any research about any of

the names, persons, places, personalities, statutes that are

involved in this case -- do that either electronically or the

old-fashioned way, by looking it up.

Also, to the extent that you are on social media of

any kind -- and I've lost track now of all the kinds there are

from Twitters to Instagrams to Vines to Facebooks to all of

this wonderful stuff that allows people to know

instantaneously what you're doing at any moment and what you

are thinking at any moment -- if you are on any of that stuff,

you are not to reference in any way, shape, manner or form, by

image or otherwise, that you are sitting as a juror or that

you are even coming to the United States District Courthouse

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in Brooklyn. There is absolute radio silence about that.

Fortunately, the weather is a little bit better, you

will be free to go out to one of the restaurants, one of the

luncheonettes in the area. You are not going to get lunch,

it's unfortunate, but our budget does not permit that, we

would love to be able to buy lunch for you, so you're on your

own for lunch. On future days, if you want to bring your own

lunch, we will find a place for you to eat it in the

courthouse if you don't want to go out for lunch, you are

certainly free to bring it in. We will ask you to try to get

back to the jury room at or around 2:15 and we will start as

close to 2:15 as we can.

So again, no social media, no discussions, keep an

open mind and we will see you about 2:15 after we hope you

enjoy a wonderful lunch. See you then. Thank you for your

patience and your cooperation.

THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: All rise.

(Jury exits.)


(Witness excused.) (Witness steps down.)

THE COURT: Okay, Counsel, here is what the ground

rules are, so that you will know. You are free to leave

anything you want to leave in the courtroom because William

will lock the courtroom during lunch, but if you think there

is something that you have that you think you might need

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during lunch, please take it with you. Otherwise, you can

leave anything you want in the courtroom because it will be

secured during the lunch hour, okay?

So, we'll see you around 2:15.

ALL: Thank you, Your Honor.

(Continued on following page with AFTERNOON

SESSION.)

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53

AFTERNOON SESSION


THE COURT: Any housekeeping before we bring the

jury in?

MR. FORMAN: One thing, Your Honor. I'll probably

be showing Plaintiff's Exhibit 4 on my cross-examination. I

didn't bring a copy but she should have it ready.

THE COURT: That's deemed admitted.

MR. FORMAN: Yes, stipulation.

MS. BUSH: Which exhibit is it?

MR. FORMAN: Plaintiff's Exhibit 4. I'll be using

that on cross-examination.

THE COURT: You are offering that, right, Ms. Bush?

Ms. Bush, you intend to offer 4?

MS. BUSH: Yes.

THE COURT: All right. So it is admitted.

MS. BUSH: Yes.

MR. FORMAN: Just copies for the witness and for the

jury.

(So marked.)

(Jury enters.)

THE COURT: Be seated, please.

Counsel will stipulate that the jury is present and

properly seated.

MS. BUSH: Yes.

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54

THE COURT: Mr. Forman, also, you acknowledge that?

MR. FORMAN: Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Okay.

All right. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you enjoyed

your lunch. We are ready to resume. You will recall that the

plaintiff is on the stand.

VERONIKA CHAUCA ,

resumed, having been previously duly sworn, was examined

and testified further as follows:

THE COURT: You are still under oath.

THE WITNESS: Okay.

THE COURT: Still on the plaintiff's direct

examination by Ms. Bush.

And, Ms. Bush, you may proceed.

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55

DIRECT EXAMINATION (Cont'd)

BY MS. BUSH:

Q Ms. Chauca, after you stopped working at Park, did you

try to find another job?

A Yes, it was after February 9th. After I got fired, I

kept calling them and calling them, and since I didn't get any

return calls from any of them, I realized I was fired. So I

started looking for other employment.

Around that time, I was actually trying to move to

New Jersey with my fiancee, so I was trying to find something

in between. It was a little hard, but I put in my resume as

many places as I could.

When you're a physical therapist --

THE COURT: You have to wait for a question.

THE WITNESS: Oh, I'm sorry.

Q What kind of jobs did you apply for?

A For physical therapy aide or receptionist work, anything

I could find. But usually when you're a therapist or physical

therapist assistant, it's harder to find a job because you

have to go to college for at least four -- for two years and

it's easier to get a job as a physical therapist or a physical

therapist assistant.

As an aide, it's harder because usually everybody

takes them really fast, as soon as they get out of school. So

I tried to apply as many jobs as I could. I got called for a

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56

few of them, I went for the interview.

One of them --

THE COURT: We will let Ms. Bush ask some questions.

THE WITNESS: Okay.

THE COURT: She will feel lonely up there.

THE WITNESS: All right.

Q How did you look for work?

A Internet, I used to go by the medical places and I used

to take down their number, the same way I did with Park

Health, and I would fax my resume.

I went to Monsters. I went to Hot Jobs. I did a

lot of different things to try to get a job.

Q Did you have any interviews?

A Yes, I had about six interviews in Brooklyn. Aquatics, I

got called for that, but it was only for two to three days a

week, you know. So I told them I'll take it and then I guess

somebody must have been on maternity leave, or I don't know,

they were out and they came back. They never called me back

for that.

Then I got called for --

THE COURT: You never started work there?

THE WITNESS: What?

THE COURT: You never started?

THE WITNESS: No. They told me they would contact

me.

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A Then I had applied for other ones. I got called, I went

for interviews for those, but a few of those, they didn't call

back.

THE COURT: Could you fix an approximate time when

you are doing all of these interviews?

THE WITNESS: Around, like, the ending of February,

March, April. I know it was mostly around getting towards the

summer. All that time, I was trying to look for a job.

THE COURT: And this is 2010?

THE WITNESS: Yes, after I gave birth to my son,

yes, 2010.

THE COURT: Okay. We have another question.

Q Did you eventually find work?

A Yes. I went to, which is called Staten Island Physician

Practice. It's in Staten Island and I started working for

them. That was last year. They changed the name which is

called ACP, but I've been with them for almost five years.

THE COURT: You are there now?

THE WITNESS: Yes.

THE COURT: Okay.

Q Now, did losing your job affect you financially?

A Well, I waited so long -- well, I couldn't have a baby

for such a long period of time, so when I got pregnant, I was

happy. I was spending most of my savings. It was my first

pregnancy, so I started spending my savings buying, you know,

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58

newborn baby, you want to buy everything for, thinking I had a

job to go back to. I said, okay, I'll make it up when I go

back to work.

And after I found out I was fired, I had no money

so, and then I had no -- I wasn't collecting anymore for

maternity leave. I didn't have that money either, so I,

that's why I kept trying to call back to see if I could get a

job and nothing, so, of course, it affected me.

I was a first-time mom. I was alone. I was -- I

wasn't with the baby's father, so I had -- I had just found

out my mom had cancer, so everything just affected me, of

course it did, you know. I started getting a lot of

headaches. I didn't know what to do, especially with a

newborn baby, you know, so -- but I did try. I tried. It's

not like I didn't try to get a job. I've been working since I

was in high school. I used to get out of high school and run

to go to work. So it's not like I didn't look for a job.

All my jobs lasted no are more than four or five

years. So it's not like I didn't want to work. I did try my

best to get a job.

THE COURT: And you did.

THE WITNESS: And I did.

THE COURT: Next question.

Q Did you keep in touch with any of your co-workers at

Park?

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59

A Yes. I kept in contact with Ms. Shirlie Evans and

with -- oh, my God, I'm sorry, I forget everybody's name --

Jackie Stern. I always kept in contact with them. Especially

Jackie since we both worked in the same department and we ate

lunch together. We did basically everything together.

Q Was there a time that Jackie became pregnant?

A Yes. I was already -- I wasn't working there anymore and

I used to always keep in touch with Jackie on the phone, and

one day she called me and she told me she was pregnant. And I

was -- I said congratulations. She was like, yeah, I'm

getting sick a lot, you know, through my pregnancy and --



Q Did you speak to Jackie often?

A Yes.

THE COURT: Can you fix a time for this?

Q What time period was this?

A Oh, I always kept in contact with her during my

pregnancy. After my pregnancy, after I gave birth to Josh,

and --

THE COURT: Did there come a time when your contacts

with this woman stopped?

THE WITNESS: Oh, yes.

THE COURT: And when was that?

THE WITNESS: After they rehired her back from, Park

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60

Health. She was also fired for being pregnant.

THE COURT: Can you give us times?

THE WITNESS: Sorry.

THE COURT: So we can know?

THE WITNESS: I gave birth to Josh, September, I

don't recall. Around the time that, I know it was maybe --

THE COURT: Was it in 2010?

THE WITNESS: Yes, I think the ending of 2010.

THE COURT: Is when she left or when she came back?

THE WITNESS: No, she was still there. She was

still there. I think it was 2011 is when she was out. She

was very sick through her maternity and she was out, and when

I spoke to her is when she told me they fired her.

BY MS. BUSH:

Q Did they say -- did she say why they fired her?

A The only reason they had was because she was pregnant.

They have no other reason to fire her.

Q Did they ever take her back?

A After I filed the lawsuit.

Q Did you enjoy working at Park?

A Yes.

Q What else about it did you enjoy?

A Everything. The reason why I became a physical therapist

aide was because I had a friend that was an aide and I was

always in the medical field. You know, I was always in the

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61

medical field so I enjoy being around people. I like working

with so many people, helping them. That's why I became a

physical therapy aid.

THE COURT: The question was directed why Park as

opposed to any other medical.

THE WITNESS: Oh, Park?

A It was a nice place. Big place. Nice staff upstairs.

You know, it was a nice place to work. I never had any

problems with anybody. I liked the fact that they had the

range of motion machine, something else for me to do besides

help with physical therapy.

I enjoyed working there. Everybody was nice. So

many patients. They had a lot of patients coming in all the

time.

Ann Marie was pretty nice when we first started. I

see her once in a while, but I never had any problems with

anybody there.

Q Were you good at your job?

A Yes. I was always good. That's why she asked me to

train with my co-workers. I trained Jackie. I trained Debra.

If they didn't trust me, if I didn't do a good job, why would

she ask me to train anybody else?

Q Okay. How did you feel in the weeks following leaving

Park?

THE COURT: Before the pregnancy or after?

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62

MS. BUSH: Sorry.

Q After you were fired, in -- December the 2nd, 2009?

A At first, I couldn't believe it. I didn't think -- I

just kept asking myself what did I do, did I do something

wrong. Let me at least ask them why they fired me. That's

why I kept calling back. At least get an explanation from

Ms. Garriques. All she said was, we don't longer need you.

She didn't even give me a reason why she fired me.

If she would have at least given me an explanation,

then I would not have been so upset and not having to

constantly worry why I was fired. But she didn't give me no

explanation. Nobody wanted to get in contact with me. Nobody

got in contact with me. So, of course, I was stressed out.

You know, it was hard for me to find a job. No

matter what, I did try to get a job. I was trying to look for

another job as soon as I realized I wasn't going to get my job

back, which that was almost three months that I was trying to

call them. That's why I kept in contact with Ms. Jackie, I

kept in contact with Ms. Shirlie, to find out what was going

on, if they knew anything, but nobody knew absolutely nothing.

Q Okay. Did losing your job have any physical effects on

you?

A Yes. I mean, after that, I just started getting so

stressed out. I started getting so stressed out. I guess I

stressed myself out so much that I started getting headaches.

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63

I couldn't sleep thinking what am I going to do. Is it going

to be hard for me to find another job, because no matter what,

I still kept trying to find it and either I won't get a call,

I wouldn't get a call, so I was like, how long am I going to

be without a job. I've never been without a job.

Q Did you seek medical advice?

A Yes. I went to my regular doctor and I told him that I

was getting a lot of headaches. So he said, listen, I'm going

to give you some muscle relaxers, but maybe you should see a

neurologist. And I told him I don't care where you send me

to, I just want to find out why I'm getting so many headaches.

He sent me to the neurologist. When I saw the

neurologist, he told me that -- he sent me for the MRI -- I'm

sorry. He sent me for the MRI. My MRI came back negative,

and he said, are you under a lot of stress? I told him this

is what happened.

He goes, he goes, listen, it has to be from your

stress. He goes, you need to calm down. He was, like, I'm

just going to give you something for your headache and

something so you could just relax at nighttime.

I didn't want to constantly take muscle relaxers

because I had a newborn baby anyway, so when I had the

headaches, I would take, you know, the medication here and

there, but I've never been the type to be on medication

anyway.

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Q How long did you take the medication for?

A For about maybe a few months. I would take it here and

there when, sporadically, whenever I needed it. I wouldn't

take it all the time.

Q And how often did you see the neurologist?

A I saw him twice.

Q Did he prescribe for you medication?

A Yes. He gave me something for my headache, I forgot the

name of it, and he gave me a muscle relaxer also.

Q And how long did you take the medicine for the headaches?

A For the headache, I would take it at least twice or three

times a week. The muscle relaxers, that was once in a blue

moon. I didn't want to take that. It gets me really sleepy

so ...

Q As you stand here today, do you have any feelings about

your experience at Park?

A Oh, yeah. All I wanted was an explanation. That's all I

wanted, why was the reason I got fired. If I didn't do my job

right, why did they keep me for so many years? If I didn't do

anything right, then why did they trust me with anything else?

They trusted me with -- they didn't have a therapist

on the premises, but then I was good enough to fill in for a

therapist and do notes that I wasn't supposed to, but I did it

because I wanted to keep my job. Anything they asked me for,

I did it. They wanted me to train somebody else. Two girls,

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Chauca - cross - Forman


65

I trained.

They wanted me to do receptionist work. I did it

for them. If I did anything wrong, why they never gave me any

written -- absolutely nothing. They never said anything to

me. All they told me is, Dr. Abraham, you did a good job,

Veronika, you did a really good job, thank you.

If I did such a good job, then why fire me and put

somebody else in my position instead of calling me back? You

understand? So if I was such a bad worker, why treat me like

that?

Obviously, if I'm the only, if I'm the only one that

was qualified for the job, why not call me back? It's not

like I didn't try to call them back. I did try.

THE COURT: No pending question at this point.

MS. BUSH: No more questions.

Just wait there, Veronika.

THE COURT: Thank you, Ms. Bush.

Any cross, Mr. Forman?

MR. FORMAN: Yes, I'd like to cross-examine the

plaintiff.

THE COURT: Please.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Hi, Ms. Chauca. I'd like to start by something you said

last, which might be fresh in your memory.

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66

You said that Jackie got pregnant while she was at

Park Health. Is that correct?

A Yes.

Q And you said they took her back after you filed the

lawsuit. Is that correct?

A Yes.

Q And she -- that was in 2011 that they took her back after

she was on maternity?

A I -- it was around that time that I used to speak to her.

I don't remember exact dates because I wasn't working there

any more. We kept in contact on phone all the time.

Q And what makes you think that Park took her back because

you filed a lawsuit?

A It's after she told me. We spoke on the phone. She told

me. She was sick through her whole pregnancy. She was out.

She told me, they fired me, they didn't even want to give her

unemployment, and a few months later after I filed, I filed a

lawsuit, is when they took her back.

Q Where did you file -- which lawsuit are we talking about?

A The lawsuit against Park Health Center.

Q And do you know the year that this lawsuit was filed?

A 2010.

Q And that was a year before Jackie got pregnant?

A No. That was after -- I think it was around the time

that Jackie got pregnant. No, Jackie got pregnant after. I'm

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67

sorry.

Q Jackie got pregnant after you filed this lawsuit?

A Yes, I think so.

Q And what about this conversation that you had with her,

was that before you filed the lawsuit or after?

A Jesus. I think it was after, after I filed the lawsuit.

Q Okay. So do you want to reconsider your testimony that

Jackie was rehired at Park Health Center because you filed a

lawsuit?

A Excuse me? I'm sorry.

Q You want to reconsider your testimony that you told us

under oath just maybe 15 minutes ago and again when I asked

you about it, that Jackie was rehired at Park after she had

been terminated because you filed this lawsuit?

A I don't remember dates exactly. Okay? I'm sorry. I'm

really bad with dates.

All I know is that Jackie and I spoke many times and

she was in the hospital and she told me Park had fired her.

They didn't want to take her back.

I don't remember exactly what date that was. This

is five years ago, I got fired. I'm not remembering exactly,

exactly what date I spoke to Jackie or what date. Do you

understand?

I know that after I filed the lawsuit, after that, I

think it's around the time that Jackie was pregnant.

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68

Q So she was not rehired after you filed -- well, I'm

sorry. She was -- okay, I'll take that back.

THE COURT: And I am afraid the jury might be

confused.

When did you say Jackie became pregnant, to the best

of your knowledge?

THE WITNESS: 2010 -- I'm trying to remember. I

know it was after I left. So either it was the ending of 2010

or the beginning of 2011. I know it was around that time.

THE COURT: And when do you understand that Jackie

was rehired by Park?

THE WITNESS: That was -- I didn't even know. She

stopped -- once -- I used to --

THE COURT: Let me ask that question. Maybe it will

help. Maybe it will help me.

How did you come to know that Jackie was rehired?

THE WITNESS: She stopped talking to me. She

stopped talking to me. I would call her and call her and she

wouldn't return my calls, and I found out from my other

co-worker, Ms. Shirlie, that she was rehired. That's how I

found out. She wouldn't take my calls after that.

THE COURT: And do you recall when that took place?

THE WITNESS: It must have been around 2011, like

maybe towards the middle or maybe the ending.

THE COURT: But it was after her pregnancy, correct?

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69

THE WITNESS: Yes. This is after she had -- yeah,

she was in the hospital most of the time when she was

pregnant. She was out constantly. She was sick. She would

call me from the hospital. I would call her and that's how I

found out because she's the one that told me. She says they

fired me and they don't want to give me unemployment.

BY MS. BUSH:

Q And it's your testimony you filed a lawsuit after that

conversation?

A Must have been like in maybe, in the middle, around that

time. I don't recall exactly. I know it was -- it must have

been after, after she got pregnant -- I mean, before she got

pregnant. I'm sorry.

I filed a lawsuit a few months after I went on

maternity leave. Then a few months later, that's when Jackie

became pregnant. So it was before.

Q And then a few months after that, you had the

conversation?

A Yes. During the time that she was in the hospital,

that's when I had the conversation with her.


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Side Bar


70

Q Okay. So the lawsuit had already been filed months

before you had this conversation with Jackie?

MS. BUSH: Objection.

Can I have a side bar, please?

THE COURT: Sure.

(The following occurred at side bar.)

MS. BUSH: There seems to be confusion of the date

of the division claim and the date the federal claim was

filed.

THE COURT: This is 2010?

MS. BUSH: This is November 17, 2010 we filed in

federal court, so getting mixed up with the, whatever you

filed the lawsuit, she's thinking division claim.

THE COURT: Well, this has not been her testimony

yet, this also comes before she is rehired, before she has a

pregnancy.

MS. BUSH: No. Jackie got pregnant in May.

THE COURT: Okay. So you know the facts.

MS. BUSH: I know the chronology. So she keeps

saying that she was, she had the conversation.

MR. FORMAN: I can't testify for her.

THE COURT: When did the -- well, you can always

correct her or redirect. When was the division complaint

made?

MS. BUSH: That was in --

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Side Bar


71

MR. FORMAN: December '09.

THE COURT: Of '09?

MS. BUSH: We didn't file the federal complaint

until a year later because we were negotiating.

THE COURT: Yes.

MS. BUSH: Yes.

MR. FORMAN: I'll ask her about that right now.

I'll move on to that division complaint.

MS. BUSH: Okay. So, she filed the federal

complaint in November 2010, and Jackie came back in May 2011.

That's the facts.

MR. FORMAN: All right. Six months.

MS. BUSH: Read the deposition.

MR. FORMAN: Seven months.

THE COURT: You can ask the question about that if

you want. If he does not, then when you get redirect, you

can.

(End of side bar.)


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72

(In open court.)

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Ms. Chauca, it's your testimony that you kept in touch

with Park Health Center for three months after you were told

that you were fired. Is that correct?

A Yes.

Q So you got fired December 2, so you kept in touch a

little after in December, January, February. Is that correct?

A Yes. I didn't keep in touch with -- I kept calling.

They wouldn't answer my calls. They wouldn't return my calls.

I was leaving messages.

Q So you felt there was still a chance that you could be

taken back to work?

A Yes.

Q And when did you file for unemployment insurance?

A I think it was around maybe February. Around February.

Q And when did you file with the New York State Division of

Human Rights for pregnancy discrimination?

A I don't remember exactly what date was that. I told you

I'm so bad with dates. I'm sorry.

Q Well, let me just take a second to get my papers and

maybe I can refresh your recollection.

Thank you.

(Pause.)

MR. FORMAN: I show the witness what has been

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73

pre-marked as Defendants' Exhibit B.

THE COURT: You may.

You can look at it and read it to yourself.

THE WITNESS: Okay.

MR. FORMAN: For the record, Your Honor, this

document has been stipulated as admissible evidence.

THE COURT: Are you offering it?

MR. FORMAN: Yes.

THE COURT: Any objection?

MS. BUSH: No.

THE COURT: Received in evidence, Defendants' D.

MR. FORMAN: B.

THE COURT: "B," as in boy?

MR. FORMAN: Yes.

THE COURT: B.

(So marked.)

THE COURT: And what is this document that the

witness is reading from?

MR. FORMAN: While the jury is reviewing the

document, this is a notice from the Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission to, sent to the Park Health Center. It

says: Person filing charge: Veronika Chauca. This person

claims to be aggrieved. Date of the violation, December 3,

2009.

There's an EEOC charge number and it says that a

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74

charge of unemployment discrimination under Title VII, the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been filed, and it's dated at the

bottom December 11, 2009.

THE WITNESS: Okay.

THE COURT: Do you have a question for her?

MR. FORMAN: Yes. I'll collect that from the jury.

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Ms. Chauca, have you seen this document before?

A Yes.

Q And can you tell us what it is?

A Yes. This is when I filed for unemployment -- oh, no,

this is when I went on maternity leave, right?

Q This appears to be a discrimination charge against Park

Health Center.

A Okay. Yes. I'm sorry.

Q Okay. It says on the bottom that they're notifying them

it's from you on December 11, 2009.

Does that refresh your recollection as to when you

filed the charge of discrimination against Park Health Center?

A Yes, yes, now it does.

Q And when was that?

A December 11, 2009.

Q That was about a week after you were terminated?

A Yes.

Q Okay. So while you were still contacting the Park Health

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75

Center, is it true that you filed a charge of discrimination?

A Yes.

Q And if you were still contacting the Park Health Center,

why did you do that?

A I was still trying to get my job back no matter what. I

didn't -- when I went to file this, I didn't think it was

going to turn out to be a big thing about it. You understand?

I was still -- no matter what, I was still trying to

get my job back. Even if I filed this, I wanted to scare them

in some way. Okay? I wanted to scare them in some way at

least maybe they would call me back, but nothing.

Even, even -- let's just say if I filed this, okay?

Why would I still try to call them? Why would I still have my

call log saying that I'm the one that called them, but they

didn't call me back?


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Chauca - Cross - Forman

SAM OCR CRR RPR

76

(Continuing)

CROSS EXAMINATION

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q That's the question to you, why did you call them if you

filed a charge of discrimination?

A Because I was still trying to get my -- my job back.

Q Thank you.

MR. FORMAN: I'm showing the Witness Exhibit C, I

believe that has also been stipulated to as being admissible.

THE COURT: Is that correct?

MR. FORMAN: I show it to the witness and ask that

it be admitted as Exhibit C.

MS. BUSH: Yes, no problem.

THE COURT: Received in evidence, C without

objection.

(Exhibit published.)

(Defendants' Exhibit C was received in evidence.)

MR. FORMAN: Your Honor, this is a document that

appears to be unemployment insurance notice of potential

charges. It says date mailed December 4th, 2009, mailed to

Park Management Systems, LLC and it says the Claimant is

Veronika Chauca at claim effective November 30th, 2009, at

$219 a week.

(Pause.)

THE COURT: Do you have a question for the witness?

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

77

MR. FORMAN: I'll just collect that from the jury.

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Ms. Chauca, does this refresh your recollection as to

when you applied for unemployment insurance?

A Yes, I told you, I'm sorry, I'm bad with dates.

THE COURT: Okay, she's answered the question.

Q And is it correct that you applied for unemployment

insurance for before December 4th, 2009?

A Yeah, I know it was in December.

Q Did you begin collecting as of November 30th, 2009?

A No, it comes after. It's just -- this is from when the

time that you get fired.

THE COURT: What he's questioning is whether or not

you actually got a claim that retroactively went back to

November 30th?

THE WITNESS: Yes.

THE COURT: And that was approved?

THE WITNESS: Yes.

Q So to the best of your recollection now, do you know when

you applied for unemployment insurance?

A In December.

Q Beginning of December?

A Yes.

Q Just a few days after you were terminated?

A Yes.

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

78

Q And did you tell unemployment insurance you were

terminated?

A Yes.

Q Going back to your testimony, you said that you went to a

physical therapy aid course. How long did that course last?

A About eleven weeks, I used to go five days a week.

Q And did they teach you to use range-of-motion machine in

that course?

A No, they didn't.

Q Where did you learn to use the --

A I learned that in Avenue Medical.

Q On the job?

A On the job, yes.

Q You said that Ann Marie was your only supervisor?

A Yes.

Q What about the physical therapist at work, did he

supervise you?

A No, it was Ann Marie that -- of course, we had to follow

what the therapists did, to help them, it was -- we had to do

what the therapist tells you because that's part of the job.

But the supervisor was Ann Marie, she was the one that gave us

the hours, what time we left, what time we came, if we could

leave early. Anything that we had to do had to go through Ann

Marie.

Q For scheduling?

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

79

A Everything.

Q What else besides scheduling did Ann Marie do?

A Besides that, she did -- well, she did our hours. She

did -- she told us what we had to do upstairs, when to order

the supplies, all her manager job -- duties. Any -- anything

that -- any time we had to take off we had to let her know.

Q Take off?

A Yes, take off.

Q That's scheduling, isn't it?

A Yeah, well --

Q What about the supplies, how did Ann Marie know what

supplies you needed?

A Because any time the therapist needed anything to be

ordered, it had to go through Ann Marie. She the one that

gave us the okay to order.

Q And the therapist would tell you which supplies he

wanted?

A Yes. And every job is like that, the therapists tell you

what they need in the rooms, it has to go through management,

and then we're allowed to order it.

Q Now, you said that several employees were pregnant while

you were at Park Health Center?

A Yes.

Q You were not the only one?

A Yes.

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

80

Q Were there ever any parties for any people who were

pregnant while at Park Health Center?

A The only one that I recalled was Fabiola, which she

worked downstairs. And I don't think it was even a party, it

was just a collection that they did for her.

Q At work?

A Yes.

Q Because she was pregnant?

A Yes.

Q Now, you said Debra, Debra worked as a PT aide and a

receptionist, is that correct?

A Debra was hired as a medical assistant, then she came up

as a receptionist.

Q Okay. And she was pregnant while she worked at Park

Health Center?

A Yes.

Q How many times was she pregnant?

A Twice.

Q And were either of those times before you were pregnant?

A Yes.

Q How long before you were pregnant did Debra get pregnant

the first time?

A The first time was, I think, maybe about eight months,

maybe about seven, eight months before I was pregnant.

Q The first time how much time off did she take related to

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

81

her pregnancy?

A Related -- well, she miscarried the first time. She had

a miscarriage.

Q And how long was she off, how long was her leave?

A She was supposed to be out, I think, for only a few

weeks, and they didn't want to take her back.

Q So the first time that she had a miscarriage she was --

she didn't come back to Park for more than a few weeks?

A Okay, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. The first time she

had a miscarriage and she came back a few weeks -- a few weeks

after that, like I think maybe two or three weeks, the most,

after her miscarriage. That was the first pregnancy.

Q And that was just a few months before you went out on

maternity leave?

A Yeah, I think about -- the most it must have been, maybe

it was like maybe nine months to -- to a year, I know that,

about a few months before.

Q And then she went out on maternity leave again before you

did, is that correct?

A Yes, she went out on maternity leave a few months -- a

few months, yeah, after I got pregnant.

Q And did she come back before you went out on maternity

leave or after?

A No, she came back after.

Q You don't remember her working downstairs while you were

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

82

still at Park Health Center before you left?

A Before I left? No.

Q And you don't remember her coming up a few times when

they needed assistance in the Physical Therapy Department

before you left Park Health Center?

A Okay, when Debra was out on maternity leave, she tried to

come back, they didn't want to take her back.

Q That's not the question. Before you went out on

maternity leave yourself, that was the end of August of

2009 --

A Yes.

Q -- had Debra come back from her second pregnancy?

A I don't recall. Honestly, I really don't recall. I

don't think she did.

Q I'm asking do you recall her returning to downstairs and

on some days she would come back upstairs to help out at the

Physical Therapy Department before you went out on maternity

leave?

A No, no, not that I recall.

Q Is it possible?

A I'm trying to remember, it's been so far back. No, that

I remember. Honestly, I really don't remember.

Q She did come back?

A Okay.

Q She came back, she went out on maternity leave twice,

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once she had a miscarriage and the second time she delivered a

child, and both times she came back to Park, is that correct?

A Yes, she came back because she threatened -- she

threatened to -- to file a suit against them. That's why she

came back.

Q That's what you believe?

A No, that's what she told us. That's what she told me,

personally me.

Q That's why you filed this lawsuit, so you'd do something

like Debra?

A No, sir, listen, I -- I know what I saw. They -- I'm not

the only person they did this to. Okay, maybe they weren't

brave enough to go and file the lawsuit, but I was because I

know it's illegal what they did.

Debra was out on a maternity leave and twice she

came to the job looking for her job back and they didn't want

to take her back and she was upset. She told not only me, but

a few of the coworkers until she said, my husband works for

Con Edison and he told me this is illegal, I'm gonna file a

lawsuit if they don't take me back.

Q So she --

A Twice she did it.

Q I'm just asking, so as far as you know she got her job

back without filing a lawsuit?

A Yes, I guess she did.

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Q But that's why you filed a lawsuit, hoping to get your

job back, is that correct?

A Sir, I know what they did to me was illegal.

THE COURT: No, no, you have to answer the question.

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Is that why you filed the lawsuit, hoping to get your job

back? Is that the reason?

A I knew what they did was wrong.

THE COURT: That's not the question.

A I still wanted to get my job back.

THE COURT: Ms. Chauca, that is not the question.

If you didn't hear the question, I'll have the reporter read

it back.

THE WITNESS: Okay.

THE COURT: Just answer the question. Do not

volunteer information.

THE WITNESS: Okay.

THE COURT: Is that plain?

THE WITNESS: Yes.

THE COURT: Do you need the question read back?

THE WITNESS: Yes.

THE COURT: Please read the question back.

(Record read back.)

A Yes.

Q You testified that you tape recorded your first

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conversation with Dr. Abraham when you told him that you were

pregnant. And what was the reason that you wanted to tape

record it?

A Because of what they had done to the other two girls, to

Debra and to Shereen. I wanted to make sure that I was

recording the conversation that would -- that way, at least, I

would have proof that I wasn't just trying to leave. I had

proof when I was gonna leave on maternity leave that I did

tell them that I was pregnant. I wasn't the only person that

they did this to.

Q What did you think you would catch Dr. Abraham saying?

A No, I knew he was wasn't gonna say anything bad, I just

wanted to record the conversation telling him that I was going

on maternity leave, that is everything okay? He said fine.

It was nothing bad in the conversation, I just wanted to

record the conversation that I was telling him that I was

going on maternity leave and that I was pregnant.

Q And didn't you say that by that time everybody in Park

knew that you were pregnant?

A I was already showing. When I told Dr. Abraham I was

already starting to show. I was very skinny then. I was

skinnier, I had a small belly, but after seven-and-a-half

months it just popped out, of course, a lot of people started

knowing then. I wasn't hiding it anymore.

Q And then you had a second conversation with Dr. Abraham

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and gave him a written note?

A Yes.

Q And why did you give him a written note?

A I wanted to cover myself. I wanted to cover myself in

some way that, at least, I have proof that I showed them that

I was going out on maternity leave and that I will be back on

this date.

I always gave them a note, even when I took

vacation. I gave them a -- I always typed a letter saying I'm

going on vacation these days, these are the days I will come

back. They have those letters.

Q Okay. And when you gave them those for your vacation,

who picked those dates?

A We pick our vacations and we will ask them if that's

okay.

Q Okay.

A They will usually look and tell -- or usually, I don't

know if anybody else would type it up, but I did. I always

typed up my letters and told them these are my vacation --

this is when I'm gonna go on vacation, and they were fine with

it. I never had a problem.

Q And who picked the dates for your maternity leave?

A I did. I typed up the letter. I put the dates, but I

want to Dr. Abraham and I made sure that he read the letter

and if anything was wrong, he could have told me. He could

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have said: No, these dates are wrong, you can't take these

dates off, but he said -- he read it, he looked. And I said:

Is everything okay? He said: Yes, everything looks fine,

Veronika.

Q And why didn't you bring the note to Ann Marie Garriques

if she was your supervisor and she did all your scheduling?

A When I went to Dr. Abraham he didn't tell me to give it

to Ann Marie, so all I did I went to Sheila from accounts

payable, she's the one who kept all our records and he said:

Take it to Sheila, make sure she puts it in your folder. And

I said: Okay. And that's exactly what I did.

Q Was there any particular reason that you went to

Dr. Abraham with the note instead of first going to Ann Marie

Garriques with the notes?

A No, I don't even know if she was there downstairs, all I

saw was Dr. Abraham so I went straight to him. He was the

owner, so I figured let me go and talk to him and give him the

letter.

Q But Dr. Abraham doesn't supervise you?

A Once in a while he will come upstairs. It wasn't a

supervise all the time, he was mostly downstairs. He will

come up once in a while.

Q Do you recall your testimony you said that the only

supervisor you had at Park Health Center was Ann Marie

Garriques?

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A Yes.

Q Is that true or not true?

A Yes, it's true.

Q She was your only supervisor?

A She was our only supervisor and Dr. Abraham, but she's

the one that would tell us for our dates. The letter I just

wrote it for Dr. Abraham. I went downstairs and I just gave

it to him.

Q And you asked for two months on the letter?

A Yes, I must have wrote that wrong.

Q What was wrong about asking for two months?

A No, I must have wrote it wrong because it says here I'll

be leaving on August 27th. If I'm back in November, it's

almost three months. I must -- I put two months, but it's

usually three months. It was gonna take the three months.

Q Why do you say the maternity leave is usually three

months?

A That's what I was gonna take.

MS. BUSH: Objection. Your Honor, this isn't

relevant. There's no question here that she gave the

defendants notice. We've already stipulated to that. They

knew she was out on maternity leave. They knew she'd given

notice on maternity leave. I don't understand this question

at all.

THE COURT: I'm going to overrule it. She's

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expressed her state of mind, he's exploring it further.

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q You can answer the question.

A Oh. I'm sorry, what was the question?

MR. FORMAN: Can we have the reporter read back the

question so I can get an answer?

(Record read back.)

A That's what I figured everybody always takes. This is my

first pregnancy, everybody -- I would ask questions, of

course. I figured everybody usually everybody goes away for

three months, two months, so that's what I wrote down. But

this is why I gave it to him, so he can check over it and if

anything was wrong, he could have told me. He was the owner,

so if there's something wrong here in the letter, he could

clearly read it and tell me: Veronika, no, this is wrong,

you're not supposed to take this much time. But he didn't, he

said everything was fine. He signed it.

Q Why did you want to take three months off?

A I wanted to spend time with my son.

Q I see. And when did your doctor say that you could

return to work after giving birth?

A My doctor didn't say anything about my going back to

work. She didn't tell me when I could go back to work after

maternity leave. She -- I mean she knew already I was gonna

be home, but I was fine. I was fine after I gave birth to my

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son, I just knew I wanted to stay with him those two or three

months and then I was ready to go back to work.

Q Well, I'm asking in what sense you were ready to go back

to work. It wasn't a physical ready. The doctor didn't tell

you stay home for three months, did they?

A No.

Q You never even asked the doctor how long do you have to

stay home until you're better to return to work, did you?

A No, because I was fine. I was fine. I didn't have a bad

pregnancy. You know, the -- I had a great pregnancy actually.

It was very good for my age that I thought it was gonna be a

bad pregnancy, which actually turned out to be a good

pregnancy. So I was ready to go back to work. If I wasn't

ready, I would have never called them the day after

Thanksgiving. You understand? I called them the day after

Thanksgiving. I even called the week before Thanksgiving just

to make sure.

Q By ready, you mean you had spent enough time at home with

your new son?

A I didn't want to take more than that. I didn't want to

take more than that time. That's all I needed. I mean I

needed to get back to work. You don't get much money being on

disability. When you're on disability and you give birth, you

don't get that much money, especially with the money I was

making. I wasn't making absolutely nothing. Of course, I

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wanted to get back to work.

Q But you didn't want to go back to work before three

months?

A It wouldn't have mattered if it was two months, no. I

mean I wanted to stay the two or three months with my son.

Q It didn't matter at your job, did it?

A Excuse me?

Q It didn't matter whether you came back after two months

or after three months to Dr. Abraham or Ann Marie Garriques or

anybody at Park Health Center, did it?

A I don't get what you're saying, I'm sorry.

Q It didn't matter to anybody at Park Health that you were

out for three months instead of two months?

A Well, I guess --

THE COURT: You mean was that ever communicated to

her?

THE WITNESS: If that was ever communicated to them?

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Did anybody ask you to come back earlier?

A No.

Q Anybody say they needed you back, that you had to return

to work?

A No.

Q And even when Dr. Abraham looked at the note, he didn't

question why it says two months, but actually the time period

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is three months?

A No, he didn't. He didn't, he just read -- he read -- I

gave him the letter and he read it and he told me everything

was fine, and that's it.

Q Okay.

MR. FORMAN: I'd like to show the witness what has

been marked Defendants' Exhibit J. I believe that's also

stipulated as to being admissible.

THE COURT: Ms. Bush, is that true?

MS. BUSH: Yes, there's no problem. That's fine.

THE COURT: No problem. Received in evidence

without objection, Defendants' J.

(Defendants' Exhibit J was received in evidence.)

(Exhibit published.)

MR. FORMAN: And for the record, this is a notice of

total or partial rejection of claim for disability benefits, a

one-page document. It is dated November 6th, 2009. It says

the Claimant is Veronika Chauca and the employer is Park

Health Systems. It says benefits were paid from September 4,

2009 to October 21, 2009 at $170 a week.

And it goes on to say: You're hereby notified that

your claim for disability benefits is rejected for the reason

checked below. The first box is checked. It says payment of

benefits is rejected after October 22, 2009, the date you

could return to work according to medical evidence on file.

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BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Have you seen this document before?

A Yes.

Q Can you tell us what it is?

A This is when I -- the disability that I did when I went

on maternity leave.

Q And did you understand it to mean that medically you

could return to work as of October 22, 2009?

A Yes.

Q And that was two months after you started your maternity

leave?

A Okay.

Q And did anybody from Park Health contact you and ask you

when you're coming back to work?

A No, they didn't.

Q Did anybody from Park Health contact you and say you had

to come back to work?

A No, they didn't.

Q It also says: If you're still disabled after that date,

submit additional medical evidence immediately.

Did you submit any other medical evidence to show

that you were still disabled as of October 22, 2009?

A No, I didn't. No.

Q You said that you tape recorded a conversation you had

with Dr. Abraham around July 4th, 2009, is that correct?

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A After July 4th.

Q Right. After July 4th, it was about a week after?

A Uh-hum, about a week when we came back after 4th of July.

Q And so you didn't go on maternity leave for two months?

A Uh-hum.

Q And did anybody at Park Health Center hold it against you

for those two months?

A No.

Q Did anybody treat you badly?

A No.

Q Anybody say anything that, you know, Veronika, you know,

your becoming pregnant and taking time off will be a problem?

A No.

Q It's just the opposite when you spoke to Dr. Abraham, he

congratulated you?

A Dr. Abraham, yes.

Q And then you said you had a conversation when you wanted

to come back with Ann Marie Garriques?

A Yes.

Q And that was around December 2, 2009?

A Yes.

Q And you're saying you didn't tape record that

conversation?

A No.

Q And you're saying that she fired you?

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A Yes.

Q She told you: We don't need you anymore?

A We no longer need your services.

Q Okay. And you understood that meant that she was firing

you?

A Yes.

Q And you applied for Unemployment benefits right away?

A Yes.

Q And you sued them for pregnancy discrimination?

A Yes.

Q And then you said you kept calling because you felt they

would change their mind?

A Yes. At least, I was -- at least, I was trying to call.

I didn't want it to go this far. If they would have took me

back, this -- we would never be here. No matter what, I tried

to get my job back.

Q And is it your testimony you didn't continue to keep

calling back because Ann Marie had never actually fired you?

A Yes, she did. She fired me.

Q It's your testimony that she didn't tell you to keep in

touch?

A No, she never told me absolutely nothing. She said: We

no longer need your services, and she hung up the phone.

Q Do you recall what your cell phone number was around the

time that you were trying to get back to work?

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A God, my old number, 9 -- I think it was a 9-1-7 -- no, I

don't recall my old number.

Q Was your cell phone Number 646-515-3065?

A Yeah, it's still the same one, but before that it was --

they had changed it. Since I changed companies, it went to

this number, everything.

Q When did you change it to this number?

A I think I was still working there.

Q Oh, so while you were working there you had this cell

phone number, 646-515-3065?

A Yeah, I was -- yeah, before that I had a different

number, but since I changed T-Mobile, what they do is they

just transfer everything to -- to the new number. So I would

still have the same call logs. I would still have everything

the same exact thing, it's just the number would be different.

Q But that was before you called Ann Marie back to try to

get back to work in December of 2009?

A Yes.

Q And when you spoke to Ann Marie in December 2009, did

Ann Marie ask for your phone number?

A No, she had that same number. It was always the same

number. She had my house number and she had my cell number.

Q And that number has been continuously in use until today?

A Yes.

Q It was never cut off?

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A No.

Q When you were working at Park Health, were you full-time

or part-time?

A No, I was full-time.

Q And how many hours a week was that?

A About thirty-five hours.

Q And what was your salary?

A Fourteen dollars an hour.

Q And would they sometimes send you home early?

A Sometimes, yes.

Q How frequently?

A About maybe twice, about twice a week.

Q And why do you say you were working for thirty-five

hours, that's full-time?

A Yes, thirty-five hours is considered full-time that I

know of.

Q It wasn't forty hours?

A No, it wasn't forty hours. When I first started it was

forty hours, and a few months after, maybe about four or five

months I went from Monday to Friday to Monday to Thursday.

Q And you stayed those days until you left Park?

A Yes.

Q And was that at your request or the request of somebody

else at Park?

A No, that was them. They're the ones that gave me the

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schedule.

Q They cut your hours?

A If they cut my hours?

Q Yes, from five days to four days.

A Yes, in the -- yeah, they -- they're the ones that told

me to come in Monday to Thursday.

Q You didn't request to work part-time?

A No.

Q And would you say that you mostly worked thirty-five

hours every week?

A It all depend -- it all depend on how many patients we

used to have in. Sometimes we didn't get any patients in the

evening and Ann Marie would send me or Jackie home early.


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99

BY MR. FORMAN: (Continuing)

Q And out of all the weeks that you work, what percentage

were 35 hours a week?

A Honestly, I don't recall.

Q Did you ever work 25 hours a week?

A Sometimes. Sometimes it would be 25, 30. It all depends

on how many times, sometimes she would send, send us home.

Q Would you say that you worked more times 25 than 35 hours

a week?

A No, I think more. More than 25.

Q I'm saying between 35 and 25, which did you do more?

A Probably in the middle, like 32, 30, around there.

MS. BUSH: I would like to read from a transcript

but I have to get it from my desk.

THE COURT: Please.

(Pause.)

MR. FORMAN: I'd like to read from page 22 of the

transcript of Veronika Chauca, deposition on September 16th of

2011. She testified from page 22 -- I'm sorry, page 23 from

line 4 to 14.

Q Ms. Chauca, do you recall having your deposition taken on

September 16, 2011?

A Yes.

Q And after that, your attorney showed you the transcript

of your deposition and you read it?

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100

A Yeah.

Q And you signed it and it was notarized?

A Yes.

Q Let me read from -- a few things that you said that day

on page 23, line 4.

Question: About how many hours a -- about how many

hours a week did you average while working at the Park Health

Center after you were cut to four days a week?

Answer: Sometimes it would be 30. Sometimes 27 or

sometimes 25.

Question: Between 25 and 30 hours?

Answer: About 25. Around 30 hours.

Question: Just approximately, would it be more

times 25 hours or more times 30 hours a week?

Answer: No, more times between the 25.

Do you remember having those questions asked to you

and you giving those answers?

A Yes.

Q And that was about a little less than two years after you

went out, after you tried to get back to work, September 26,

2011.

A Okay.

Q And is your testimony different when you say that no,

more times they worked around, between the 25 hours?

A No. It was around 25, 26. That's why I told you it used

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101

to vary. I wasn't -- I used to punch in and out. I wasn't

looking at my check constantly all the time to see how many,

okay, let me see how many hours.

Sometimes she would send us home a little earlier.

Sometimes we would stay. It all depend.

Q The question was just approximately, would it be more

times 25 hours or more times 30 hours a week?

And you answered no, more times between the 25.

Is that correct?

A Yes.

Q Okay. And isn't it also correct that you had been making

the same amount of money on your new job when you got it, $14

an hour?

A Yes.

Q And you're working 28 hours a week. Is that correct?

A Not anymore.

Q When you were hired?

A When I was hired, yes, I was part time.

Q Working 28 hours. Now you're full time?

A Yes.

Q Working more than 28 hours?

A Yes.

Q And you're making more than $14 an hour?

A Yes.

Q And isn't it also correct that you collected unemployment

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102

insurance from December 2, 2009 until you got this new job?

A About -- yes. I -- yeah. I know I stopped a few months

before I started the job.

Q And you said you were taking medication after you were

fired. And did you take similar medication while you were

still at Park Health Center?

A No.

Q Never took medication?

A No.

Q Were you treated by one of their physicians for stress?

A That I know of, no.

Q Not that you know of?

A Not that I recall. I don't know if I ever seen -- I did

see doctor -- I forgot the doctor's name downstairs. I used

to see him, but he was never my doctor.

Q What did you see him for?

A I don't recall honestly. I really don't.

Q How many times did you see him?

A Maybe twice.

Q Did he prescribe medication?

A I don't recall.

Q Possible?

A Honestly, I don't recall.

Q And you said you wanted to move to New Jersey with the

father of your child. Is that correct?

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103

A Yes.

Q And, but you weren't living with him while you were

working at Park Health Center, were you?

A No. In the middle of my pregnancy, I started to stay

with him.

Q But by the time you were giving birth, you were not

living with him?

A No.

Q And when you gave the deposition in 2011, you still had

not moved in with the father of the child?

A No. We were on and off. We had been on and off for a

long time.

Q And did that cause you any stress?

A No. Well, of course. I mean, you know, it's not stress

like that. You know, it's just the father -- I'm 38 years

old. I'm not going to get stressed out over something like

that. I want -- we knew each other for many years.

Q Yes.

A So he was always there for my son no matter what. So we

were on and off, which normal couples do. We're together now,

you know.

Q But not in 2011 when I took your deposition?

A In 2011, that's -- no, around that time, we weren't.

Q Okay. But you were while you were pregnant for a few

months?

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104

A Yes.

Q But not when you gave birth?

A When I gave birth, he was there.

Q In the hospital?

A He was there, but we weren't physically together, but he

was there. He was always there.

Q But this didn't cause you any stress?

A No, he never caused me stress.

Q You wanted to get back with him?

A We, we weren't really separated like that. We were just

on and off. It was around that time my mom was sick, so I

didn't really want to leave her by herself in Queens. So it

was the whole thing about me not moving to New Jersey. That

was the only problem.

Besides that, we never had any other problem. So I

didn't have the stress of not being with him because if I

really wanted to move in with him, or be with him, he was

always there. He's a great father. He's a great fiancee. I

don't have any problems with him. He was never the problem.

Q And you're living with him now?

A Yes.

Q But you didn't really care if you lived with him or not?

A It's not that I don't care. It's not that I don't care

that I live with him. I'm telling you he never stressed me.

There was never any stress between me and him. He's a great

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105

father. We were old enough to know exactly what we were

doing. So it's not like I stressed myself over him or he

stressed himself over me. We had our son and we tried to make

things work.

If I, you know, if I didn't want to be with him

then, or he didn't want to be with me then, it's irrelevant.

I mean, couples go through that ups and downs. But I was

never stressed over the fact that I didn't, he didn't want to

be with me because that was never the problem. I'm the one

that didn't want to move to New Jersey.

Q How far would that be from Park Health Center?

A Forty-five minutes to an hour.

Q How far was your house with your mother to Park Health

Center?

A About, what, 10, 15 minutes?

Q Okay.

A And the whole months that I was with him, those months

that I was with him, I drove from New Jersey every day without

missing a day to my job.

Q And when you looked for a job, you were looking at Staten

Island?

A I was looking anywhere. I was trying to see if maybe if

I moved down there, maybe I could find something in between.

I looked in Brooklyn. I looked in Queens. I didn't care

where I went. I mean, of course, I didn't want to look in New

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106

Jersey, because I wasn't sure if I was going to stay in New

Jersey. I just wanted something in between.

Q And who did you live with when you were at Park Health

Center and living with your mother? Who else was there?

A My brother.

Q What's his name?

A Ricardo Chauca and Hugo Chauca.

Q Two brothers?

A Yes.

Q And your mother?

A And my mother.

Q Anybody else?

A Their kids. My oldest brother has two kids. Well, one

because the other one is already married and gone, and my

brother's two daughters.

Q Three children, the three children from which brother?

A Well, they're not children anymore. They're adults. You

know, two of them are gone already, so just one now in the

house.

Q Okay. But they were living there when you were pregnant?

A Yes.

Q And they were living there in December when you applied

for unemployment insurance?

A Yes.

Q And they were already grown up?

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107

A Yes.

Q How about the other brother, did he have any children?

A All my brothers do, yes. The oldest one has the boys and

the middle one has the two girls.

Q And they were living with you also when you went on

unemployment insurance?

A Yes.

Q How old were they at the time?

A My oldest brother is 50 and the other one, the middle one

is, he's 45 -- no. Sorry. He's 48 now.

Q You said Ricardo has three children?

A Yes.

Q And they were grown at the time that you applied for

unemployment insurance.

And the other brother is Hugo and he had two

children and they were also at the time when you applied for

unemployment and left Park Health Center --

A No, the daughter was younger. Well, actually -- I'm

sorry. Ricky's son, one of them, he was, I think 17 or 18.

Q I'm talking about Hugo.

A Oh, Hugo? My niece, like one of them was 18 or 17, and

the other one, 20, 21.

Q And that was in 2009?

A Yes, around there.

THE COURT: Mr. Forman, if you are going to begin

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108

another topic, we can take our mid-afternoon break.

MR. FORMAN: Okay. Let's break for two minutes.

THE COURT: We will.

All right, ladies and gentlemen. I am going to give

you, I'm going to be more generous than Mr. Forman. He wants

to give you two minutes. I will give you between 10 and 15.

Okay, Mr. Forman?

MR. FORMAN: Yes, of course.

THE COURT: I thought so.

So it will give you a chance to go back to the jury

room, ladies and gentlemen. Use any of the facilities that

you might need to use there. The admonitions I have been

giving you continue. Do not discuss the case amongst

yourselves. Continue to keep an open mind and we will get

back to you about 10 or 15 minutes and resume the afternoon

session.

(Jury exits.)

THE COURT: You may step down, Ms. Chauca.

See in about 10, 15.

MS. BUSH: Your Honor, housekeeping. I have two

witnesses outside. I mean, I don't know if we are going to

get them today.

THE COURT: What time do you expect them to come?

MS. BUSH: They were here since 2:15.

THE COURT: I do not know how long -- how long is

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109

your -- are you planning on redirect?

MS. BUSH: I have some redirect, yes.

THE COURT: And how much time do you have?

MR. FORMAN: Not much more.

THE COURT: About?

MR. FORMAN: I'll talk to my clients.

THE COURT: How much?

MR. FORMAN: I don't think I have much more.

THE COURT: I didn't think you did.

So I think we will get to at least one of them, I

think then.

MS. BUSH: Okay. So shall I send one home?

THE COURT: Yes, definitely, unless you are telling

me they are going to be like a five-minute witness apiece. If

they are really, really going -- if you both think they are

going to be really tiny, then I will keep the jury longer and

we will stay longer. Why don't you two talk about that and

then you let me know what you have decided.

MS. BUSH: Okay.

THE COURT: But if these are going to be really, 5

or 10 minute witnesses, including cross, 15 minutes, rather

than bring them back, I certainly would extend the time.

MS. BUSH: All right. I'll speak to him.

MR. FORMAN: Your Honor, my clients can't stay past

5 o'clock.

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110

THE COURT: Well, so we should have some -- all

right. If it is impossible to stay past 5:00, then we will

stop at 5:00.

MR. FORMAN: Okay.

THE COURT: Unless it becomes clear that we can stop

even earlier. We will be fluid, to some extent, you know,

what you all think you have to ask.

MS. BUSH: Okay. Thank you, sir.

(Recess taken.)


THE COURT: Counsel, ready to go?

MS. BUSH: Yes.

THE COURT: Did you work out what the rest of our

schedule looks like today?

MS. BUSH: We, we've got to go through two

witnesses, but now I'm thinking we're only going to get

through one.

THE COURT: You mean in addition to the plaintiff?

MS. BUSH: Yes.

THE COURT: Better than none. And after that, how

many you have? You have the one that we did not do today.

MS. BUSH: Yes. And then I'm doing Dr. Abraham for

part of my case.

THE COURT: But after the defendant, you have no

other witnesses?

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111

MS. BUSH: No.

THE COURT: Okay.

(Jury enters.)

THE COURT: Be seated, please.

Counsel will stipulate that the jury is present and

properly seated?

MS. BUSH: Yes.

MR. FORMAN: Yes, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. We

are ready to resume the second half of the afternoon session.

You recall that the plaintiff, Ms. Chauca is on the stand.

Mr. Forman is continuing his cross-examination.

And you may proceed.


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112

CROSS-EXAMINATION (Continued)

MR. FORMAN:

Q Ms. Chauca, can you testify that the person who replaced

you in your job in physical therapy was Debra?

A Yes.

Q And she was out on maternity leave when you left?

A Yes.

Q And she came, you testified she came back after you left

on maternity leave?

A Yes.

Q So when she came back, she was returning from maternity

leave herself. Is that correct?

A Yes.

Q She took over your job?

A Yes.

MR. FORMAN: No other questions.

THE COURT: Ms. Bush, do you have any redirect?

MS. BUSH: Yes, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Proceed, please.

(Redirect continued on next page.)

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Chauca - redirect - Bush

SAM OCR CRR RPR

113

(Continuing)

REDIRECT EXAMINATION

MS. BUSH:

Q Mrs. Chauca, you testified earlier that you operated

range-of-motion machines?

A Yes.

Q And you did that separate to your normal duties, is that

correct?

A Yes, that was separate.

Q Did you get paid for that in your salary?

A They gave me a few checks separate from that, from my

paycheck, and then they would put it sometimes in my own

paycheck.

Q How much did they pay you to do the range-of-motion

machines?

A Sometimes it could be like fifty dollars, maybe a

hundred, that was for the range of motion. And when I did the

physical therapy work that the physical therapy -- we didn't

have a physical therapy -- therapist for three months.

Q So when Park didn't have a physical therapist, is it

correct that you did the physical therapist's work?

A Yes.

Q And you were paid with a separate check?

A Yes.

Q How often did that happen?

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

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A It happened for -- we didn't have a therapist for almost

three months, three -- three to four months we didn't have

one.

Q Three months you did the job of a physical therapist?

A Yes.

Q Do you remember when you filed your complaint with the

State Division of Human Rights?

A Yes, that was after, I think, November -- sorry, I'm bad

with dates. This is the first one because I know there's two

of them.

Q This is the first one.

A The first one, right, so this is -- yes --

MR. FORMAN: Your Honor, what is the witness

referring to? What is she looking at?

THE COURT: Are you looking at a document?

THE WITNESS: Yes, the one that he gave me before.

THE COURT: Could you identify it for us?

THE WITNESS: Oh, sure.

THE COURT: Is there a sticker on it?

THE WITNESS: Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission.

THE COURT: No, is there a little --

THE WITNESS: Exhibit B.

THE COURT: B, Defendants' Exhibit B.

BY MS. BUSH:

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

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Q What date was that?

A That was December 3, 2009.

Q And do you know what date you filed your federal court

complaint?

A That was done around --

THE COURT: Meaning this lawsuit here?

THE WITNESS: This is the lawsuit.

THE COURT: Yes.

A November, November 2010.

Q So nearly a year later you filed your federal court

complaint?

A Yes.

Q And you earlier testified that Jackie was pregnant at one

point?

A Yes.

Q When did she have her baby?

A I know it was a year after, so it must have been -- I

think it was around November, October -- October, I think, is

when she had her baby of 2010.

Q And do you know when she was rehired by Park?

A Oh, way after. I think a few months after that.

Q Was she rehired after you filed your federal court

complaint?

A Yes.

Q Did you ever attend any baby showers while you were at

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

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Park?

A No.

Q Did Park hold a baby shower for you?

A No.

Q Did they hold one for Jackie?

A No.

Q Or Debra?

A No. We collected money for Debra, the coworkers.

Q You testified earlier that you had one supervisor, is

that correct?

A Yes.

Q Did Dr. Abraham supervise you at all?

A I mean there was times that they would send us to him for

certain questions. If Ann Marie wasn't there, we would go to

him, but most of the time we would go to Ann Marie.

Q When you were out on maternity leave, did anyone ask you

to -- anyone at Park ask you to return to work earlier than

the date you told them in November?

A No. No, I've never heard from them.

Q And you testified that you received disability leave, is

that correct?

A Yes.

Q Who pays for your disability?

A Well, when -- I guess it goes through the job, right,

when you have disability? Because that's where I filled out

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

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the paper work. Sheila from accounts payable is the one that

helped me fill out the paper work.

Q Did Park pay your disability leave directly?

A No.

MS. BUSH: No further questions.

THE COURT: All right. You're excused, Mrs. Chauca.

MS. BUSH: I'll go get the next witness.

(Pause.)

(Witness enters.)

THE COURT: Ms. Bush has called another witness and

the clerk will swear her.

(Witness sworn.)

THE CLERK: Please state your first and last name

and spell it for the record.

THE WITNESS: Shirlie L. Evans, E-v-a-n-s.

THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Thank you. Have a seat,

Ms. Evans.

THE COURT: Ms. Bush.

SHIRLIE L. EVANS ,

called as a witness, having been first duly sworn,

was examined and testified as follows:


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Evans - direct - Bush

SAM OCR CRR RPR

118

DIRECT EXAMINATION

BY MS. BUSH:

Q Good afternoon.

A Good afternoon.

Q Please, can you state your full name for the Court?

A It's Shirlie L. Evans.

Q Where do you live?

A Jamaica, Queens.

Q How long have you lived there?

A I've been living in Jamaica, Queens for over thirty-six

years.

Q Who do you live there with?

A My husband and my son that recently passed.

Q What do you currently do for a living?

A I'm retired.

Q How do you know the plaintiff in this case?

A I worked with Veronika at Park Health Center.

Q When was the last time you saw the plaintiff?

A Today.

THE COURT: Before today.

THE WITNESS: I would say 2010. She came to the

hospital when she found out that my son was in the hospital.

BY MS. BUSH:

Q Do you know the defendants in this case, Dr. Abraham?

A Yes, I worked with -- I work for Dr. Abraham.

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

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Q When did you work at Park, what dates?

A I worked at Park Health Center on May 2006.

Q Do you still work there?

A No.

Q When did you stop working there?

A I was let go on December 6th, 2011.

Q What was your position when you were there?

A I did the medical billing and collections.

Q Do you know the defendant Ms. Garriques here?

A Yes.

Q What was your professional relationship with her at Park?

A She was a coworker of mine at Park Health.

Q When you first started working for Park Health, were you

interviewed?

A Yes, I was.

Q Who were you interviewed by?

A I was interviewed by Ann Marie and Dr. A.

Q Can you tell me about the first interview with Ann Marie,

how did that go?

A It was cordial.

Q And when were you interviewed by Dr. A?

A The same day.

Q At the time you were interviewed by Ms. Garriques, what

position did she hold?

A She is the office manager. I had to think, it's been so

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

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long ago.

Q Did she also have a supervisory role, do you know?

A Yes, as a office manager.

Q What kind of things did she do as office manager?

A She delegated job duties. That's mainly it. Hiring and

firing, too.

Q Did you ever witness her hire anybody?

A Yes.

Q Who was that?

A She hired a young lady named Jackie Stern when I was

working there. She hired Veronika because I was working

there. She hired Debra. She hired a lot of people while I

was there.

Q Did you ever see her fire anybody while you were there?

A Yes.

Q Can you tell us about that, please?

A Well, I do know that she fired Jackie. She fired

Veronika. Who else?

Q Does Jackie still work at Park, do you know?

A I don't know because when I was let go on December 6th,

2011 I never went back. So I don't know if Jackie is still

there because I am her god -- son's godmother, but we have not

kept in contact with each other.

Q When was the last time you spoke to Jackie?

A The last time I spoke to Jackie was about 2012, and that

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

121

was in the summer of 2012 when she had asked me to come and

pick up her son for her in an emergency basis. And I did do

that, but when I got there her son had already been picked up.

Q And how do you know that Ann Marie Garriques fired

Jackie?

A Because I had spoken to Jackie and she had told me --



BY MS. BUSH:

Q Your conversation with Jackie, what did you understand as

a result of that conversation?

A I had talked to Jackie because I wanted to know why she

hadn't been at work.

MR. FORMAN: Objection, Your Honor, not responsive.

THE COURT: I'm going to allow it.

A I talked to Jackie because I wanted to know why she was

not at work and she was telling me --

THE COURT: This is while you were still working?

THE WITNESS: While I was still working, yes, sir.

A And I was told by Jackie that she was --


THE COURT: You can't --

THE WITNESS: Okay, I'll rephrase it.

THE COURT: You have to wait for a question.

Q What did you understand as a result of your conversation

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

122

with Jackie?

A I understood that Jackie was not being rehired.

Q Why was she out of work at that time?

A For maternity. She was very sick. She was very sick

when she was working at the office, so she was hospitalized

several times.

Q What date did she go out on maternity leave?

A I'm not really sure. I think it was in 2010, but I can't

tell you exactly. I think it's May of 2010, I'm not sure.

Q And when did you have that conversation with her when she

told you she'd been fired?

A Okay, I know the baby was born in October of 2010. And

right before the baby was born I asked her if she was coming

back to work, and at the time she told me she --

MR. FORMAN: Objection, Your Honor. I'd like both

the witness and the attorney to be admonished about hearsay.

THE COURT: It's not a question about being

admonished.

You can't -- Ms. Bush will not ask questions that

are going to ask for you to give in response the words that

some other person told you.

THE WITNESS: Okay .

THE COURT: So you can't provide that information.

THE WITNESS: No problem.

THE COURT: Because Mr. Forman is objecting to those

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

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questions and the Court has sustained those objections.

THE WITNESS: No problem.

MS. BUSH: Can you read back the question, please?

(Record read back.)

MR. FORMAN: Objection to that question, Your Honor.


BY MS. BUSH:

Q What was your understanding as a result of your

conversation with Jackie when she was on maternity leave?

A That she was not coming back, that she was fired.

Q Why had she been fired?

A I have no idea.

Q Who had fired her?

A Dr. A.

Q When was the last time you spoke to Jackie?

A Like I stated earlier, the last time I spoke to Jackie

was in the summer of 2012.

Q Is there any reason you haven't spoken to her since?

A No. I misplaced her number and I don't think that she

has my number stored.

Q You earlier testified that Ms. Garriques had fired Debra,

is that correct?

A Not fired Debra, no. I know that Debra was on maternity

leave and she did come back to work, but no, not fired her.

Q Did there come a time when the plaintiff became pregnant,

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Veronika?

A Yes.

Q When was that?

A Let me see, sometime -- I would say in 2010.

Q When Veronika went out on maternity leave, do you know

whether anybody covered her position as physical therapy aide?

A Yes.

Q Who was that?

A It was Debra. Debra was the person that covered her.

Q Did Veronika return to work after she had her baby?

A No.

Q Why not?

A Because she was fired.

Q Who fired her?

A Ann Marie.

Q Do you know why she was fired?

A No, I don't.

THE COURT: Did you see Ann Marie fire her?

THE WITNESS: No, I did not.

BY MS. BUSH:

Q How did you come to the information that she had been

fired by Ann Marie?

A We talked.

THE COURT: Who?

THE WITNESS: Veronika and I.

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Evans - cross - Forman

SAM OCR CRR RPR

125

THE COURT: So the basis of your information is what

the plaintiff told you?

THE WITNESS: Yes.


THE COURT: Mr. Forman, any cross?

MR. FORMAN: Yes.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Ms. Evans, were you fired from Park Health?

A No, I was not.

Q How did your employment end?

A I was given a letter saying that my services was no

longer -- no longer needed because of the economy and because

my job was being outsourced.

Q When was that?

A December 6th, 2011.

Q And when you were given that note, were you pregnant?

A No, sir, I was not.

Q Were you disabled?

A No, I was not.

Q So you were fired for a reason other than pregnancy, is

that correct?

A I was not fired, sir.

Q You were laid off for a reason other than taking

maternity leave?

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

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A I never had maternity leave working at Park Health.

Q Okay.

THE COURT: The question is you came to leave Park

Health. How do you classify your departure? What do you call

it? Mr. Forman used the word fired, what do you call it?

THE WITNESS: I was laid off. I have a letter

stating that.

THE COURT: A letter from?

THE WITNESS: From Dr. A.

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q And you said that Jackie was fired by Dr. Abraham, is

that correct?

A Well, let me not say Dr. A. I will say Ann Marie because

she is the one that did the hiring and firing.

Q And how do you know that she was fired?

A Because when I stated this earlier it was objected, so --

THE COURT: It was a different question.

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Not what she said, but how you know.

THE COURT: The rules, ladies and gentlemen of the

jury, sometimes the rules allow questions to be asked in

different ways to get to the same result. And it may seem a

little crazy or nutty to people not in the legal business, but

both of the lawyers and the Court try to follow the rules that

are the gatekeeper of evidence coming before you. So

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

127

sometimes something can be rephrased, other times you'll hear

me give counsel an opportunity to rephrase a question or to

lay a foundation for a question, meaning that there may be a

correct way to get at what counsel wants to do. So that

brings us to Mr. Forman's question now.

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q How do you know that Jackie was fired?

A I spoke to Jackie and Jackie told me that Ann Marie was

giving her the run-around and was not allowing her to return.

Q And you also testified that you have no idea why she was

fired, is that correct?

A That's correct.

Q And you testified that --

THE COURT: Can you fix a date for that

conversation, an approximate time?

THE WITNESS: I can't, sir.

THE COURT: But this is while she's still on

maternity leave?

THE WITNESS: This is right after she had her baby.

THE COURT: Yes.

THE WITNESS: The baby was born in October 2011. So

it was after that. Now, what month, I can't exactly give you

the month.

THE COURT: That's the problem. See, I'm having a

problem. I think I heard you say that it was 2010.

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

128

THE WITNESS: You're correct, it was 2010. I'll

rephrase -- I'm getting my dates mixed up because my son

passed around about the same time. So it was 2010 when the

baby was born, October, because it was almost five years. The

baby's almost five years old.

THE COURT: And we're all very sorry to hear of your

loss, Ms. Evans.

THE WITNESS: Thank you.

THE COURT: Now, again refresh me, when was it you

said you left, you were laid off approximately?

THE WITNESS: December 6th, 2011.

THE COURT: Now, was there a time between the time

Jackie had her baby and the time that you left, were laid off

that Jackie returned to work while you were there?

THE WITNESS: Yes, Jackie did return to work while I

was there.

THE COURT: And that came approximately when?

THE WITNESS: I would say in 2012.

THE COURT: But you were gone by then?

THE WITNESS: Yes. Yes.

THE COURT: So after Jackie gave birth did there

ever come a time when both you and Jackie were working at Park

Health?

THE WITNESS: I can't remember. I cannot remember.

BY MR. FORMAN:

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

129

Q And is it your testimony that as far as you know, Debra

was not fired?

A No, but I know that Debra was having a hard time as well

coming back to work because that time that she was supposed to

come back, Ann Marie was doing her the same way that she was

doing Veronika, giving her the run-around.

Q And was that her first pregnancy or her second pregnancy?

A I don't know. How would I know that?

Q Well, you said you started Park -- working at Park in

2006?

A That's correct.

Q And you left December 2011?

A Correct.

Q And during that period of time while you were working at

Park how many times was Debra pregnant?

A As --

THE COURT: As opposed to giving birth.

A As far as I know, once.

Q And as far as you know, she only took maternity leave

once?

A As far as I know, yes.

Q Did you also work under the supervision of Jamie

Stockhauser?

A Janice Stockhauser?

Q Correct.

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SAM OCR CRR RPR

130

A Yes.

Q And how did she supervise you?

A She never supervised me. She did her job and I did mine.

MR. FORMAN: No further questions.

MS. BUSH: Can I have redirect?

THE COURT: Any redirect -- yes, sure.


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Shirlie Evans - redirect - Bush

VB OCR CRR

131

(Continuing)

REDIRECT EXAMINATION

BY MS. BUSH:

Q You testified that Jackie had the baby in October 2010;

is that correct?

A Yes.

Q And you testified that she told you she had been fired;

is that correct?

A Yes.

Q What date did she tell you she had been fired, if you

remember?

A I can't.

Q Was it after her baby was born?

A Yes.

Q Do you remember whether she was fired when she was out on

maternity leave?

A No.

Q What was your reaction to Jackie telling you she had been

fired?

A I stated to Jackie that you're being treated the same way

as Veronika is being treated and something has to be done

about this.

Q What do you mean she was treated the same way as Veronika

was treated?

A Because when I had spoken to Jackie she had told me that

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Shirlie Evans - redirect - Bush

VB OCR CRR

132

she's trying to talk to Annmarie to come back to work and

Annmarie was giving her the runaround as well and would not

let her come back.

MS. BUSH: No further questions, thank you so much.

THE WITNESS: You are you're welcome.

MR. FORMAN: Nothing further.

THE COURT: Ms. Evans, you are excused.


(Witness excused.)

MS. BUSH: I have one more witness.

THE COURT: Give it a shot.

(Witness enters and takes stand.)

THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Raise your right hand.


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Khan - direct - Bush

VB OCR CRR

133

C R Y S T A L K H A N,

called by The Plaintiff, having been

first duly sworn, was examined and testified

as follows:

THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Please, state your first and

last name and spell it for the record.

THE WITNESS: Crystal Khan -- C-R-Y-S-T-A-L,

K-H-A-N.

THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Thank you.

DIRECT EXAMINATION

BY MS. BUSH:

Q Good afternoon. Can you state your full name for the

Court?

A Crystal Khan.

Q Where do you live?

A I live 135-13 118th Street, South Ozone Park, New York,

11420.

Q How long have you lived there?

A I've live there had for about five years now.

Q And who do you live there with?

A I live there with my daughter.

Q How old is she?

A She is 7 1/2.

Q How do you know the plaintiff Veronika Chauca?

A We were co-workers at Park Health Center and we remained

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VB OCR CRR

134

friends.

Q When is the last time you saw Veronika?

A I saw her a year-and-a-half ago.

Q So, you testified there was a time you worked at Park.

When was that?

A Between May 2009 and September 2010.

Q And what was your position there?

A I was a receptionist in the physical therapy department.

Q Were you interviewed for the job?

A Yes, I was.

Q Who interviewed you?

A Dr. Abraham and Ms. Annmarie.

Q Can you describe the interview by Ms. Annmarie Garriques?

What was that like?

A She reviewed my resume, I was actually referred to

Ms. Annmarie and Dr. Abraham from another doctor because I was

a patient there first. His name was Dr. Gomes. So, basically

I had a referral from him and they liked what they saw on my

resume.

Q And you were also interviewed by Dr. Abraham; correct,

that day?

A Yes.

Q Who were your co-workers at Park?

A Veronika, Jackie Stern and Debra Mehearwanlal.

Q Which department do you work in?

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VB OCR CRR

135

A Physical therapy.

Q Did there come a time when Debra got pregnant?

A She was pregnant at the time I started there.

Q What date was that, please remind me?

A May 2009.

Q And Debra went out on maternity leave?

A At the same time, in May, 2009.

Q Were you covering for Debra?

A When I was hired, I was told it was a permanent position,

so basically, I just took over her position.

Q And Debra went straight out on maternity leave; is that

correct?

A Yes.

Q Did you ever see Debra when she was out on maternity

leave?

A Yes.

Q What happened when you saw Debra?

A She had come by the office in the summer of 2009 to see

Dr. Abraham and Ms. Annmarie Garriques and I saw they were

speaking and after she finished speaking with them, she was

upset. She have crying, in tears.

Q Do you know why she was crying?

A Yes. I had asked her what had happened and she said --



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VB OCR CRR

136

Q You had a conversation with Debra while she was at the

office; correct?

A Yes.

Q And you saw her crying; is that correct?

A Yes.

Q What did you understand was the result of the

conversation with Debra?

A She was fired.

Q Who had fired her?

A Dr. Abraham and Ms. Annmarie Garriques.

Q Do you know why she was fired?

A Yes.

Q Why is that? The reason.

A She was on maternity leave too long.

Q Did Debra come back to work?

A Yes.

Q When was that?

A September of 2009.

Q So, had she been fired?

A Yes.

Q Why did she come back to work?

A She was going to sue them.

Q Who was she going to sue?


Q How do you know that?

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VB OCR CRR

137

A She informed me of that.

Q When Debra returned from her maternity leave, what role,

what position did she have?

A She had become a PTA, physical therapy assistant.

Q So, when she was returned from maternity leave, how many

physical therapy assistants were there in the physical therapy

department?

A At that time, it was two.

Q So, physical therapy aides, I think we should be saying?

A Yes.

Q So, who were the physical therapy aides with Debra? Who

else was there?

A Veronika and Jackie Stern.

Q Did there come a time when Veronika went out on maternity

leave?

A Yes.

Q When was that?

A She went out on maternity leave in, I'm sorry, in

December '09, I believe.

Q And Debra took over her -- Debra covered her position; is

that correct?

A Yes.

Q And did Debra -- sorry. Did Veronika come back from

maternity leave?

A No.

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VB OCR CRR

138

Q Do you know why?

A They wouldn't give her, her position back.

Q Who wouldn't?


Q How do you know this information?

A Veronika informed me of it.

Q What did she tell you?


Q As a result of the conversation with Veronika, what did

you understand had happened?

A That they had fired her.

Q You testified earlier that you worked with Jackie in the

physical therapy department --

A Yes.

Q -- is that correct?

What was Jackie's position?

A She is a physical therapy aide.

Q And did there come a time when Jackie became pregnant?

A Yes.

Q Do you remember when that was?

A In spring of 2010.

Q Did Jackie go out on maternity leave?

A Yes.

Q And did she return from maternity leave?

A No.

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Khan - cross - Forman

VB OCR CRR

139

Q What happened?

A She informed me that they wouldn't let her back.

Q Who wouldn't let her back?

A Dr. Abraham and Ms. Annmarie.

Q Did she tell that you she had been fired?

A Yes.

Q And was she out on maternity leave at the time she had

been fired?

A Yes.


Thank you.

THE COURT: Mr. Forman.

CROSS EXAMINATION

BY MR. FORMAN:

Q Ms. Khan, how many times was Debra pregnant while you

were working at Park Health Systems?

A Once.

Q And that was in May of '09?

A Yes.

Q And she didn't return until September of '09?

A Yes.

Q And other than what she told you, you don't know any

other reason why she was fired; do you?

A No.

Q And what about Veronika? Does all of your knowledge as

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Proceedings

VB OCR CRR

140

far as Veronika being fired, that comes from Veronika herself;

isn't that correct?

A Yes.

Q And the same thing with Jackie. Jackie, the only way

that you know that Jackie was fired was because she told you?

A Yes.

Q And did Jackie Stern, did she ever go back to work at

Park Health Center?

A Yes.

Q And other than what Jackie might have told you why she

returned to Park Health Center, do you know why?

A No.

Q And Debra, of course, returned to Park Health Center?

A Yes.

Q And other than what Debra told you, you don't know why

she returned to Park Health Center?

A No.

MR. FORMAN: I have no other questions.


THE COURT: You are excused. Thank you, Ms. Khan.


(Witness excused.)

THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, it is serendipity

that brings us to the end of our work today. It is close to

5:00, which again, is our target. Sometimes we will leave

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Proceedings

VB OCR CRR

141

earlier, sometimes we will leave later, but that is our

target.

We want to thank you all for your patience and

cooperation. You are going to be leaving for the night so it

is important to review with you again the admonitions that I

have given you.

You are to continue to keep an open mind about this

case. It has just started. Do not discuss the case amongst

yourselves or with anyone else. Should there be any media

accounts of this case, I direct you to disregard them. I

encourage you to disregard media counts about any cases for

fear that you might hear something about that other case that

might confuse you about what your role is in this case, so I

would strongly suggest you try to tune that out as well.

You cannot use the recess period as an opportunity

to do any research, to visit any of the locations, the places,

the names either by physically going there or reading about

them in a book or Googling any of the concepts, the statutes,

the personalities that have been discussed in testimony before

you this afternoon and again, if you are on social media, you

are in complete radio silence. You are not to mention the

fact that you are a juror in a case, mention this case, this

courthouse or the important work that you are doing here.

We look forward to you coming back refreshed

tomorrow. We are going to ask you to return to court at

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Proceedings

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142

around a quarter to 10:00 tomorrow morning at the location

that William, our Deputy Clerk, will tell you.

Otherwise, enjoy a pleasant evening and we will see

you tomorrow.

THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: All rise.

(Jury exits.)


THE COURT: That brings us to the end of the day.

And as I understand it, you just have the two defendants you

are going to call tomorrow.

MS. BUSH: Your Honor, yes.

THE COURT: Mr. Forman, do you have witnesses in

addition to your own clients?

MR. FORMAN: Yes, I think we have Debra and Jackie.

THE COURT: You will have them. So, we have a

relatively full day of testimony.

MS. BUSH: Are you not calling Sheila?

MR. FORMAN: And Sheila.

THE COURT: So there will be three witnesses in,

addition to the two.

MR. FORMAN: Yes.

Would you be able to have them testify in the

morning? We could have them here in the morning before

Dr. Abraham and Annmarie. We need to arrange it because

they're at work.

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Proceedings

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143

MS. BUSH: No, I don't want to do that. I want to

finish my case.

MR. FORMAN: Oh, you don't want them to...

MS. BUSH: No, I don't need them.

MR. FORMAN: You are not questioning them.

MS. BUSH: No.

MR. FORMAN: Okay. I will have them come in the

afternoon.

THE COURT: Okay. Is there anything else?

ALL: No.

THE COURT: Then we will see you tomorrow.

ALL: Thank you, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Thank you very much. Enjoy the evening.

(Matter adjourned to Tuesday, April 14th at

10:00 a.m.)

oooOooo

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144

I N D E X

WITNESS: PAGE:

VERONIKA CHAUCA

DIRECT EXAMINATION 26

CROSS-EXAMINATION 65

REDIRECT EXAMINATION 113

SHIRLIE L. EVANS


CROSS-EXAMINATION 125

REDIRECT EXAMINATION 131

CRYSTAL KHAN


CROSS EXAMINATION 139

EXHIBITS

Plaintiff's Exhibit 3 42

Plaintiff's Exhibit 4 53

Defendants' Exhibit B 73

Defendants' Exhibit C 76

Defendants' Exhibit J 92

* * *