Mediation~What Happened That Day?

The mediation was held in Feb. 2004 in my attorney's office in downtown Charlotte. Present were:
Myself
My attorney William Trosch
His para legal Nikki Jackson
Monica Gardener claims adjuster for Auto Owners
Jeff Bolster attorney for Auto Owners
Judge Chase Saunders the professional mediator

Bolster had called my lawyer in the morning to ask to be rescheduled because the clients husband had not been called by his secretary to inform Mr. M of the actual time of the mediation. Bolster said that Mr. M should be there no later than 2:30pm. Mr. M never showed up. I am so certain that Bolster lied about all that and told Mr. M not to be there; he did not want Mr. M to observe his nasty behavior in mediation. He should be ashamed; Bolster that is.

Bolster admitted complete fault of the auto accident by their client. He assumed liability for the lesion found on my lef knee cap during surgery. He stated that all other injuries were a result of my issues as revealed in his deposition of me in October 2003.

This is a gross misrepresentation of the medical facts. There is no way any issues could cause permanent nerve damage which revealed itself within minutes of the impact.

My lawyer asked Monica how much money Auto Owners had set aside for this claim after their first offer of $3,000 was put on the table. She said they had nothing set aside for this claim and never had. Mr. Trosch was stunned. He asked Monica about a conversation they had in the Spring of 2000 regarding the $50,000 they had set aside for the settlement of this case. She denied ever having this conversation with my attorney. She lied about this in a legal proceeding.

Bolster looked at me across the table and said he would out me and my witnesses in court if this case wasn't settled today. He said that I would loose this case and be responsible for court costs up to $20,000. That is a threat and blackmail. Threatening to do harm to me and my witnesses (gay people in NC can be fired in NC and two of my witnesses are teachers in Charlotte).

We separated at this point and my attorney and Judge Saunders advised me to stay in my attorney's office. Judge Saunders told me I was a very sweet woman and that Auto Owners was doing me wrong. He said if I was not gay this would not be happening and I would get a settlement of at least $175,000! He said he was a judge in many personal injury cases and can tell how much these cases go for.