Page 7 1 How did you wind up getting involved? 2 I was subpoenaed to come and give a background 3 on his employment, I guess, work and habits, what gymnastics coach or what he did.?or us as a gymnastics coach while at 6 Who subpoenaed you? 7 Twisters. 8 While at Twisters. Who subpoenaed.you? 9 MS. HONOWITZ: Me. 10 A Stacey. 11 Did you have any problems with him while you 12 were over there? 13 A Yeah, we did. M14m- ~W7What type of 15 A Some behavioral problems as far as dealing with 16 the kids. 17 Tell me what type of behavioral problems. 18 A At first, during the first three months of 19 employment, he was a model employee. Came to work on 20 time, did his job, everything was fine. Almost a too 21 good to be true situation. 22 Right. 23 A We needed an iPod, all of a sudden one. 5. 24 appeared. We needed some video, all of a sudden he 3- 25 volunteered to do it. So he came across as an ideal OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 Page 8 1 employee. However, shortly after that, about three 2 months into his stay 3 Are you talking about towards the end of 2008? 4 a We?re talking about, yeah, around Thanksgiving, 5 October of 2008. 6 Okay. 7 A He started to deviate from some of our 8 procedures. During warm-ups, it?s a very structured 9 warmrup, kids are in line, kids go through calisthenics 10 type things like you would imagine for a football teama ll And he was in charge of warm?ups and having kids hang on 12 him. He was taking kids under the armpits and swinging 13 them around. He was throwing kids into our foam.pit. .wl? was told at that time by me since this was being 15 done by or on teen kids or with our teen kids, that he 16 was not hired as a playmate. He was not hired as a 17 babyesitter, and that he had to start conducting himself l8_ as a professional coach and conducting warm?ups the way 19 they should be done.? 20 There were also incidents of him stroking kids 21 hair. There was an incident of him grabbing or having a 22 girl?s face in his two hands and going nose to nose with 23 her giving corrections. There was an incident where he 24 was in area that cannot be seen by anyone, giving 25 a girl a hug. OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 10 ll 12 13 14Page 9 Around Around Christmastime when I returned from a And the thing that seemed to be reoccurring was these incidents were happening only in my absence. Whenever I was in the he was fine, no problem. I would take children to a competition or I would go on a day?s vacation or whatever, and when I came back the other employees would.report to me that these things happened. I called.him.over to my condo on a Sunday Do you remember when? A This was around Christmas or shortly after. And I had.a very detailed conVersation with Ray in my living room about his responsibilities as a coach. That _there was a fine line that had to And on this side you're a coach and you?re a mentor and you?re a teacher and on the other side you?re a whatever, a friend, a playmate or whatever. And his job was to stay on the side of the line as a coach. And that there had been reports that he had breached that line. Things went well for awhile. And then as soon as I left the again to attend a competition, once again, reports of swinging the kids around and Why didn't you fire him or recommend him to be fired? OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 Page 10 A Well, I did. I brought it to the attention of 2 the owner. I brought it to the attention of the 3 manager. 4 AWhen did you do that? 5 A In the Spring. 6 In the Spring, are talking like the time in aw 7 A In the Spring of '09. Yeah. 8 April, May of '09? 9 A Plus, I met with him again a second time. 10 Okay. 11 A And once again outlined the guidelines. 12 So are you saying that he wasn't a good 13 employee is, basically, what you?re telling me? .m14 lHeiwas.angood.coach.nw 15 But he wasn?t a good employee? 16 A He spotted the kids well. He His 17 technical knowledge was growing and learning. He was 18 showing up to work on time. His only flaw seemed to be 19 that his behavior with the kids, that he wanted to be 20 their playmate and friend and failed to be professional 21 as far as the coaching aspect goes. 22 Did you ever write him up, you ever put 23 anything in his personal file? 24 A . Not in writing, no. 25 Have you done that before on other OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 ll 12 13 ,-Page ll A NO. Did you tell Randy about it? A Yes, he was aware of it. And did he ever approach Ray? A No. Because I had told him. I had.met with Bay on, at this point, three occasions. By the early Summer of '09 I had.met with him on three separate occasions. Any body complain? A Oh, yeah. Who? A Three specific female teachers. All three were former gymnasts that AWQ, -iihat.he was working.with or that were employed also over there? A Well, you don?t everyone has their responsibilities. One person?s a dean, on person's a That wasn?t the question I asked. The question is, when you said three people who are teachers, three female teachers, where these three female teachers people that were co~employees of his? A Yes. Okay. I?m specifically talking about in the question and maybe it was too vague - specifically talking about in the question any parents, ehildren, OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467*8204 Page 12 kids, fathers, custemers of American Twister complain about Ray's inappropriate behavior? A No. What teachers complained A However, his colleagues did. 9 Okay. A Because the colleagues are in close perspective as to where he is and what: he's doing and how he's coaching and how he's spotting. what colleagues? A They're there and they can hear his Comments. They can see him spotting' They can see him stroking the girls' hair. The parents in many cases aren't even there or they're at the other side of the where this can't be observed' 9 Okay. What A so his colleagues who were in the exact area where he was in complained to me. what are the colleagues' names? A -- Does she still work there? A Yes. she does, Spell the last name, please. A I'm not sure, And who else? OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467--8204 2 that have no clue with -- 5 Do e11 You say -sti11 works 7 there. What about-and 8 A They a11 do. 9 Okay. And t'ney can be contacted there? A Yes, they can. 11 Did they ever tell you that. .. what they 12 witnessed? 13 A Yes. they did. 14 And did they ever tell a 15 A That was the source that I knew. 16 Okay. 17 A Because many of this behavior happened when 1 18 wasn't there 19 9 Okay. And what about," what about Randy, did 20 Randy know about it? 21 A Yes. he was aware of it. 22 okay. Did he ever te11 you that we need to 23 fire Ray or reel him in or do anything like that after 24 the Spring of 2009? mm 25. A. . OFFICIAL REPORTING LLC (954) 467-8204 Page 14 1 And what did you say? 2 A To use your term, reel him in. 3 Okay. 4 A, He was already.notified. Randy was told that I 5 had met with him on three occasions. 6 Okay. 7 A. He was told that, what his behavior was like. 8 And his comment to me was keep an on him. So that?s 9 what we were continuing to do. 10 .Was that the pizza meeting that you refer to? 11 A No. 12 What's the pizza meeting? 13 A That came The pizza meeting, Ray "-14-W-wr continuedmto complain to me each time.that we had 15 meeting that the girls were picking on him, that the 16 girls were, you know, watching over his shoulder. And 17 . in August of ?09 I got tired of the girls telling me one 18 thing and him telling another thing. 19 Well, what were the girls telling you? 20 A, These exact things that I had then observed. 21 Holding girl's hand in the face, stroking hethair. 22 Okay. 23 A Rubbing their belly, hanging on him, allowing 24 the kids to hang on him, spinning them around. 2% And why?were the girls a OFFICIAL REPORTENG SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 Page 15 a Well, in one particular case, in case she has three kies that were in gymnastics. And she said if he was doing that to my kid 1 would yank them out of the program immediately, That wasn't my question. But why were the girls saying he was being inappropriate with them? A Yeah. That he was being inappropriate in his professional dealing with the kids as a coach. Okay. Because he was touching them inappropriately? A He was touching them in a way that they felt was not necessary. And could you give me the names of the children who said that? A The children didn't say that. The coaches did. So you're saying that the children told the coaches and the coaches came to you? A No. I'm telling you that the coaches came to me telling me that this is what: he was doing to the kids. 0 Right. But you just A The kids never came to me to complain about him. Well, you said the pizza meeting was where the children had made complaints? OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 457-8204 Page 16 A No, I dian't. No. I started to talk about the pizza meeting and you cut me off. All right. I'm sorry. GO ahead. A So let me tell you about the pizza meeting. what I started to tell you was the girls were continually telling me that this was happening in my absence. I said, I know, I've observed it myself, and I talked to him on three occasions. when you say the girls, you're talking about your coaches? A The three Coaches. 0 Okay. That's where I misunderstoodi A Okay. SO the girls, the three Coaches, and the situation in our is that our class program is held at one end of the gym, our team program is at the other end of the gym, And there's a transparent curtain that goes between. So these three girls and Ray and myself and about five other Coaches all work in this relatively small confined area. so they're in direct Observance and we are in observance and observation of each other constantly. When I'm working with a girl tumbling, right across the way is -working with kids on beam. So we're always viewing, not observing each other as we work . OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467-8204 Page 1? The girls are telling me when 1 go away it is 2 continuing to happen. I told them that I had met with 3 Ray on three occasions. And it finally go to the 4 And Ray was complaining that these girls are 5 picking on.himr So the pizza meeting was at the end of 6 the summer. It was in early August. We all went out 7 for lunch. And.my first comment was, okay, guys, you're 8 complaining about him, he's complaining about you.? 9 Let's get the table all cleared and let?s bring 10 everything to the forefront. Ray, you go first. You ll know what the complaints have been. And Ray said, well, 12 I want the girls 13 MS. HONUWITZ: Excuse me for one second, .214 .Garylwah ismafter you had the meeting 15 him in the condo, correct? 16 A Oh, after that and then after another meeting 17 and then after a third meeting. 1 8 MS . HONOWITZ Okay . 19 A I had already met with him on three occasions. 20 MS. HONOWITZ: Without the girls? 21 A Without the girls. 22 MS. HQNUWITZ: Okay. 23 A Me and him, be more professional, draw a line 24 in the sand, these are unacceptable things to do. Don?t 25 let the girls hang on your legs and try to walk around, OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 Page 18 don?t take the girls under the armpits and spin them around with your hands under their armpits, spinning them around like a helicopter. This is inappropriate. You?re not hired to be their babywsitter. ?You're hired to be their gymnastics coach. The parents are not paying for you to have a playmate. They are paying for you to coach their kid in gymnastics. This had all been set out three meetings before. During the early Summer of ?09 I was away at meets almost every other weekend with our elite kids. And every weekend when I came back the girls, meaning the three coaches, were saying some of these behaviors had continued. So at the end of the Summer, or not the and it was almost the 3.9995, theSum?merm week or second week in August, we had a pizza meeting. My idea was let everybody sit down, eat a pizza and confront. Let?s get the table cleared. Ray declined to speak first. The girls, in turn, told him this is what I?ve observed you doing. I saw you in an area where no one else could be seen and walked around the corner and you're hugging and embracing this kid. That?s inappropriate. If it were my kid I would yank my kid from the program. And.they went through all these things that I've already previously mentioned. OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 Page 19 Ray sat and did not deny any of them. No comment. So then I asked Ray to speak. Ray, what do you have to say. Well, I don?t have a lot to say except these girls are just watching over my shoulder. And I said, well, I?m going to tell you something, Ray. Now, I'm asking them.to do it. Because without you denying these things, and I have seen you doing some of these things, and it seems as though you are continuing to do these things, I am telling the girls right now that I want them to continue to observe you. And any more behavior like this will mean dismissal from our program. That?s the last I saw of Ray. He didn?t come to work.after that-- He was supposed.to start a 3D or 33 hour contract to teach. The was closed for a week for maintenance. And then we were supposed to start up teaching. The first day of class, no show. No notice, no nothing. So I emailed him and said where are you, I have to cover your schedule. He emailed back and said I?ve turned in my notice, two weeks notice. I emailed back and said it seems like it?s two hours, not two weeks. And I didn't see him since then or he was never in our again. Did you ever get an email from.him on August 24th, 2009, approximately 12-00 to you, guess, t9 OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 Page 20 Clayton? A Yeah. Does it start out, Gary, I can?t thank you enough? No. A No. It says I regret that I must tender my resignation? A Yeah, I have that. All right. How When was that in conjunction with the reopening of the gym? A What?s the date on that, the.24th? Yeah. A Yeah, I have it right here. If you have a the first day of class. August 24th was a Monday, correct. A Yep. When was the pizza meeting? A The pizza meeting was at least a week before that. Was the week or a week and a half before that. Because the closed for maintenance. And I know it was the end of the Summer and I wanted to clear the air. Because I remember saying at this pizza meeting, let?s clear the air, let's start the new year, everybody being friendly and working together. So it was right OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467*8204 Page 21 1 before the week we were closed. 2 'No notice to me or anybody else until the first 3 day of class. And then a no show and this email. 4 I followed up with an email and said it seems 5 like you gave us two hours notice, not two weeks. He 6 followed that up with thank you for getting back to me, 7 I truly enjoyed working and learning from you. 8 And then you responded to some of the stuff 9 that you responded to and that was the end of the email? 10 A Yeah. And I said I thought we got everything 11 out in the open at the pizza meet. We all knew what the 12 issues were. 13 Well, it was clear that girls didn't, the girl 141,,1 coaches} didnft like him or liked what he was doing271 15 A Yeah. I think it's wrong to phrase it that 16 they didn't like him. They didn't like the way his_ 17 behavior with the young eight, nine, ten~year~old 18 girls. They didn?t like that. 19 Did you ever ask the coaches as to whether or 20- not they liked Ray Adams? 21 A No.. 22 And other than what you just said you have no 23 other information concerning anything that occurred on 24 September 23rd, 2009? 25 A No. The only assumption that I personally ma?a OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467-8204 10 11 12 13 14minPage 22 was it had he, and it?s an assumption and it's my opinion, and my opinion is that once he was told that I want the girls to watch him and that he knew he was being watched, I never saw him again. That was it. Never came back in our gym. Or, obviously, he was looking for another job because he got a salary position at Bieger. And also A Yeah. there was an issue with respect to health insurance with your gym.versus health insurance at Bieger? A You?ll have to ask him about that, because I don't know you, reamed. .tg .email,,-that you, said there was an issue with respect to health insurance. A Well, he had wanted more hours so that he could go on our health insurance, yeah. But as far as when that transpired, whether that contract with Bieger was ?in place prior to the pizza meeting or whether that all happened in the seven to ten days he walks out of the pizza meeting knowing that the girls have my approval to watch him and observe him. And he knows that this is now our fourth meeting. And he knows that if he misbehaves again that he will not have a job OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 Page 23 1 there. He was told that. 2 MS. HONOWITZ: He was told that at the 3 pizza meeting? 4 A Yes, he was. He was told this is it. In fact, 5 I remember specifically strike one, strike two, strike 6 three. Because I had met with him three times. And he 7 related to that in his thing saying that it was 8 insecurity or not knowing at some point I 9 remember reading in an email that his position there 10 was, I don?t want to make a quote because I know it?s in 11 here somewhere about his, his job status at our place 12 was tentative or shaky. 13 But, like I said, there's nothing else that you . know aboutithe incident ormanything?, 15 A Now, after he left we go about our business. 16 What happened over there is irrelevant, I mean, as far 17 as what our team, we need to 18 Right. You had no more contact with him? 19 A ND more contact with himl 20 Is that rightcompetition probably five months 22 later and nothing in between that. 23 MS. HONOWITZ: And, Gary, did Andrea at 24 Is it Bieger? 25 A Bieqer. OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467~8204 Page 24 1 MS. EONOWITZ: Did she ever call you for 2 a reference? 3 A No. 4 MS. HONOWITZ: Nothing further. 5 When you hired him did you run a background 6 check? 7 A Yeah, I called three people or I called, 8 actually, here's what I did. I called two people. 9 Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy. I talked to the 10 secretary there. And she said, oh, he's a nice guy. I 11 talked to their head coach there and she said he didn't 12 get along with the other people and left. And I said 13 what do you mean? She said he didn?t get along with .14 It motherlpeople,andmhe_left- ,And I said, well, could you. 15 be more specific. And she said he didn't get along with 16 other people and left. said, okay. Ohwious 17 MS. Was the other one Buckeye? 18 A And then I called Buckeye and I was told the 19 same thing. And having been a owner and knowing the 20 atmosphere out there that if you say something bad or 21 bad mouth someone that is just being called for a 22 reference, and he said almost the identical same thingsituation with team people and he didn't 24 get along with the other coaches on the team. And I 25 think there thev might have fired him OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467~8204 10 11 12 13 ,Wl4 Page 25 Now, at that point I had talked to him.about it. I said I called these two places and they both and he said, well, yeah, they don't go along with the techniques that I like and the coaching and that type of thing. And.I said, well, is the same thing going to happen when I call Treasure Coast, which is where he came from. And Ray said, no, that?s a different situation. And I said in what way. He said, well, I had an affair with the coach up there and I broke it off. And.when I broke it off then_she went after me and started saying things about me that just weren?t true. And I said, oh, okay. followed up on it. But I didn?t because I thought it was an awkward situation to call up the former employer and.say, hey, by the way, I understand he had an affair with you and he broke it off and you?re heart broken and started talking about him. So I never followed that up. Thanksgiving, no, Christmastime of '08 she came she was at a competition with me and came over and' said why do you have that guy working for you. We had all kinds of problems with him. And I said, well, I 4.3.1 didn?t call you because he said and qhe said that OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 Page 26 totally not true. I said, well, I'm sorry but that?s why I never called you. Because I thought it would be an embarrassing situation for us both. And I already called two other people and was comfortable with their explanations. He had worked with me personally side by side most of the time. Never a problem. I'd give him jobs to do, go over there and spot this kid. I?ll do this, you go do that. Never more than ten feet from me. Never a prohlemu The only problem seemed to be when I was away. CRO EXAMINATI ON BY MS . HONOWITZ Gary, when was the pizza meeting, do you remember? A The pizza meeting was early August. or? A It was either around the 7th or the 14th, I'm not sure when. Of '08? A No, '09. Okay. So it was Christmas of ?08 when you saw the girl from Treasure Coast, correct? A Christmas of '08. We were hosting a meet and she came up to me and said is that quv on the floor OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954Y 467-8204 Page 27 1 coaching your kids. I said, well, he?s one of our 2 coaches, along with seven others, eight others. 3 So you?re saying, you know, what happened.when 4 you were away. I mean, there wasn't any kind did 5 you feel you believe these girls; am I right? I 6 mean, did you at any point think to yourself that maybe 7 they hate him and they were just making this all up 8 A No. 9 or you believed what they had to say? 10 a No. I totally believed them. One of them is- 11 an older lady that has three grown children that are in 12 college. 13 And here's the other thing that made it valid. -44 basiCally, coach dance and 15 bean and floor exercise 16 Yeah. 17 A and the guys coach tumbling and vulking and 18 bars. So there was never a situation where, oh, if he 19 really likes Ray, Ray is going to take my job. There 20 was never a situation where if you do well you are going 21 to take your boss' fob or somebody that's been there 22 longer. Because their jobs were completely separate and 23 distinct. 24 There would have been no reason to ,25 A So there was no reason for them to fabricate OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467~8204 Page 28 any type of stories. Plus, I observed him.actually doing these things after he had worked.wdth us a little bit longer, a little bit longer, and I observed it. And when I did is when I had the meeting. Ray, you're not allowed to do that. That?s going beyond.the coaching parameters. Give me the date he started with you again. A His first paycheck was on it started June 10th. Now, he had dome some substituting and.some part?time work, I think, as far back as April. Of ?08? A But he got his actual Of '08. And then he got his first actual paycheck for work between Jmelath 31,19, Junewth the? was?is first paycheck, 1'7 hours of work. And he left in August of ?09? A Yeah. MS. HONOWITZ: Okay. Russell, do you have anything else? MR. WILLIAMS: NO. You could read this deposition or waive the reading of this deposition. If you read the deposition you have to come back here to make sure that he transcribed everything accurately. Most people waive their reading. OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC 10 11 12 13 Page 29 As you can see, he has a whole bunch of stuff here to make sure it's accurately transcribed. If it does get transcribed, and I anticipate it will, if you?re called to testify at trial, you'will have an opportunity to review your testimony before you get on the stand. Or she has a copy, Stacey has a copy of it beforehand. THE DEPONENT: As long as I have a chance to review it. MR. WILLIAMS: Waive. (Thereupon, the deposition was concludedOFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954) 467?8204 Page.30 CERTIFICATE STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF BROWARD I, COREY HILDUM, a Court Reporter, do herehy certify that I was authorized to and did report the deposition of GARY, ANDERSON, a witness called in the above?styled cause; that the Witness was first duly sworn by me; that the reading and signing of the deposition were not waived by the witness; that the foregoing pages constitute a true and complete record of notes. I further certify that I am not an attorney or counsel of any of the parties, nor related to any of the parties, nor financially interested in the action. Dated this 17th of June, 2010CHASE HILDUM Paragon/NEE OFFICIAL REPORTING SERVICES, LLC (954.) 467?8204