Massa Campaign Archive
Massa v. Dickert: Libel Case Settled
The following is a joint statement that Eric Massa and I have collaborated on drafting which follows the libel complaint described in this post.
Emphasis is mine.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sanford Dickert, the New York based political consultant, and Eric Massa, the Democratic candidate for New York’s 29th Congressional District, are pleased to have amicably resolved the litigation which arose during Eric Massa’s 2006 Congressional race in which Sanford Dickert served as Campaign Manager. Eric Massa narrowly lost that race to the incumbent, but is well underway with a reinvigorated effort to take the seat in 2008.
Sanford Dickert and Eric Massa express mutual regret that issues arose. Eric Massa has since learned that the allegations regarding Sanford Dickert were unfounded.
Eric Massa regrets and acknowledges the unrealized benefit to Democratic political campaigns as a result of Sanford Dickert’s absence from organized political activity during the pendency of this litigation.
To the extent that misunderstandings in the heat of the campaign were wrongfully interpreted or misunderstood by anyone, Eric Massa offers his regrets to Sanford Dickert and is prepared to use his good name to remediate the foregoing and any harm caused to Sanford Dickert’s good reputation.
In a demonstration of mutual support and common purpose, both men give their unqualified endorsement of each other. Sanford Dickert reaffirms his political support of Eric Massa and Eric Massa appreciates Sanford Dickert’s support and wishes Sanford Dickert well in his continuing capable national service to Democratic candidates and campaigns.
Sanford Dickert has Eric Massa’s full confidence, particularly in matters pertaining to on-line advocacy, Internet fundraising and on-line campaigning and is happy to recommend Sanford Dickert and his political and technological expertise.
Both Eric Massa and Sanford Dickert wish each other well in all of their future endeavors and look forward to the Democratic party having success in the 2008 elections and beyond.
Posted in Campaign 2006, Massa Campaign | 2 Comments »
Massa v. Dickert: Arbitration Hearings Cancelled
Update March 6th, 2008: As of this afternoon, the libel suit is settled and a joint statement for the press will be released in due time.
Arbitration Hearings Cancelled
With just 96 hours left until the arbitration hearings were to begin, Eric Massa conceded that the campaign was responsible for upholding my contract, which was the original reason for this arbitration. Eric Massa also withdrew with prejudice (meaning he can not try to bring them up again) the counterclaims that he had made against me in the arbitration.
While I am pleased about being vindicated against Eric Massa’s efforts not to pay my wages and finally getting paid the money I was owed, it came at a high cost of six months and close to $50K in legal bills, whereas Eric Massa was able to use some of his campaign funds (see [1], [2]) and free legal staff/services to support him through this process. Meanwhile, my political professional life was damaged beyond repair due to his false and empty allegations.
While this is a significant battle to have won, the war for my good name is not over yet. Unfortunately, Eric Massa did not retract or concede the false and inflammatory accusations he made about me that hit the press during the 2006 campaign. The impact of these unfounded accusations still reverberate in my personal and professional life long after the campaign ended.
Ongoing Lawsuit against Eric Massa
I filed the libel complaint (on Nov 2nd, 2006) against Eric Massa to get back my good name
by either winning the lawsuit in open court or getting Eric to publicly concede his false accusations (see this post) as part of a settlement.
While I could have filed the lawsuit before that date (because of his libelous emails), due to the nature of these allegations and the major story of the day regarding Rep. Mark Foley, I knew that any action of this nature could seriously impact the success Democrats were having in taking back the House. By waiting until after the story broke in the national news, I was demonstrating my resolve not to hurt the Democrats in reclaiming my reputation, regardless of whether he won the seat or lost.
Instead of settling, Eric Massa filed a motion in NY State Supreme Court in New York City to dismiss these charges on a technicality. Eric Massa’s lawyers, Dealy and Silberstein, strongly believed the dismissal would succeed. I disagreed.
I could go on with more detail, but if you want to know more, contact Eric Massa at emassa@massaforcongress.com for his response to this ongoing lawsuit. I am moving forward with my life, and this post is simply a way to update the people who have been asking as to where things stand at present.
Thank you again for your support, and I look forward to updating you with more positive news soon.
Tags: Eric Massa, Massa v. Dickert, Eric Massa Arbitration, Eric Massa Lawsuit
Posted in Campaign 2006, Massa Campaign | 4 Comments »
Massa v. Dickert: Statement
This morning, I awoke to see articles in the Elmira Star-Gazette and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - available on the web. I had listened to Rochester radio talk-show host Bob Lonsberry reading the documents from the Steuben County Clerks Office on the air yesterday and his subsequent posting on his own blog about this case.
I have been incredibly surprised at just how accurate Mr. Lonsberry has been in regard to this story. For the most part, Mr. Lonsberry painted a very accurate picture of what has transpired. You can read it here on his blog, “DID ERIC MASSA COMMIT PERJURY?”
Update Nov 3rd: The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle and the Elmira Star-Gazette published my response and the AP ran an article that included the fact that the apartment in question belonged to the student volunteers.
Posted in Massa Campaign | 1 Comment »