| |
Judgment
Due Wednesday Afternoon in Three Year Old Century 21 Magic
Realty vs. State L & I Conflict...
(photo by Bob Walter)
Donna Woodard
leaves the Pierce County Courthouse after testifying in superior court. She is a 31
year-old mother of two. She will be crippled for the rest of her life.
by
Dixie A. Walter
May 24, 2003
Donna
Woodard leaves the County-City Building in Tacoma after an hour long appeal
hearing in the court room of Superior Court Judge Beverly G. Grant Monday,
May 24. Judge Grant said she would have a decision about the case by Wednesday,
May 26. This is the sixth hearing Woodard has had to endure since breaking her
back June 23, 2001. All hearing judgments have been in her favor and appealed
by local Century 21 real estate agent Ron "Grins" Pierce who owned
Century 21 Magic at the time.
Labor and Industries was represented by
Assistant Attorney General Barbara Bailey, Woodard represented herself,
Century 21 Magic and Ron "Grins" Pierce were represented by Erin
Dickinson. Pierce did not attend the hearing.
The dispute arose when it was discovered that
Pierce, then owner of Century 21 Magic, Inc. neglected to pay into Labor
and Industries for his employees. Woodard was a property manager for the
realtor and was injured while performing an eviction for Rosemarie Van Cleve, a
home owner's mother.
Pierce maintains, and has testified under
oath, that Woodard was not working for him when she was injured.
Woodard firmly states that she was in Pierce's employ when she was injured.
Pierce also stated that he, in fact, specifically told her not to get
involved with the property because it may have reflected on him as a member of
the Eatonville Planning Commission. Pierce was sworn in as a member of the
planning commission three months after Woodard was injured.
For back story
please see Donna
Judgment Found in Donna
Woodard's Favor...
May 26, 2004
Pierce County
Superior Court Judge Beverly Grant has "affirmed the Board of Appeals
decision to allow Donna Woodard's claim" with the Department of Labor and
Industries. The judgment is against the former Century 21 Magic Realty which
was owned by Ronald "Grins" Pierce when Woodard was injured while in
his employ. Pierce is an agent at Systematic Property Management and a member
of the Eatonville Planning Commission. He was not paying Labor and Industries
insurance on his employees at the time Woodard was injured.
Donna Woodard states she has finally "been allowed my
claim after three years and six appeals. Three with the Department of Labor and
Industries Appeals/Investigations; one with Industrial Appeals Judge Craig C.
Stewart January 2003; one with the Board of Appeals March 2003 and one with
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Beverly Grant May 2004. "I am relieved
that this is finally over, that I can put all of the bad stuff behind me and
look, finally, to the future," said a thankful Woodard.
Findings of Fact from the last hearing:
"1.1 Hearings were held at the Board of
Industrial Appeals (Board) on January 17, 2003. Thereafter an Industrials
Appeals Judge issued a Proposed Decision and Order on January 31, 2003 from
which Plaintiff filed a timely Petition for Review on March 12, 2003. On March
27, 2003 the Board, having considered Plaintiff's Petition for Review, denied
the same and adopted the Proposed Decision as the Board's final order.
"Plaintiff thereupon timely appealed the Board's
March 27, 2003 order to this Court.
"1.2 The Board's Finding of Fact One is correct
and should be affirmed.
"1.3 The Board's Finding of Fact Two which found
that in the spring of 2000, Rosemarie Van Cleve entered into a contract with
Century 21 Magic Realty, Inc., to perform property management services on her
daughter's property in Eatonville, Washington, is correct and supported by a
preponderance of the evidence and should be affirmed.
"1.4 The Board's Finding of Fact Three which
found that on June 23, 2000, Ms. Woodard while acting as property manager for
Century 21 Magic Realty, Inc., sustained an injury while assisting in an
eviction on the property managed by Ms. Van Cleve, is correct and supported by
a preponderance of the evidence and should be affirmed."
Ronald "Grins" Pierce has 30 days to make an appeal to the Board
of Appeals.
Read
Donna Woodard's statement to Judge Grant below.
Please see below for more about this case.
Donna Woodard's Court Statement....
May 24, 2004
Your Honor:
As with any
contractual rental property that I managed, one can never say a rental
property will be profitable each month until the tenants check
clears the bank. The Van Cleve rental house was taken with the intent that
it was to be "a profitable rental." Unforeseen damages caused by
tenants, and lack of maintenance, made it impossible to fulfill the property
management agreement any further.
The Van Cleve rental house was intended to be
rerented as soon as cleanup was done. Any fees incurred were to be paid
with the proceeds from new tenants. But, unknowing to both of us [Van
Cleves], was the condition of the interior of the rental. This house was not
in rerentable condition after the eviction.
Rosemarie Van Cleve came, alone, to Century 21
Magic during the spring of 2000. The only agent in the office that day,
beside myself, was Elisa Pole. Mrs. Van Cleve and I went over the contents
of the property management agreement. Mrs. Van Cleve signed the property
agreement and left the office with a copy.
I did not manage rental properties without a
signed property management agreement. There have never been any
"exceptions." I would have lost my real estate license if I had
done that.
I was not in the habit of discussing my rental
properties with broker Ronald Pierce. I was allowed full run of the
Eatonville property management department. I made the choice of which
properties I wanted to manage.
I started working at Century 21 Magic Eatonville
in late spring 1998. The contract I signed with Century 21 Magic read,
"Century 21 Magic will provide workman's compensation for all sales
associates and said premiums as required by the State of Washington."
The day I was injured I went back to across the
street to the office and told broker Ronald Pierce that I was hurt. I
asked to see my doctor in town, and was informed that the workmen's
compensation had not been paid. I took this as meaning that I could not file
a claim and did not have any coverage. I did not receive any DSHS
[Department of Social and Health Services] benefits. The lady I spoke with
at the Puyallup DSHS office called Tacoma L. and I. [Labor and
Industries]. I was informed that any on the job injury was strictly L. and
I. and that I could file a claim even though the employer hadn't ever paid
the premiums.
I left Century 21 Magic on May 16, 2001. I had
my first operation the next morning. The Van Cleve file and all its
contents were in my office at that time. What happened to the Van Cleve file
and why the Van Cleve name is no longer on the owner account sheet from
2000. Mr. John Stevens did his job well for Ronald Pierce.
I worked seven days a week, long, hard hours, while I
was injured. I did not take any time off work even though I was in
terrible, unbearable pain. I still worked after suffering through
conventional treatments that I paid out off my pocket because I though I had
no coverage. I expected to return to my job, and position, after surgery.
Instead broker Ronald Pierce mailed my real estate license back to the
state, meaning he is refusing to be my supervising broker.
Smiles Pierce [Ronald's wife] was the broker for the
Spanaway, later the Graham, office. I received no personal training from
Smiles at any time. I had no direct contact with Smiles Pierce other than
social. After my claim had been filed she suddenly contacted me and gave me
a letter that she wrote stating that, "I made a mistake, that I
didn't get hurt while working for Century 21 Magic." Smiles Pierce
demanded that I sign that letter, which I would not do.
The owner account sheet for June of 2000 that Mr. John
Stevens "brought along" could not have been my accounting. If
that document had truly been copied from my owner sheets the Van Cleve name
would have been followed by a $0.00 balance.
I face every day in severe pain. There is not
ever going to be a day in my future that will be pain free. I worry
about walking alone, I cannot fight off an attacker. If my vehicle is broken
down along side a freeway what kind of sick person would not notice I'm
nearly defenseless? Walking up and down, even a short flight of stairs is a
hazard. My two children no longer have a "cool Mom" who played
sports with them. And my husband lost a partner who loved to go and do fun, adventurous
things with him.
I lost a lot more than my health the day I was
injured. I lost everything that had made me me. Your honor there was a
signed property management agreement with Mrs. Rosemarie Van Cleve. If a
tenant isn't paying their rent it's every property managers job to evict
them. That is exactly what I was doing when I got hurt. My job!
Thank you for hearing me.
Back
to Top
Back to Front Page
|
|
|
|
We Care!