Free Statement - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

Thayer v. Terravita Country Club, Inc., etal.
U.S. District Court Case No. ClV—03·-2525 PHX DKD
Statement of Facts in Support of
Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment
dated September 30, 2005
Exhibit A—29
Case 2:03-cv-02525-DKD Document 94-35 Filed O9/30/2005 Page 1 of 4

_ Community Story 15 Page 1 of 2
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March 20 —AprlI 1, 2003 Issue, Vol. tx"
Serving North Scottsdale, North Phoenix, Desert Mountain, Desert Hill
, River, Pinnacle Peak, Terravlta, Troon, Legend Trail, Rio Verde, Tatum ‘,
' Winneld, The Boulders, Carefree and Cave Creek
I.
COMMUNITY NEWS sonnews@a
rcrrsvna ls anyone minding the
.·.Front Page News SYUTE . .,._.,. E; Eb E3 wl? sgi
_ Business COI]DOI'EIfE BXDBTISGS OI' 6fTl,DlOyE.'*& perks me
' '·*"*‘" one wild --»1, er- --- FI
··-¤.T...st¤mm¤¤ii g tj- rj
.'.SCDuSdEIE ` 7 7
‘L‘_` _ SGOTTSDALE- Company credlt cards are _
-. , - sometimes Issued to employees wlth large -
e ¤ rarru - »·¤rtar =»r*E gxpens accounts due to travel ¤r Sales f¤i¤l¤d Soma ur Tgrrgvltzls employees, who have been
. '.Health n $g:';r::J:1n2°m °xpE"s°S’ °r fm. gas H may grave provlded company credlt cards and the authority
‘ . ‘ charge to Terravltas accounts, have charged
_-_5Er,·|ma|1gl - Terravlta Issues credlt cards to employees who Everything from camns uf dgamuas to landsca
A ch {P appear to have no need forfotplo. Not :`o;*$l;;1;Isl:1ess their wm h¤mB_ -
.T§,i¤¤ ¤¤ am s an wa .Someo erecep a
___Dwng & Emertalnmam §tI;d|f:?;?r;s ln! reflect what appears to be an enormous amount of abuse, at the expense of the com
em o ng em.
.·.Mark Your Calender Ang, the credlt card company Terravlta utstes chzrgeslap APR pfd23§9 percent, whlccirehsséted in $329.
fl h f rl te a ments overt reeo e ng pero s onoran ews ro e .
Ozingztplozlggswho glsopovfvns hls own landscaplng business, has the authorlty to charge to Terravlta’
.·.Outdoor Et Sgorts corporate accounts as well. ·
l-li b I I listed on the Arlzona Secretary of Stats webslte under Trade Names and Service llllar
- '·..LE.H°"°$°° B Alihozzgzishgsnt updated that information since moving ln October 2001, the phone number drsplay
. Lggalsrpubllc Nutmeg his business ls a local number wlth a 408 prehx. Since that prefix does not extend to ellher hrs old or h
_ ` `_ address, Sonoran News declded to give the number a jlngle. The phone number ls hllled to Terravlta.
I specifically, It rings dlreclly to that employes department at Terravlta, as he announces on the outgol
{JF I E I ssa E.
lrplfe errgployee earns close to $100,000 per year, lncludlng artauto, clothing and cleaning allowance?
"‘DPi"I°" bonus and other perks. Much more, lf you conslder the following:
·-··· ·U.lLV-lil In December 2001, less than two months after purchaslng a new home, he charged landscaping materl
___p;a,, H agar,-, Sam Terravlta's corporate account, and had them dropshlpped to hls new address. _
_ The Involce totaled $326.89, Including an addltlonal $2H:harge because his home Is out of thelr norms-;
--·--· ...._L.. Gi-IE5! Ed”°"'·?l delivery area. The Invoice appeared to be routlnely accountroded and paid by Terravlta. When Terrav
_ Letters to um Enum former executive manager noticed that the materials were delivered to the Employesttome, she brou
‘ ·———-— a gan acm-u members attention and was told that he "would take ¤¤f¤ ¤f li-
.·.Submlt a Letter May 2002 credlt card charges for that same employee totaled $1,341.19. Receipts Indicate that his wllo
$495.60 at Safeway for four bottles of Jose Cuervo, Margarita mlx, cases ot Corona beer, Mallbu Rum,
r' Sec, cases of soft drlnks, ]ulce, bottle openers, llmes, plates, napklns, cutlery, and more to the employ
NIEB pumps-my credit card li¤iW¤°¤ Mail" ‘*“° “;°V,g‘ tm d Id th , nr ut CI ce da Maw FEW lh
_.,AnlmalsIPet.s Terravlta employees, r questlng they not e en e , sa a was a or e n
L“""""" attended at the employees home that Sunday.
-'-Al-ll¤i|'l¤NVB They also sald an enormous amount of food was catered by Torravlt$' Gxccullvo chef, BGCDTUIPQ to T
_ management, wlthout managemenls knowledge or authorization. Attendees sald, he prepared chatln
' ' upon chaflng dlsh, upon chaflng dlsl1' olflhllekxlcan culsllno. ih f H um clutmng and cleaning ann
E th h th I ee rece vos a c ec every o or mon or a a
er\::1r;oy§:s? say ‘;lgr3E\?:S a company vehicle and hls credlt cagd rerzlelgts lnsléclrgg h:Pcl·:a}·gos glp-gtlltsgna
-'·£1..3£ I t hl dlt ard. Recel ts show that he c arge a mos a o o a p r
-··A.Lfl..“ claaal Eds gstlgtrlgnd otla1d:r¤::t;?1?r¥gcs·ior ; at the Nev•FRlver Outlet Mall and $69.35 at Cameo Cleaners. He charg
. 83.24 t Frozen Drinks Unllrnlted.
` ` gn a Ssturday, slx days alter hls Cinco de Mayo bash, he charged $119.35 at Harold Cave Creek Corr
.·.SubmIt a Classified June charges totaled $1,302.04, wlth receipts for $22.70 at Cameo Cleaners, $119.24 at Plnata Nueva
Restaurant and charges at Fel Wel Aslan Diner and the Qulll Creek Ci!
There's a $292.40 charge at Rants; Seavlce Corporation, two charges of $119.97 each at the Lone Caclu
n ` ` " Landfill and $309.00 at Sears o uc . _
,._ Th me em lo ee charged $1 193.73 ln October lncludlng $84.57 for stx rolls of photo flnlshlng and
, negrsrglls of Klcdglr 800 film. On bot. 3, he charged two 3q:lacks of Budweiser beer at Four Sons Chevr
-‘·. S“b$°V}b° " Station and $80.50 at Uncle Loule Plzza. On Oct. 16, he charged $233.10 at Anasazl Stone and $551.40
S WI d N .
Hg lggrchargsd $L1;§.?lIgat Mercado y Carnecerla, a Mexican market and butcher shop.
.·.Past Issues November charges were only $343.74, racking up $226.96 at PoIolFtaIph Laurpn and $41.25 at Cameo C
Sonoran News contacted the employee, who saId:‘It’s none of your buslness. _
‘°'g'L7 I-le then admitted charging landscaping materials for hls new home to Terravlta’s account, statmg'} p
.·.Llnks rlght back. I‘ve got the cancelled check?
T As of October 2002, Terravlta management had no record of any reimbursement.
He claimed that he only used Terravltts account so he could get the construction rate from that vendo
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When asked Il he wouldnt quallfy for the same discount uslng hls own landscaplng business, he resp ".
_"My landscaplng business wasrlt established yet.” \
Records lndlcate his landscaplng buslness was léstabllshed" ln December 1999, two years earller. R
Dldn't he thlnk It was wrong to use company accounts for personal use't‘I know where you*re golng w ~
, thIs," sald the employee, addlng“l'm an employee of Terravlta and lfl want to use thelr accounts to bu
materlals so I can save $76 yes, Il do that ev_ery tlme. And, theres nothlng wrong wlth having a Cln
Mayo party for my employees? "
When Sonoran News requested a copy of hls cancelled check, he faxed coples over the next day.
However, there appeared to be somethlng fishy about the chock. It was dated July 22, seven months ef
fact, and was made payable to Ploneer Rock, not Terravlta. The back of the check, on the other hand In
It was endorsed by Terravlta Gott Club, wlth cancellatlon Information clearly lndlcatlng lt cleared Terra
bank.
mus S¤£g?|p'¥I2$; The employees bank has no record ol that check number ever clearlng. TerravItn'bank clalms the
All dgh,5 RE5B,.,,,_,d_ employee's bank would have to have a record of that check clearing or lt couldn't posslbly be the back
same check. The story gets better.
Accordlng to Terravltas then executive manager, the employee had scheduled a golf tournament, an e
employees at varlous golf clubs each held and rotated hostlng, on a Monday In July.
To the best of her recollectlon. the manager sald she lnltlally told the employee that he couldhhold th
on e llllonday because Terravltals restaurant was closed on Mondays, but later agreed to open lor the e
he pald $15 p = r person. She recalls that the employee collected money from the 40 or so people who a
the tournament and then he wrote one check to Terravlta Golf Club, colncldently, on July 22, 2002.
The employee admlts he recelves $500. blnonthly, for expenses, but clalms tt ls only a vehlcle allowa
Employees lnslst that theylre seen htm drlvlng a company truck home and he was recently seen towln
landscaplng companys traller wlth Terravltas truck. `_ ‘
The employee says clothlng and drycleanlng are“manager expenses? whlle others say he receives lr
- apparel from Terravltab pro-shop. .
Toward the end of the conversation, the employee asked?Don't you thlnk your readers would rather r
story about what ltls lllre to be a superlntendent ln North Scottsdale or how hard mylob ls'?"
Case 2.03-cv-02525-DKD Document 94-35 Ftled O9/30/2005 Page 3 of 4

_,,..,_ . ----- Original Message -4--- _ _ ,· · . __,. `
From: william brown ` _ .
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 2:45 PM l
To: LINDABENT; Margaret Thayer
Subj ect: Fw: Presidents Response/News article
--—-- Original Message Q -—-- ·
From: Clubhouse
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 2:40 PM
Subj ect: Presidents Response/News article
_ Terravira Country Club Members . O I
"urnzschemas-1r1icrosoft—com:oflice:ofEce" />
- There is an article in this weel<'s Sonoran News that refers to alleged
_ abuse of Corporate Credit Cards by employees of Terravita and for the
most part highlights an employee of the Golf Club. Shortly, after the ·
Y 3 · termination of our Executive l\/lanager,`l determined that there was, what _
l considered, inadequate documentation of credit card purchases. I ‘ ‘
immediately wrote a procedure for the Controller to follow in reviewing
purchases. Therefore this matter has been addressed and purchases are
now being reviewed on a monthly basis.
loan Burnett
President of Terravita Country Club
h y _· _ _ y y y S10015ll `
tt
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