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Buchanan Angeli Altschul & Sullivan LLP
321 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 600
Dana Sullivan
Portland, Oregon 97204
direct: 503-974-5023 main: 503-974-5015 fax: 971-230-0337 dana@baaslaw.com www.baasemploymentlaw.com
July 1, 2014 BY CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED Michael Jordan Director and Chief Operating Officer Department of Administrative Services Executive Building 155 Cottage St. NE, U20 Salem, OR 97301-3972 Re:
 John Plotkin v. State of Oregon
NOTICE OF TORT CLAIM PURSUANT TO ORS 30.275 AND NOTICE TO PRESERVE RECORDS PERTAINING TO LITIGATION
Dear Mr. Jordan: My partner Andrew Altschul and I represent John Plotkin in connection with any and all claims that he has against the State Accident Insurance Fund Corporation (SAIF), individual members of SAIF’s Executive Council, and Brenda Rocklin, Mr. Plotkin’s  predecessor, arising from the ouster of Mr. Plotkin from his role as SAIF’s President and Chief Executive Officer on May 9, 2014. This notice is provided to you pursuant to ORS 30.275(5)(b). As our investigation of Mr. Plotkin’s claims is ongoing and there are numerous documents yet to be produced by SAIF in response to Mr. Plotkin’s public records requests, including his complete personnel file, this letter is intended only to describe the facts currently known to us. We reserve the right to offer additional facts in support of Mr. Plotkin’s claims as they become known and to assert additional claims supported by new information.
OVERVIEW
As detailed more fully below, contrary to the restrictions of Oregon’s ethics laws, Ms. Rocklin improperly influenced Chris Davie, Vice President of Corporate Policy and External Affairs, Ryan Fleming, Vice President of Operations and Human Resources, and members of
 
Michael Jordan Re: John Plotkin v. State of Oregon July 1, 2014 Page 2 SAIF’s Board of Directors to bring about Mr. Plotkin’s abrupt termination after only three months on the job. Although civil discovery will reveal why Ms. Rocklin desired that Mr. Plotkin’s employment be terminated, information currently available suggests that she either desired to resume the role of SAIF’s CEO or wished to maintain the status quo at SAIF by thwarting Mr. Plotkin’s efforts to introduce a new, more open and collaborative culture at SAIF. Mr. Davie and Mr. Fleming, acting in their individual capacities and outside the scope of their roles as Executive Council members, aided and abetted Ms. Rocklin in achieving her objective to displace Mr. Plotkin. Seizing upon second- and third-hand accounts (many of which are untrue) of what are only laughably characterized as inappropriate comments made  by Mr. Plotkin, Mr. Davie, Mr. Fleming and Ms. Rocklin persuaded SAIF’s Board that Mr. Plotkin’s employment should be terminated. Contrary to their fiduciary responsibilities to the organization, members of SAIF’s Board allowed themselves to be unduly influenced by Mr. Davie, Mr. Fleming and Ms. Rocklin. They failed to launch any sort of genuine investigation or otherwise provide Mr. Plotkin with any meaningful opportunity to respond to the bizarre allegations described  below. Rather, the Board Chair, Catherine Travis, called Mr. Plotkin at home on Saturday morning May 3, 2014, and demanded his resignation. Stunned, Mr. Plotkin inquired about the reason for such an abrupt termination, as he had been given no prior notice that there were concerns of any kind regarding his performance. Ms. Travis responded that the Board did not need to provide a reason—a sure sign a nefarious motive is afoot— and shared only that he had supposedly made statements that implicated a “protected class.” Ms. Travis indicated that she had the votes from Board members to terminate Mr. Plotkin and she gave him until 3:00 p.m. the following day (Sunday) to decide to resign or be terminated. During a telephone conversation on May 4, Ms. Travis agreed to provide Mr. Plotkin with additional information about his allegedly inappropriate comments, but—inexplicably— only on the condition that Mr. Plotkin would not respond to the allegations. The handful of comments that SAIF eventually shared with Mr. Plotkin would not have caused offense to any reasonable person of normal sensitivity. SAIF could not have had any genuine concern about them, and the concerns were clearly trumped up. Even had Mr. Plotkin caused offense, the Board’s refusal to provide Mr. Plotkin the opportunity to dispute the veracity of the allegations or explain his conduct is a shocking breach of their fiduciary duty to SAIF  policyholders and taxpayers who ultimately support this four billion dollar enterprise. After nearly a year-long search and vetting process it is hard to fathom why such minor alleged infractions could not be resolved by simply counseling Mr. Plotkin to be more circumspect. Instead, after Mr. Plotkin declined to resign, the Board voted to terminate Mr. Plotkin during a special meeting on May 9, 2014, thereby causing needless disruption to the organization and knowingly inviting litigation. The outrageous manner in which members of SAIF’s Board handled Mr. Plotkin’s termination is inconsistent with SAIF guidelines and past practices and makes clear that it was the Board’s intention to pressure Mr. Plotkin to resign. While the emotional pressure
 
Michael Jordan Re: John Plotkin v. State of Oregon July 1, 2014 Page 3 that the Board applied to Mr. Plotkin did not prompt him to resign, the Board did succeed in its aim to cause Mr. Plotkin to suffer substantial emotional distress and indignity. Mr. Plotkin intends to pursue a civil action to recover for this emotional harm as well as for the serious economic harm that the loss of his job has caused him and his family. He also intends to pursue punitive damages against Mr. Davie, Mr. Fleming and Ms. Rocklin for the willful way in which they disregarded the law for their own personal ends, knowing that their actions would cause substantial harm to Mr. Plotkin personally and professionally.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND A.
 
SAIF Hired Mr. Plotkin After a National Search and He and His Wife Relocated from Colorado to Oregon.
After Brenda Rocklin announced her plans to retire as SAIF’s CEO after nine years in that role, SAIF embarked on a national search for her replacement. After a rigorous interview process, the SAIF Board of Directors selected Mr. Plotkin as Ms. Rocklin’s successor. Mr. Plotkin was highly qualified for the position. He attained his bachelor’s degree in economics from Brown University and went on to earn a law degree from University of Michigan. At the time SAIF offered him the CEO position, Mr. Plotkin was serving as interim CEO and vice-chair of the Board of Directors of Pinnacol Assurance in Denver, Colorado, which is Colorado’s state workers’ compensation fund. Mr. Plotkin had served on the Pinnacol Board since 2011 and had assumed the role of interim CEO in January 2013. According to the press release issued by SAIF in October 2013 announcing Mr. Plotkin’s hire, he “came highly recommended by representatives of the government,  business and labor in Colorado.” It was agreed that Mr. Plotkin would assume the role of CEO on February 3, 2014, a few weeks prior to Ms. Rocklin’s departure so that the two of them could work together to ensure a smooth transition in leadership. In anticipation of launching this next phase of his career, Mr. Plotkin and his wife  purchased a home in Oregon and left Colorado. The move was not without its hardships as  both Mr. and Ms. Plotkin, who also works for a company that operates in the workers’ compensation arena, left behind well-established personal and professional connections to move to a state and community that was completely new to them. For Mr. Plotkin, however, the opportunity to lead SAIF and to help the corporation achieve a new level of success  presented a challenge that made the personal risks worthwhile. Moreover, he was encouraged by the members of SAIF’s Board and Executive Council with whom he met during the interview process that said they appreciated his fresh perspective and were confident that he was the best candidate for the position. Mr. Plotkin moved to Oregon anticipating that, like his predecessor, he would have a long career at SAIF and then retire.

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