Preview
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022
EXHIBIT 2
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022
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SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
------------------------------------------x
E.E. CRUZ & COMPANY, INC.
Plaintiff,
-against-
STARR SURPLUS LINES INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant.
-----------------------------------------x
March 17, 2022
10:05 a.m.
Videoconference
EXAMINATION BEFORE TRIAL of the
Plaintiff E.E. CRUZ & COMPANY, INC by
KADIR OZBEK, taken by Defendant, before
Christine Cutrone, a Notary Public for and
within the State of New York.
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1 A P P E A R A N C E S :
2
3 SAXE, DOERNBERGER & VITA, P.C.
Attorneys for Plaintiff
4 35 Nutmeg Drive
Suite 140
5 Trumbull, CT 06611
6 BY: STACY MANOBIANCA, ESQ.
JACKSON VOGEL, Law clerk
7
8
FORAN, GLENNON, PALANDECH,
9 PONZI & RUDLOFF, PC
Attorneys for Defendant
10 40 Wall Street
54th Floor
11 New York, New York 10005
12 BY: ASHLEY VICERA, ESQ.
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1
2
3 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED by
4 and between the attorneys for the
5 respective parties herein, that filing and
6 sealing be and the same are hereby waived.
7 IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED
8 that all objections, except as to the form
9 of the question, shall be reserved to the
10 time of the trial.
11 IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED
12 that the within deposition may be sworn to
13 and signed before any officer authorized
14 to administer an oath, with the same force
15 and effect as if signed and sworn to
16 before the Court.
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1 OZBEK
2 K A D I R O Z B E K, having first been
3 duly sworn by a Notary Public, for and
4 within the State of New York, upon being
5 examined, testified as follows:
6
7 THE COURT REPORTER: Do you
8 agree to go forward remotely?
9 MS. MANOBIANCA: Yes.
10 MS. VICERA: Yes.
11 EXAMINATION BY
12 BY MS. VICERA:
13 Q. Please state your name for
14 the record.
15 A. Kadir Ozbek.
16 Q. What is your present home
17 address?
18 A. 7 Carols Way, Hampton Bays,
19 New York 11946.
20 Q. Good morning, Mr. Ozbek. My
21 name is Ashley Vicera. I'm an attorney
22 with Foran, Glennon, and I represent
23 Starr Surplus Lines in this action.
24 How are you doing this
25 morning?
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2 A. I'm fine. Thank you. How
3 are you?
4 Q. I'm well. So you just
5 stated your address for the record.
6 Was that your home address
7 or business address?
8 A. It is my home address.
9 Q. So we're going to start off
10 just by going over some rules. So today
11 I'm going to be asking deposition
12 questions, and if you understand the
13 question, then you can answer them. But
14 if you don't understand any question,
15 please let me know and I will clarify it
16 or rephrase. So if you answer a
17 question, I'm going to assume that you
18 understood the question; do you
19 understand?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And as you can see we have a
22 court reporter here, so she's going to be
23 taking down my questions and your
24 answers. If she doesn't hear you or
25 can't understand you, or if we're talking
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2 at the same time, then she's going to
3 have trouble taking down some of the
4 things that are said. So to make the
5 most accurate record, please don't answer
6 a question until I finished asking it.
7 And if you could answer verbally and try
8 to avoid responding with nods or gestures
9 or words like uh-huh, okay?
10 A. Okay.
11 Q. At any point you need to
12 take a break, you're welcome to do. I
13 only ask that you don't request a break
14 while a question is pending. So answer
15 the question that is pending and then we
16 could take a break; is that alright?
17 A. Alright.
18 Q. Do you understand that
19 you're to give sworn testimony even
20 though you're not in a courtroom?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Are you taking any
23 medications or any other substances that
24 would prevent you from testifying
25 accurately here today?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. Have you ever been deposed
4 before?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. How many times?
7 A. Twice.
8 Q. When was the last time that
9 you were deposed?
10 A. I don't remember, but many
11 years ago.
12 Q. Many years ago. And what
13 about the first time, was that even
14 longer?
15 A. Yes, it was.
16 Q. So the most recent time you
17 said it was many years ago.
18 What kind of case did that
19 involve?
20 A. It involved a subcontractor
21 suing the company that I used to work
22 for, a subcontract agreement and a
23 payment issue.
24 Q. I'm sorry, you said cell
25 phone?
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2 A. Subcontractor.
3 Q. So were you deposed in your
4 individual capacity, or were you
5 testifying on behalf of the company that
6 you worked for?
7 A. I was testifying on behalf
8 of the company that I worked for.
9 Q. And what company was that?
10 A. It was Kiska Construction.
11 K-I-S-K-A Construction out of New York.
12 Q. Okay. Do you remember what
13 court that case was pending in?
14 A. I don't.
15 Q. Do you remember if it was a
16 state court or a federal court?
17 A. I don't.
18 Q. And do you remember how that
19 case resolved?
20 A. I do.
21 Q. How did that resolve?
22 A. Kiska Construction ended up
23 paying the subcontractor, I think, the
24 amount that they had asked for.
25 Q. Did you testify at trial in
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2 that case?
3 A. Yes, I did.
4 Q. At trial as well as
5 deposition?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Okay. Have you testified at
8 any other trial?
9 A. No.
10 Q. That case where you were
11 testifying at trial, did it involve an
12 insurance company?
13 A. No.
14 Q. Do you remember the name of
15 the person that was suing your company in
16 that case?
17 A. I do remember the name, but
18 I don't remember the spelling.
19 Q. Okay. Could you let us know
20 what the name is?
21 A. Ziengenfs Z-I-E-N-G-E-N-F-S.
22 Q. Thank you. Then the first
23 time that you were deposed,
24 approximately, how long ago was that?
25 A. 15 years ago.
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2 Q. The second time that you
3 were deposed, approximately, how long ago
4 was that?
5 A. Maybe 14.
6 Q. For the first time that you
7 were deposed, what was that case about?
8 A. That was a general liability
9 insurance case. It was one of our dock
10 builders suing the company.
11 Q. The dock builder was suing
12 the insurance company?
13 A. I think the dock builder was
14 suing New York City DOT, which was the
15 owner of the contract that Kiska
16 Construction overtook. And during that,
17 Kiska needed to buy the insurance policy
18 that indemnifies New York City DOT.
19 Q. Did you give deposition
20 testimony in that case?
21 A. I did.
22 Q. Why did you have to give
23 deposition testimony in that case?
24 A. I mean, I was asked to
25 describe Kiska Construction's procedures
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2 and protocols mainly regarding safety and
3 operations that were undertaken under
4 that contract. I mean, whether I was at
5 the job site at the time of the incident
6 or not, how did I hear about the
7 incident, that type of information. I
8 was the only person in the company who
9 worked at that job at the time of the
10 lawsuit, so the company provided me as
11 the person who can provide some
12 information about the project.
13 Q. Thank you. What company
14 were you working for at that time?
15 A. Same company, Kiska
16 Construction.
17 Q. What, if anything, did you
18 do to prepare for this deposition?
19 A. I had a conversation with
20 Stacy a few days ago. Other than that,
21 no other separate preparation for the
22 deposition.
23 Q. Okay. So you had a meeting
24 with Stacy.
25 Did you have a meeting with
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2 any other people to prepare for this
3 deposition?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Was anyone else present at
6 your meeting with Stacy?
7 A. No.
8 Q. It was just you and her?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And you said that you met
11 with her one time to prepare for your
12 deposition?
13 A. I think we met twice; one
14 before the initial deposition time.
15 Maybe it was two weeks ago; I don't
16 remember well. And one this week,
17 earlier in the week; it was like a half
18 hour general conversation.
19 Q. Did you have any other
20 conversations with anybody else regarding
21 your deposition?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Did you have any discussions
24 with anybody at E.E. Cruz about your
25 deposition?
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2 A. Yes, a bunch of people that
3 know that I'm not going to be available
4 on Thursday, because I'm tied up in a
5 deposition.
6 Q. Did you talk to them about
7 any of the things that you might be asked
8 at the deposition?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Did you talk about the
11 nature of this claim?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Did you review any documents
14 to prepare for this deposition?
15 A. I did.
16 Q. What documents?
17 A. I looked at the timeline. I
18 looked at the damages document that
19 Procore put together. I looked at the
20 drill shaft logs. That's basically it.
21 Q. You said you looked at a
22 timeline.
23 Do you know if that's been
24 given to us?
25 A. Yes.
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2 MS. VICERA: It has, okay.
3 I don't remember seeing a
4 timeline, so if that's not in my
5 file, I would just call for
6 production of that timeline.
7 MS. MANOBIANCA: Just send
8 me a request for anything that
9 you're going to ask for during the
10 course of the dep.
11 MS. VICERA: Absolutely.
12 Q. So other than the timeline
13 damages documents from Procore, and the
14 drilled shaft log, did you look at any
15 other documents to prepare for your
16 deposition?
17 A. No.
18 Q. What's the highest level of
19 education that you completed?
20 A. I graduated college, four
21 years college in civil engineering.
22 Q. What year did you graduate?
23 A. 1991.
24 Q. What school did you graduate
25 from?
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2 A. It is the Middle East
3 Technical University out of Ankara,
4 Turkey.
5 Q. What degree did you get from
6 that school?
7 A. Bachelor of science.
8 Q. Do you have any
9 certifications or licenses?
10 A. I don't.
11 Q. Do you consider yourself an
12 expert in any field?
13 A. No.
14 Q. Are you currently employed?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Who is your current
17 employer?
18 A. E.E. Cruz.
19 Q. And E.E. Cruz you understand
20 that they are the plaintiff of this
21 lawsuit that we're here today to talk
22 about; is that correct?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. So for the rest of this
25 deposition, I'm going to refer to
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2 plaintiff, E.E. Cruz and company, Inc. as
3 just E.E. Cruz or maybe Cruz or the
4 plaintiff; does that make sense?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. How long have you been
7 working with E.E. Cruz?
8 A. So I had two employments
9 with E.E. Cruz. The first employment
10 started in February of 2017. And then I
11 left E.E. Cruz in October of 2017. Then
12 I came back to E.E. Cruz at the end of
13 May of 2019, and had continuous
14 employment until now and continue.
15 Q. Let's talk about your first
16 employment with E.E. Cruz from February
17 to October of 2017.
18 What was your role at that
19 time?
20 A. The same role, the project
21 control manager.
22 Q. And why did you decide to
23 leave E.E. Cruz in October of 2017?
24 A. Because the other company
25 gave me a competitive package that I
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2 couldn't refuse.
3 Q. What other company was that?
4 A. Kiska Construction.
5 Q. Why did you decide to come
6 back to E.E. Cruz at the end of May
7 of 2019?
8 A. I mean, in my ten months in
9 E.E. Cruz, I really enjoyed working with
10 the team. I loved the company. And the
11 only reason I left was monetary
12 compensation. And E.E. Cruz kept, you
13 know, calling me back, and they, you
14 know, kind of started to offer a more
15 competitive package. I mean my role in
16 Kiska Construction was a different role.
17 It had more responsibilities, a lot more,
18 you know, stress. So I decided that I
19 would rather come back to E.E. Cruz now
20 that they have their compensation package
21 and take on the project controls role,
22 which I really like, that's the reason.
23 Q. Okay. And you said that you
24 were doing the same role at E.E. Cruz
25 when you were there from February to
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2 October 2017, it was the same position
3 that you are currently in?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. When you went to Kiska in
6 October of 2017, was that the first time
7 that you had worked at Kiska, or had you
8 worked for them previously?
9 A. I had worked for them
10 previously.
11 Q. When did your employment
12 with Kiska begin?
13 A. May of 1999.
14 Q. Did you work there
15 continuously from May of 1999 until
16 February of 2017?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Why did you decide to leave
19 Kiska in February of 2017?
20 A. It wasn't my choice. There
21 was a management change that the owner of
22 Kiska decided to do, so I was let go.
23 Q. What was your role at Kiska?
24 A. I was the vice president.
25 Q. Did you maintain that
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2 position the entire time that you were
3 there?
4 A. No.
5 Q. For how long did you
6 maintain the role of vice president?
7
Preview
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 EXHIBIT 2 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 1 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK ------------------------------------------x E.E. CRUZ & COMPANY, INC. Plaintiff, -against- STARR SURPLUS LINES INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. -----------------------------------------x March 17, 2022 10:05 a.m. Videoconference EXAMINATION BEFORE TRIAL of the Plaintiff E.E. CRUZ & COMPANY, INC by KADIR OZBEK, taken by Defendant, before Christine Cutrone, a Notary Public for and within the State of New York. FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S : 2 3 SAXE, DOERNBERGER & VITA, P.C. Attorneys for Plaintiff 4 35 Nutmeg Drive Suite 140 5 Trumbull, CT 06611 6 BY: STACY MANOBIANCA, ESQ. JACKSON VOGEL, Law clerk 7 8 FORAN, GLENNON, PALANDECH, 9 PONZI & RUDLOFF, PC Attorneys for Defendant 10 40 Wall Street 54th Floor 11 New York, New York 10005 12 BY: ASHLEY VICERA, ESQ. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 3 1 2 3 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED by 4 and between the attorneys for the 5 respective parties herein, that filing and 6 sealing be and the same are hereby waived. 7 IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED 8 that all objections, except as to the form 9 of the question, shall be reserved to the 10 time of the trial. 11 IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED 12 that the within deposition may be sworn to 13 and signed before any officer authorized 14 to administer an oath, with the same force 15 and effect as if signed and sworn to 16 before the Court. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 4 1 OZBEK 2 K A D I R O Z B E K, having first been 3 duly sworn by a Notary Public, for and 4 within the State of New York, upon being 5 examined, testified as follows: 6 7 THE COURT REPORTER: Do you 8 agree to go forward remotely? 9 MS. MANOBIANCA: Yes. 10 MS. VICERA: Yes. 11 EXAMINATION BY 12 BY MS. VICERA: 13 Q. Please state your name for 14 the record. 15 A. Kadir Ozbek. 16 Q. What is your present home 17 address? 18 A. 7 Carols Way, Hampton Bays, 19 New York 11946. 20 Q. Good morning, Mr. Ozbek. My 21 name is Ashley Vicera. I'm an attorney 22 with Foran, Glennon, and I represent 23 Starr Surplus Lines in this action. 24 How are you doing this 25 morning? FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 5 1 OZBEK 2 A. I'm fine. Thank you. How 3 are you? 4 Q. I'm well. So you just 5 stated your address for the record. 6 Was that your home address 7 or business address? 8 A. It is my home address. 9 Q. So we're going to start off 10 just by going over some rules. So today 11 I'm going to be asking deposition 12 questions, and if you understand the 13 question, then you can answer them. But 14 if you don't understand any question, 15 please let me know and I will clarify it 16 or rephrase. So if you answer a 17 question, I'm going to assume that you 18 understood the question; do you 19 understand? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. And as you can see we have a 22 court reporter here, so she's going to be 23 taking down my questions and your 24 answers. If she doesn't hear you or 25 can't understand you, or if we're talking FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 6 1 OZBEK 2 at the same time, then she's going to 3 have trouble taking down some of the 4 things that are said. So to make the 5 most accurate record, please don't answer 6 a question until I finished asking it. 7 And if you could answer verbally and try 8 to avoid responding with nods or gestures 9 or words like uh-huh, okay? 10 A. Okay. 11 Q. At any point you need to 12 take a break, you're welcome to do. I 13 only ask that you don't request a break 14 while a question is pending. So answer 15 the question that is pending and then we 16 could take a break; is that alright? 17 A. Alright. 18 Q. Do you understand that 19 you're to give sworn testimony even 20 though you're not in a courtroom? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Are you taking any 23 medications or any other substances that 24 would prevent you from testifying 25 accurately here today? FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 7 1 OZBEK 2 A. No. 3 Q. Have you ever been deposed 4 before? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. How many times? 7 A. Twice. 8 Q. When was the last time that 9 you were deposed? 10 A. I don't remember, but many 11 years ago. 12 Q. Many years ago. And what 13 about the first time, was that even 14 longer? 15 A. Yes, it was. 16 Q. So the most recent time you 17 said it was many years ago. 18 What kind of case did that 19 involve? 20 A. It involved a subcontractor 21 suing the company that I used to work 22 for, a subcontract agreement and a 23 payment issue. 24 Q. I'm sorry, you said cell 25 phone? FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 8 1 OZBEK 2 A. Subcontractor. 3 Q. So were you deposed in your 4 individual capacity, or were you 5 testifying on behalf of the company that 6 you worked for? 7 A. I was testifying on behalf 8 of the company that I worked for. 9 Q. And what company was that? 10 A. It was Kiska Construction. 11 K-I-S-K-A Construction out of New York. 12 Q. Okay. Do you remember what 13 court that case was pending in? 14 A. I don't. 15 Q. Do you remember if it was a 16 state court or a federal court? 17 A. I don't. 18 Q. And do you remember how that 19 case resolved? 20 A. I do. 21 Q. How did that resolve? 22 A. Kiska Construction ended up 23 paying the subcontractor, I think, the 24 amount that they had asked for. 25 Q. Did you testify at trial in FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 9 1 OZBEK 2 that case? 3 A. Yes, I did. 4 Q. At trial as well as 5 deposition? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. Okay. Have you testified at 8 any other trial? 9 A. No. 10 Q. That case where you were 11 testifying at trial, did it involve an 12 insurance company? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Do you remember the name of 15 the person that was suing your company in 16 that case? 17 A. I do remember the name, but 18 I don't remember the spelling. 19 Q. Okay. Could you let us know 20 what the name is? 21 A. Ziengenfs Z-I-E-N-G-E-N-F-S. 22 Q. Thank you. Then the first 23 time that you were deposed, 24 approximately, how long ago was that? 25 A. 15 years ago. FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 10 1 OZBEK 2 Q. The second time that you 3 were deposed, approximately, how long ago 4 was that? 5 A. Maybe 14. 6 Q. For the first time that you 7 were deposed, what was that case about? 8 A. That was a general liability 9 insurance case. It was one of our dock 10 builders suing the company. 11 Q. The dock builder was suing 12 the insurance company? 13 A. I think the dock builder was 14 suing New York City DOT, which was the 15 owner of the contract that Kiska 16 Construction overtook. And during that, 17 Kiska needed to buy the insurance policy 18 that indemnifies New York City DOT. 19 Q. Did you give deposition 20 testimony in that case? 21 A. I did. 22 Q. Why did you have to give 23 deposition testimony in that case? 24 A. I mean, I was asked to 25 describe Kiska Construction's procedures FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 11 1 OZBEK 2 and protocols mainly regarding safety and 3 operations that were undertaken under 4 that contract. I mean, whether I was at 5 the job site at the time of the incident 6 or not, how did I hear about the 7 incident, that type of information. I 8 was the only person in the company who 9 worked at that job at the time of the 10 lawsuit, so the company provided me as 11 the person who can provide some 12 information about the project. 13 Q. Thank you. What company 14 were you working for at that time? 15 A. Same company, Kiska 16 Construction. 17 Q. What, if anything, did you 18 do to prepare for this deposition? 19 A. I had a conversation with 20 Stacy a few days ago. Other than that, 21 no other separate preparation for the 22 deposition. 23 Q. Okay. So you had a meeting 24 with Stacy. 25 Did you have a meeting with FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 12 1 OZBEK 2 any other people to prepare for this 3 deposition? 4 A. No. 5 Q. Was anyone else present at 6 your meeting with Stacy? 7 A. No. 8 Q. It was just you and her? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And you said that you met 11 with her one time to prepare for your 12 deposition? 13 A. I think we met twice; one 14 before the initial deposition time. 15 Maybe it was two weeks ago; I don't 16 remember well. And one this week, 17 earlier in the week; it was like a half 18 hour general conversation. 19 Q. Did you have any other 20 conversations with anybody else regarding 21 your deposition? 22 A. No. 23 Q. Did you have any discussions 24 with anybody at E.E. Cruz about your 25 deposition? FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 13 1 OZBEK 2 A. Yes, a bunch of people that 3 know that I'm not going to be available 4 on Thursday, because I'm tied up in a 5 deposition. 6 Q. Did you talk to them about 7 any of the things that you might be asked 8 at the deposition? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Did you talk about the 11 nature of this claim? 12 A. No. 13 Q. Did you review any documents 14 to prepare for this deposition? 15 A. I did. 16 Q. What documents? 17 A. I looked at the timeline. I 18 looked at the damages document that 19 Procore put together. I looked at the 20 drill shaft logs. That's basically it. 21 Q. You said you looked at a 22 timeline. 23 Do you know if that's been 24 given to us? 25 A. Yes. FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 14 1 OZBEK 2 MS. VICERA: It has, okay. 3 I don't remember seeing a 4 timeline, so if that's not in my 5 file, I would just call for 6 production of that timeline. 7 MS. MANOBIANCA: Just send 8 me a request for anything that 9 you're going to ask for during the 10 course of the dep. 11 MS. VICERA: Absolutely. 12 Q. So other than the timeline 13 damages documents from Procore, and the 14 drilled shaft log, did you look at any 15 other documents to prepare for your 16 deposition? 17 A. No. 18 Q. What's the highest level of 19 education that you completed? 20 A. I graduated college, four 21 years college in civil engineering. 22 Q. What year did you graduate? 23 A. 1991. 24 Q. What school did you graduate 25 from? FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 15 1 OZBEK 2 A. It is the Middle East 3 Technical University out of Ankara, 4 Turkey. 5 Q. What degree did you get from 6 that school? 7 A. Bachelor of science. 8 Q. Do you have any 9 certifications or licenses? 10 A. I don't. 11 Q. Do you consider yourself an 12 expert in any field? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Are you currently employed? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Who is your current 17 employer? 18 A. E.E. Cruz. 19 Q. And E.E. Cruz you understand 20 that they are the plaintiff of this 21 lawsuit that we're here today to talk 22 about; is that correct? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. So for the rest of this 25 deposition, I'm going to refer to FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 16 1 OZBEK 2 plaintiff, E.E. Cruz and company, Inc. as 3 just E.E. Cruz or maybe Cruz or the 4 plaintiff; does that make sense? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. How long have you been 7 working with E.E. Cruz? 8 A. So I had two employments 9 with E.E. Cruz. The first employment 10 started in February of 2017. And then I 11 left E.E. Cruz in October of 2017. Then 12 I came back to E.E. Cruz at the end of 13 May of 2019, and had continuous 14 employment until now and continue. 15 Q. Let's talk about your first 16 employment with E.E. Cruz from February 17 to October of 2017. 18 What was your role at that 19 time? 20 A. The same role, the project 21 control manager. 22 Q. And why did you decide to 23 leave E.E. Cruz in October of 2017? 24 A. Because the other company 25 gave me a competitive package that I FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 17 1 OZBEK 2 couldn't refuse. 3 Q. What other company was that? 4 A. Kiska Construction. 5 Q. Why did you decide to come 6 back to E.E. Cruz at the end of May 7 of 2019? 8 A. I mean, in my ten months in 9 E.E. Cruz, I really enjoyed working with 10 the team. I loved the company. And the 11 only reason I left was monetary 12 compensation. And E.E. Cruz kept, you 13 know, calling me back, and they, you 14 know, kind of started to offer a more 15 competitive package. I mean my role in 16 Kiska Construction was a different role. 17 It had more responsibilities, a lot more, 18 you know, stress. So I decided that I 19 would rather come back to E.E. Cruz now 20 that they have their compensation package 21 and take on the project controls role, 22 which I really like, that's the reason. 23 Q. Okay. And you said that you 24 were doing the same role at E.E. Cruz 25 when you were there from February to FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 18 1 OZBEK 2 October 2017, it was the same position 3 that you are currently in? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. When you went to Kiska in 6 October of 2017, was that the first time 7 that you had worked at Kiska, or had you 8 worked for them previously? 9 A. I had worked for them 10 previously. 11 Q. When did your employment 12 with Kiska begin? 13 A. May of 1999. 14 Q. Did you work there 15 continuously from May of 1999 until 16 February of 2017? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Why did you decide to leave 19 Kiska in February of 2017? 20 A. It wasn't my choice. There 21 was a management change that the owner of 22 Kiska decided to do, so I was let go. 23 Q. What was your role at Kiska? 24 A. I was the vice president. 25 Q. Did you maintain that FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 19 1 OZBEK 2 position the entire time that you were 3 there? 4 A. No. 5 Q. For how long did you 6 maintain the role of vice president? 7