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  • E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc. v. Starr Surplus Lines Insurance CompanyCommercial - Insurance document preview
  • E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc. v. Starr Surplus Lines Insurance CompanyCommercial - Insurance document preview
  • E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc. v. Starr Surplus Lines Insurance CompanyCommercial - Insurance document preview
  • E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc. v. Starr Surplus Lines Insurance CompanyCommercial - Insurance document preview
  • E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc. v. Starr Surplus Lines Insurance CompanyCommercial - Insurance document preview
  • E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc. v. Starr Surplus Lines Insurance CompanyCommercial - Insurance document preview
  • E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc. v. Starr Surplus Lines Insurance CompanyCommercial - Insurance document preview
  • E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc. v. Starr Surplus Lines Insurance CompanyCommercial - Insurance document preview
						
                                

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FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 EXHIBIT 10 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK ----------------------------------------------x E.E. CRUZ & COMPANY, INC., Plaintiff, -against- Index No: 652321/2020 STARR SURPLUS LINES INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. ----------------------------------------------x DEPOSITION TAKEN VIA ZOOM July 28, 2022 10:00 a.m. DEPOSITION of JOE SHEEHAN, held at the above-mentioned time, before, PAIGE HAYDEN, a Court Reporter and Notary Public of the State of New York. ----------------------------------------------X MAGNA LEGAL SERVICES (866) 624-6221 www.MagnaLS.com FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 2 1 2 A P P E A R A N C E S: 3 SAXE DOERNBERGER & VITA, P.C. Attorneys for Plaintiff 4 35 Nutmeg Drive, Suite 140 Trumbul, Connecticut 06611 5 BY: STACY M. MANOBIANCA, ESQ. 6 7 8 FORAN GLENNON PALANDECH PONZI & RUDLOFF, PC Attorneys for Defendant 9 40 Wall Street, 54th Floor New York, New York 10005 10 BY: ASHLEY VICERE, ESQ. 11 12 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. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 3 1 2 S T I P U L A T I O N S: 3 IT IS STIPULATED AND AGREED by and between the 4 attorneys for the respective parties herein, 5 and in compliance with Rule 221 of the Uniform 6 Rules for the Trial Courts: 7 8 THAT the parties recognize the provision of 9 Rule 3115 subdivisions (b), (c) and/or (d). 10 All objections made at a deposition shall be 11 noted by the officer before whom the deposition 12 is taken, and the answer shall be given and the 13 deposition shall proceed subject to the 14 objections and to the right of a person to 15 apply for appropriate relief pursuant to 16 Article 31 of the C.P.L.R.; 17 18 THAT every objection raised during a deposition 19 shall be stated succinctly and framed so as not 20 to suggest an answer to the deponent and, at 21 the request of the questioning attorney, shall 22 include a clear statement as to any defect in 23 form or other basis of error or irregularity. 24 Except to the extent permitted by C.P.L.R. Rule 25 3115 or by this Rule, during the course of the FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 4 1 2 examination persons in attendance shall not 3 make statements or comments that interfere with 4 the questioning. 5 6 THAT a deponent shall answer all questions at a 7 deposition, except (i) to preserve a privilege 8 or right of confidentiality, (ii) to enforce a 9 limitation set forth in an order of a court, or 10 (iii) when the question is plainly improper and 11 would, if answered, cause significant prejudice 12 to any person. An attorney shall not direct a 13 deponent not to answer except as provided in 14 C.P.L.R. Rule 3115 or this subdivision. Any 15 refusal to answer or direction not to answer 16 shall be accompanied by a succinct and clear 17 statement on the basis therefore. If the 18 deponent does not answer a question, the 19 examining party shall have the right to 20 complete the remainder of the deposition. 21 22 THAT an attorney shall not interrupt the 23 deposition for the purpose of communicating 24 with the deponent unless all parties consent or 25 the communication is made for the purpose of FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 5 1 2 determining whether the question should not be 3 answered on the grounds set forth in Section 4 221.2 of these Rules, and, in such event, the 5 reason for the communication shall be stated 6 for the record succinctly and clearly. 7 8 THAT the failure to object to any question or 9 to move to strike any testimony at this 10 examination shall not be a bar or waiver to 11 make such objection or motion at the time of 12 the trial of this action, and is hereby 13 reserved; and 14 15 THAT this examination may be signed and sworn 16 to by the witness examined herein before any 17 Notary Public, but the failure to do so or to 18 return the original of the examination to the 19 attorney on whose behalf the examination is 20 taken, shall not be deemed a waiver of the 21 rights provided by Rule 3116 and 3117 of the 22 C.P.L.R., and shall be controlled thereby; and 23 24 THAT the certification and filing of the 25 original of this examination are hereby waived; FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 6 1 2 and 3 4 THAT the questioning attorney shall provide 5 counsel for the witness examined herein with a 6 copy of this examination at no charge. 7 8 9 10 11 12 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. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 7 1 2 JOSEPH SHEEHAN, the WITNESS herein, 3 having been first duly sworn by a 4 Notary Public of the State of New York, 5 was examined and testified as follows: 6 EXAMINATION BY 7 MS. VICERE: 8 Q. State your name for the 9 record, please. 10 A. Joseph Sheehan. 11 Q. State your address for the 12 record, please. 13 A. 16-16 Whitestone 14 Expressway, 5th floor, Whitestone, 15 New York 11357. 16 Q. Good morning, Mr. Sheehan. 17 My name is Ashley Vicere. I am an 18 attorney with Foran Glennon, and I 19 represent Starr Surplus insurance 20 company in this action. 21 Today I will be asking 22 questions. If you understand the 23 questions, you can answer them. If 24 you don't understand any question, 25 please tell me, and I will clarify FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 8 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 or rephrase. If you answer, I am 3 going to assume that you understood 4 the question. 5 Do you understand? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. As you can see, we have a 8 court reporter here taking down my 9 questions and your answers. So if 10 she doesn't hear you, can't 11 understand you, or if we are talking 12 at the same time, she is going to 13 have trouble taking down the things 14 that are said. 15 Please don't answer a 16 question until I finish asking you, 17 and also, please answer your 18 questions verbally. Try to avoid 19 responding with nods, gestures, or 20 words like uh-huh. 21 Okay? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. Lastly, if at any time you 24 need to take a break, you are 25 welcome to do so. I only ask that FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 9 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 you do not request a break while a 3 question is pending. Please just 4 answer any question first, and then 5 we can take a break. 6 Does that make sense? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Do you understand that you 9 are giving sworn testimony today 10 even though you are not in court? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Are you taking any 13 medications that would prevent you 14 from testifying accurately here 15 today? 16 A. No. 17 Q. Prior to testifying here 18 today, have you taken any drugs, 19 alcohol, prescription medications or 20 anything else that would impair your 21 ability to testify accurately? 22 A. No. 23 Q. Have you ever been deposed 24 before? 25 A. Yes. FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 10 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 Q. How many times? 3 A. Twice. 4 Q. Okay. 5 When is the last time you 6 were deposed? 7 A. I don't remember the exact 8 dates, but I would say it is 9 probably eight or nine years ago. 10 Q. Okay. 11 And then when was the time 12 before that? 13 A. Probably 11 to 12 years 14 ago. 15 Q. Okay. 16 And so the most recent one, 17 what was the nature of that case? 18 A. I was a witness in a sexual 19 harassment case. 20 Q. Okay. 21 And did that case involve 22 an insurance company? 23 A. It did not. 24 Q. Were you a party or a 25 non-party to the litigation? FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 11 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 A. I don't understand that. 3 Q. Okay. 4 Were you involved or were 5 you named in that lawsuit, or were 6 you just testifying as a witness? 7 A. I was just testifying as a 8 witness. 9 Q. And for the time before 10 that, your other deposition, what 11 was the nature of that case? 12 A. That was a -- it involved a 13 surveyor, and they inaccurately laid 14 out some information, and the 15 company that I was working for was 16 suing them. 17 Q. Okay. 18 And did that case involve 19 an insurance company? 20 A. No, not to my recollection. 21 Q. And other than those two 22 times, have you ever been deposed 23 any other times? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Have you ever testified at FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 12 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 trial? 3 A. No. 4 Q. What, if anything, did you 5 do to prepare for this deposition? 6 A. I had a conversation with 7 Stacey. She had sent me some 8 information. I casually reviewed 9 it. I did not in depth, admittedly, 10 review everything. That is about 11 it. 12 Q. Okay. 13 About how many times did 14 you meet with counsel to prepare for 15 the deposition? 16 A. We had a conversation this 17 week. I think it was Tuesday, and 18 then we spoke briefly this morning 19 for about five minutes. 20 Q. So during either of the 21 conversations, was anyone else 22 present? 23 A. No. 24 Q. You said that you reviewed 25 some documents to prepare for the FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 13 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 deposition? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Which documents did you 5 review? 6 A. I don't know all the 7 documents, but they were transmitted 8 to me while I was on vacation. I 9 think they were exhibits to Mr. 10 Ozbek and Ms. Anerella's 11 depositions. 12 MS. VICERE: I am going 13 to call for the production of 14 the documents that were 15 reviewed to prepare for the 16 deposition. 17 A. That is not for me, right? 18 MS. MANOBIANCA: Just 19 follow up in writing. I will 20 tell you it was exhibits from 21 the previous depositions 22 marked in the case. 23 Q. Other than the documents 24 that we just discussed, that were 25 likely exhibits from other FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 14 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 depositions, did you review any 3 other documents to prepare for this 4 deposition? 5 A. No. 6 Q. Okay. 7 What is the highest level 8 of education that you have 9 completed? 10 A. I have a bachelor's of 11 science degree. 12 Q. In what subject? 13 A. Civil engineering. 14 Q. And what year did you 15 graduate? 16 A. University? 17 Q. Yes. 18 A. 1995. 19 Q. Okay. 20 And did you complete 21 additional education after that 22 university? 23 A. No. 24 Q. Okay. 25 Do you have any -- FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 15 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 A. Can you be more specific, 3 because as far as like that 4 continuing education as part of a 5 license? But no -- no like master, 6 or PhD or anything like that. I 7 don't know what you were referring 8 to. 9 Q. Thank you. 10 Do you have any 11 certifications or licenses? 12 A. I do. I have a 13 professional licenses for the State 14 of New York and state of 15 Connecticut. 16 Q. And when did you obtain 17 your professional engineers license 18 in New York? 19 A. Can I look? 20 Q. Sure. 21 A. 2013. 22 Q. Alright. 23 And how did you obtain that 24 license? 25 A. In the state -- well, I FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 16 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 filed for what they call reciprocity 3 because previous to that I had my 4 professional engineers license in 5 Connecticut. I filed the proper 6 paperwork, and had to get the 7 endorsements for the State of New 8 York to qualify for my experience 9 and then I was granted the license. 10 Q. When did you obtain your 11 professional engineers license in 12 Connecticut? 13 A. Can I look at the wall 14 behind me? 15 Q. Yes. 16 A. 2001. 17 Q. And how did you obtain that 18 license? 19 A. I was able to obtain that 20 license bypassing the professional 21 engineering exam. 22 Q. Okay. 23 And what, if anything, do 24 you need to do in order to maintain 25 the licenses? FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 17 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 A. You have to -- which -- it 3 is basically continuing education. 4 So every so years you have to have a 5 certain amount of continuing 6 education, basically courses, 7 seminars, study, in order to 8 maintain the license in good 9 standing. 10 Q. Have any of your licenses 11 ever been revoked or suspended? 12 A. No. 13 Q. Have any of your licenses 14 ever lapsed or expired? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Other than the two 17 professional engineers license, do 18 you have any other certifications or 19 licenses? 20 A. I mean, I have OSHA 21 certifications, certain safety 22 certifications, secure worker access 23 certifications. That is all I can 24 think of right now. 25 Q. Okay. FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 18 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 Are you currently employed? 3 A. I am. 4 Q. And who is your employer? 5 A. E.E. Cruz & Company 6 Incorporated. 7 Q. And that is the Plaintiff 8 of this lawsuit, is that your 9 understanding? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. So for the rest of this 12 deposition I am going to refer to 13 Plaintiff E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc., 14 as just E.E. Cruz, does that make 15 sense? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. How long have you been 18 working with E.E. Cruz? 19 A. It is almost five and a 20 half years. 21 Q. Okay. 22 And what is your role at 23 E.E. Cruz? 24 A. Currently, I am the 25 president. FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 19 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 Q. And for how long have you 3 held that role? 4 A. I don't know exactly. I 5 think it about a year and a half to 6 two years, I could guess. 7 Q. Okay. 8 What was your role before 9 that? 10 A. Immediately prior to that, 11 my title was managing director. 12 Q. And in your role as 13 president, what are your 14 responsibilities? 15 A. I am generally responsible 16 for the P&Ls of the company, the 17 direction, various oversight of all 18 of the different departments and 19 general course of business I guess. 20 Q. And when you say P&L, did 21 you mean profits and losses? 22 A. Yes. Thank you. 23 Q. And what was -- what were 24 your responsibilities as managing 25 director? FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/28/2022 05:53 PM INDEX NO. 652321/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 75 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/28/2022 Page 20 1 J. SHEEHAN 2 A. There were essentially the 3 same. It was an intern title. 4 Q. Okay. 5 And so what was your role 6 or title before you became managing