Preview
FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
Page 1
1 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
2 COUNTY OF KINGS
3 ________________________________
4 JOSE GOMEZ,
5 Plaintiff,
6 v. Index No.
7 91-93 FRANKLIN LLC, Y.N.H. 527680/2019
8 CONSTRUCTION INC. and ALPINE
9 READY MIX INC.,
10 Defendants.
11 ________________________________
12 VIDEOCONFERENCE DEPOSITION OF
13 JOSE GOMEZ
14 DATE: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
15 TIME: 11:25 a.m.
16 LOCATION: Remote Proceeding
17 844 Crescent Street
18 Brooklyn, New York 11208
19 REPORTED BY: Douglass Breshin, Notary Public
20 JOB No.: 4549926
21
22
23
24
25
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
Page 2
1 A P P E A R A N C E S
2 ON BEHALF OF PLAINTIFF, JOSE GOMEZ:
3 GLENN P. DOLAN, ESQUIRE (by videoconference)
4 Morgan, Levine, Dolan, PC
5 18 East 41st Street, 6th Floor
6 New York, New York 10017
7 gdoland@mldlegal.com
8 (212) 785-5115
9
10 ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANTS, 91-93 FRANKLIN LLC, Y.N.H.
11 CONSTRUCTION INC.:
12 PAUL WELLS, ESQUIRE (by videoconference)
13 Ryan & Conlon, LLP
14 2 Wall Street, Suite 710
15 New York, New York 10005
16 pwells@ryanconlon.com
17 (212) 590-6009
18
19 ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT, ALPINE READY MIX, INC.:
20 ROBERT MAZZUCHIN, ESQUIRE (by videoconference)
21 Brand, Glick & Brand
22 600 Old Country Road, Suite 440
23 Garden City, New York 11530
24 rmazzuchin@bgbfirm.com
25 (516) 746-3500
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
Page 3
1 I N D E X
2 EXAMINATION: PAGE
3 By Mr. Wells 6
4 By Mr. Mazzuchin 147
5 By Mr. Wells 178
6
7 E X H I B I T S
8 NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE
9 Exhibit A Incident Report 86
10 Exhibit B Response to Combined Demands 117
11 Exhibit C Series of Photographs 130
12
13 (*Exhibits attached.)
14
15 QUESTION INSTRUCTED NOT TO ANSWER
16 PAGE LINE
17 65 18
18 71 21
19 101 9
20 110 23
21 150 7
22 179 20
23
24
25
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
Page 4
1 J. GOMEZ
2 REPORTER: Good morning, everyone. My
3 name is Douglass Breshin; I am the officer assigned by
4 Veritext to take the Zoom recording of this
5 proceeding. I am a notary authorized to take
6 acknowledgements and administer oaths in the state of
7 New York. And we are now going on the record.
8 This is the deposition of Jose Gomez
9 taken in the matter of Jose Gomez vs. 91-93 Franklin,
10 LLC. It is 11:25 a.m. on April 20, 2021, and we are
11 doing this deposition remotely.
12 Due to the pandemic -- I'm sorry. I
13 can't hear with that background noise. Due to the
14 pandemic --
15 MR. WELLS: I'm sorry. That's a truck
16 going by.
17 REPORTER: Okay, no problem. Due to
18 the pandemic, and out of concern for public and
19 participant safety, parties agree that I will swear in
20 the witness remotely outside of his presence.
21 Additionally, absent an objection on
22 the record before the witness is sworn, all parties
23 and the witness understand and agree that any
24 certified transcript produced from the recording of
25 this proceeding:
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 - is intended for all uses permitted
3 under applicable procedural and
4 evidentiary rules and laws in the same
5 manner as a deposition recorded by
6 stenographic means; and
7 - shall constitute written stipulation
8 of such.
9 At this time, can I just ask everyone
10 appearing today, just to introduce themselves for the
11 record, please.
12 MR. DOLAN: Glenn P. Dolan with the
13 office of Morgan, Levine, Dolan, Counsel for the
14 Plaintiff.
15 REPORTER: Thank you, Glen.
16 MR. WELLS: Paul Wells with Ryan and
17 Conlon, attorneys for Defendants 91-93 Franklin, LLC
18 and YNH Construction.
19 MR. MAZZUCHIN: Rob Mazzuchin of Brand,
20 Glick and Brand for Defendant Alpine.
21 REPORTER: Thank you very much,
22 everyone. And now, hearing no objection, I will now
23 swear in our witness. Jose, will you please raise
24 your right hand.
25 //
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
Page 6
1 J. GOMEZ
2 WHEREUPON,
3 JOSE GOMEZ,
4 called as a witness, and having been first duly sworn
5 to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
6 truth, was examined and testified as follows:
7 REPORTER: Thank you very much. Where
8 are you located today? What is your address, Jose?
9 THE WITNESS: 844 Crescent Street,
10 Brooklyn, New York.
11 REPORTER: All right. Thank you very
12 much. We're all set to begin.
13 EXAMINATION
14 BY MR. WELLS:
15 Q Good morning, Mr. Gomez. My name is Paul
16 Wells. I'm an attorney with Ryan and Conlon, and we
17 represent Defendant 91-93 Franklin, LLC and YNH
18 Construction in regard to the lawsuit you've
19 commenced. And I will be asking some questions about
20 that today. Okay?
21 A Yes, sir.
22 Q All right. Just a couple of general
23 instructions before we get going. As the court
24 reporter said earlier, please make all of your
25 responses verbal because the court reporter cannot
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 take down nods, hand gestures, and the like.
3 And also, please allow me to completely get
4 my question out, even though you may know exactly what
5 I'm about to ask, before you start answering, so we
6 are not talking over each other. Okay?
7 A Yes, sir.
8 Q If at any time you don't understand my
9 question, please say so and I will rephrase it. If
10 you provide an answer, it will be assumed that you
11 understood the question. Okay?
12 A Yes, sir.
13 Q If at any time you need to take a break, go
14 to the restroom, phone call, speak with your attorney,
15 for any reason, just please let us know and we'll be
16 able to accommodate you. I would only ask that if
17 there's a pending question that you provide an answer
18 before we take a break. Okay?
19 A Yes, sir.
20 Q Yes, okay. All right. So the address that
21 you provided, 844 Crescent Street, Brooklyn, New York,
22 that's your current residence. Is that correct?
23 A Yes -- yes, sir, correct.
24 Q Okay. And that's where you are now?
25 A Correct.
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 Q Okay. So the address is 844 Crescent.
3 Correct?
4 A Yes, sir.
5 Q And that's where you are now. Correct?
6 A Correct.
7 Q All right. How long have you resided there?
8 A 2016, that's when I first moved here.
9 Q Okay. Do you currently reside there with
10 anyone?
11 A No, by myself.
12 Q Okay. Did you live there with anyone back
13 in September of 2019?
14 A Nope.
15 Q Okay. I just want to ask some questions
16 about your general background. Okay?
17 A Yes, sir.
18 Q May I have your date of birth? And we'll
19 only put the year on the record.
20 A XX/XX/65.
21 Q And your social security number?
22 MR. WELLS: And we can X it all out or
23 just put the last four on the record, whatever you
24 want, Glenn.
25 MR. DOLAN: Four is fine.
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 MR. WELLS: Okay.
3 THE WITNESS: 6288.
4 BY MR. WELLS:
5 Q No, I'm sorry. Give me the whole number,
6 but only the last four digits will appear on the
7 record, so it's not disclosed.
8 A Okay. XX-XXX-6288.
9 Q Okay. Are you currently married?
10 A No.
11 Q Have you ever been married?
12 A No.
13 Q Do you have any children?
14 A Yes.
15 Q How many?
16 A Two.
17 Q Can you give me their names and ages.
18 A Coral, 24 --
19 Q I'm sorry. Is that Coral?
20 A Coral, C-O-R-A-L.
21 Q Okay.
22 A Twenty-four. And Jay Gomez, 17.
23 Q That's Jay?
24 A Yeah, J-A-Y.
25 Q And are you currently providing any support
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 for either Coral or Jay?
3 A No, sir.
4 MR. DOLAN: Note my objection.
5 BY MR. WELLS:
6 Q And who is their mother?
7 A Jessie Gomez, not from marriage, same last
8 name.
9 Q Okay.
10 A And Amber Kupea.
11 Q And can you spell the last name for Amber.
12 A I think it's K-U-P-E-A.
13 Q K-U-P-E-A, okay. So Coral is the -- is
14 Coral a boy or a girl?
15 A Girl.
16 Q Okay. And she is the daughter of?
17 A Amber Kupea.
18 Q Okay. And does Coral have the same last
19 name?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Okay. And then Jay's mother is Jessie
22 Gomez?
23 A Yes, sir.
24 Q All right. What is your highest level of
25 education?
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 A One year of community college.
3 Q And which college --
4 A Two semesters -- two semesters.
5 Q Okay. And which college was that?
6 A Miami-Dade Community College.
7 Q And that's down in Florida?
8 A Yes, sir.
9 Q And you're a high school graduate, I assume?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Okay. Where and when did you graduate high
12 school?
13 A I think it was, like, '82. I'm not 100
14 percent sure of that, 1982.
15 Q All right. And what high school?
16 A I went to South Miami Senior High.
17 Q All right. And before we get going, just
18 one more instruction. You know, nobody here wants you
19 to, you know, guess, neither your attorney nor me.
20 But it's certainly all right for you to approximate.
21 So, you know, when I ask you a question such
22 as, "When did you graduate high school?" If you don't
23 know the exact year, you can just say, "Approximately
24 1982," and that's fine or something like that. Okay?
25 All right. And when did you attend Miami-
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 Dade Community College?
3 A '83.
4 Q Okay. Now, since then, have you taken any
5 courses where you would earn a certificate? Any trade
6 courses or anything like that?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Okay. So what course or further education
9 have you had?
10 A I have certification for forklift. I have
11 certification for cherry pickers. And I have a
12 certification for backhoe and OSHA.
13 Q And that OSHA, is that a 40 hour card, 60
14 hour card --
15 A Thirty -- thirty -- thirty.
16 Q Thirty hour card?
17 A Yeah.
18 Q Okay. And for each of those certification,
19 can you tell me approximately when you attained them?
20 A Well, the three -- the earth moving and the
21 -- the forklift, that was in 2017.
22 Q Okay.
23 A All three of those.
24 Q Okay. And what about the 30 hour OSHA?
25 A That one, I got it in 2019.
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 Q Do you know approximately when in 2019 you
3 got that?
4 A It was summer. It was, like, the summer.
5 It was, like, July.
6 Q Okay. Are you currently employed?
7 A No, sir.
8 Q When was the last time you were employed?
9 A September 18, 2019.
10 Q And who were you employed by then?
11 A Capital Concrete SWP.
12 Q That's S-W-B as in boy?
13 A P as pie.
14 Q So is that the formal name of the entity you
15 were employed by, Capital Concrete SWP?
16 A Well, it's Capital Concrete, but they use
17 the SWP too.
18 Q Okay. And what's your understanding of why
19 they use SWP or do you have any understanding --
20 A I have no idea -- no idea.
21 Q Okay. All right. When did you begin your
22 employment with Capital Concrete?
23 A It was in May, I think, of -- May of 2019.
24 Q And prior to Capital Concrete, were you
25 employed?
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 A I was employed, yes. By Quality Floor
3 Shine.
4 Q And can you give me the approximate dates
5 that you were employed by Quality Floor Shine?
6 A That was, like -- I started in 2016 and
7 until 2018. Yeah, 2018.
8 Q Okay. And then after Quality, your next
9 employment was in May of 2019 with Capital Concrete.
10 Is that correct?
11 A Correct.
12 Q Okay. And what did you do for Quality Floor
13 Shine?
14 A I was competent person.
15 Q What does that mean?
16 A I take pictures of the guys, what they're
17 doing, if they're building a column. And then I write
18 down what they're doing and what time.
19 Q Who are you taking pictures for? Quality
20 Floor Shine or somebody else?
21 A For somebody else. It's an app called
22 Raken. It's a concrete app -- it's a log.
23 Q Okay. So what is the business of Quality
24 Floor Shine?
25 A They -- they -- if -- they give -- they give
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 work to people that need it, like -- Capital Concrete.
3 They hire from their -- they hire from them.
4 Q Okay. Well, are they a concrete company?
5 A No, they provide employers. All they do is
6 provide to the general contractors employers.
7 Q All right. And your job with them was this
8 "competent person," and you would take photos of the
9 work that they or the people that they are providing
10 employees for?
11 A Correct.
12 Q Okay. Was that a full time job?
13 A Yes, sir. Well, I mixed it up, you know,
14 doing things like picking up garbage. Doing whatever
15 I've got to do on the jobsite.
16 Q Okay, all right. So your employment at
17 Capital Concrete, what was your role at Capital
18 Concrete?
19 A All around everything. I did everything,
20 but my main job was construction log with the photos,
21 Raken. It's called Raken.
22 Q How do you spell that? How do you spell
23 that?
24 A R-A-K-E -- Raken -- N-A-N -- R-A-K-N (sic),
25 I think.
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FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
Page 16
1 J. GOMEZ
2 Q So, I'm sorry, I'm still a little confused
3 regarding the term Raken. And the spelling of that is
4 R-A-K-N. Correct?
5 A E-N.
6 Q E-N.
7 A Raken, Raken.
8 Q So what does that mean exactly, Raken?
9 A It's an app that they give you from the
10 office. And that's how you log a daily concrete log.
11 Q And so you would take -- is it fair to say,
12 sir, you would take, like, progress photographs of the
13 job being done?
14 A Exactly.
15 Q And then you would upload these photographs
16 into this app or this log?
17 A Yes.
18 MR. DOLAN: Paul, just so that you
19 understand, on the internet it says, "Raken provides a
20 cloud based mobile and daily reporting platform
21 solutions to companies -- construction application for
22 daily reporting that allows users to get real-time
23 updates on the progress of a job, and access, manage,
24 and download various jobs."
25 MR. WELLS: Okay.
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022
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1 J. GOMEZ
2 MR. DOLAN: Jobsite photos, I'm sorry.
3 BY MR. WELLS:
4 Q Okay. So when you were working at Quality
5 Floor Shine, you performed this activity of taking
6 photos for Raken as well. Correct?
7 A Raken is just the app, yeah.
8 Q Right.
9 A Yeah.
10 Q But you used that app in your employment
11 with Quality Floor Shine?
12 A Yeah,
Preview
FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 1 1 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 2 COUNTY OF KINGS 3 ________________________________ 4 JOSE GOMEZ, 5 Plaintiff, 6 v. Index No. 7 91-93 FRANKLIN LLC, Y.N.H. 527680/2019 8 CONSTRUCTION INC. and ALPINE 9 READY MIX INC., 10 Defendants. 11 ________________________________ 12 VIDEOCONFERENCE DEPOSITION OF 13 JOSE GOMEZ 14 DATE: Tuesday, April 20, 2021 15 TIME: 11:25 a.m. 16 LOCATION: Remote Proceeding 17 844 Crescent Street 18 Brooklyn, New York 11208 19 REPORTED BY: Douglass Breshin, Notary Public 20 JOB No.: 4549926 21 22 23 24 25 Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 ON BEHALF OF PLAINTIFF, JOSE GOMEZ: 3 GLENN P. DOLAN, ESQUIRE (by videoconference) 4 Morgan, Levine, Dolan, PC 5 18 East 41st Street, 6th Floor 6 New York, New York 10017 7 gdoland@mldlegal.com 8 (212) 785-5115 9 10 ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANTS, 91-93 FRANKLIN LLC, Y.N.H. 11 CONSTRUCTION INC.: 12 PAUL WELLS, ESQUIRE (by videoconference) 13 Ryan & Conlon, LLP 14 2 Wall Street, Suite 710 15 New York, New York 10005 16 pwells@ryanconlon.com 17 (212) 590-6009 18 19 ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT, ALPINE READY MIX, INC.: 20 ROBERT MAZZUCHIN, ESQUIRE (by videoconference) 21 Brand, Glick & Brand 22 600 Old Country Road, Suite 440 23 Garden City, New York 11530 24 rmazzuchin@bgbfirm.com 25 (516) 746-3500 Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 3 1 I N D E X 2 EXAMINATION: PAGE 3 By Mr. Wells 6 4 By Mr. Mazzuchin 147 5 By Mr. Wells 178 6 7 E X H I B I T S 8 NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE 9 Exhibit A Incident Report 86 10 Exhibit B Response to Combined Demands 117 11 Exhibit C Series of Photographs 130 12 13 (*Exhibits attached.) 14 15 QUESTION INSTRUCTED NOT TO ANSWER 16 PAGE LINE 17 65 18 18 71 21 19 101 9 20 110 23 21 150 7 22 179 20 23 24 25 Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 4 1 J. GOMEZ 2 REPORTER: Good morning, everyone. My 3 name is Douglass Breshin; I am the officer assigned by 4 Veritext to take the Zoom recording of this 5 proceeding. I am a notary authorized to take 6 acknowledgements and administer oaths in the state of 7 New York. And we are now going on the record. 8 This is the deposition of Jose Gomez 9 taken in the matter of Jose Gomez vs. 91-93 Franklin, 10 LLC. It is 11:25 a.m. on April 20, 2021, and we are 11 doing this deposition remotely. 12 Due to the pandemic -- I'm sorry. I 13 can't hear with that background noise. Due to the 14 pandemic -- 15 MR. WELLS: I'm sorry. That's a truck 16 going by. 17 REPORTER: Okay, no problem. Due to 18 the pandemic, and out of concern for public and 19 participant safety, parties agree that I will swear in 20 the witness remotely outside of his presence. 21 Additionally, absent an objection on 22 the record before the witness is sworn, all parties 23 and the witness understand and agree that any 24 certified transcript produced from the recording of 25 this proceeding: Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 5 1 J. GOMEZ 2 - is intended for all uses permitted 3 under applicable procedural and 4 evidentiary rules and laws in the same 5 manner as a deposition recorded by 6 stenographic means; and 7 - shall constitute written stipulation 8 of such. 9 At this time, can I just ask everyone 10 appearing today, just to introduce themselves for the 11 record, please. 12 MR. DOLAN: Glenn P. Dolan with the 13 office of Morgan, Levine, Dolan, Counsel for the 14 Plaintiff. 15 REPORTER: Thank you, Glen. 16 MR. WELLS: Paul Wells with Ryan and 17 Conlon, attorneys for Defendants 91-93 Franklin, LLC 18 and YNH Construction. 19 MR. MAZZUCHIN: Rob Mazzuchin of Brand, 20 Glick and Brand for Defendant Alpine. 21 REPORTER: Thank you very much, 22 everyone. And now, hearing no objection, I will now 23 swear in our witness. Jose, will you please raise 24 your right hand. 25 // Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 6 1 J. GOMEZ 2 WHEREUPON, 3 JOSE GOMEZ, 4 called as a witness, and having been first duly sworn 5 to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the 6 truth, was examined and testified as follows: 7 REPORTER: Thank you very much. Where 8 are you located today? What is your address, Jose? 9 THE WITNESS: 844 Crescent Street, 10 Brooklyn, New York. 11 REPORTER: All right. Thank you very 12 much. We're all set to begin. 13 EXAMINATION 14 BY MR. WELLS: 15 Q Good morning, Mr. Gomez. My name is Paul 16 Wells. I'm an attorney with Ryan and Conlon, and we 17 represent Defendant 91-93 Franklin, LLC and YNH 18 Construction in regard to the lawsuit you've 19 commenced. And I will be asking some questions about 20 that today. Okay? 21 A Yes, sir. 22 Q All right. Just a couple of general 23 instructions before we get going. As the court 24 reporter said earlier, please make all of your 25 responses verbal because the court reporter cannot Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 7 1 J. GOMEZ 2 take down nods, hand gestures, and the like. 3 And also, please allow me to completely get 4 my question out, even though you may know exactly what 5 I'm about to ask, before you start answering, so we 6 are not talking over each other. Okay? 7 A Yes, sir. 8 Q If at any time you don't understand my 9 question, please say so and I will rephrase it. If 10 you provide an answer, it will be assumed that you 11 understood the question. Okay? 12 A Yes, sir. 13 Q If at any time you need to take a break, go 14 to the restroom, phone call, speak with your attorney, 15 for any reason, just please let us know and we'll be 16 able to accommodate you. I would only ask that if 17 there's a pending question that you provide an answer 18 before we take a break. Okay? 19 A Yes, sir. 20 Q Yes, okay. All right. So the address that 21 you provided, 844 Crescent Street, Brooklyn, New York, 22 that's your current residence. Is that correct? 23 A Yes -- yes, sir, correct. 24 Q Okay. And that's where you are now? 25 A Correct. Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 8 1 J. GOMEZ 2 Q Okay. So the address is 844 Crescent. 3 Correct? 4 A Yes, sir. 5 Q And that's where you are now. Correct? 6 A Correct. 7 Q All right. How long have you resided there? 8 A 2016, that's when I first moved here. 9 Q Okay. Do you currently reside there with 10 anyone? 11 A No, by myself. 12 Q Okay. Did you live there with anyone back 13 in September of 2019? 14 A Nope. 15 Q Okay. I just want to ask some questions 16 about your general background. Okay? 17 A Yes, sir. 18 Q May I have your date of birth? And we'll 19 only put the year on the record. 20 A XX/XX/65. 21 Q And your social security number? 22 MR. WELLS: And we can X it all out or 23 just put the last four on the record, whatever you 24 want, Glenn. 25 MR. DOLAN: Four is fine. Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 9 1 J. GOMEZ 2 MR. WELLS: Okay. 3 THE WITNESS: 6288. 4 BY MR. WELLS: 5 Q No, I'm sorry. Give me the whole number, 6 but only the last four digits will appear on the 7 record, so it's not disclosed. 8 A Okay. XX-XXX-6288. 9 Q Okay. Are you currently married? 10 A No. 11 Q Have you ever been married? 12 A No. 13 Q Do you have any children? 14 A Yes. 15 Q How many? 16 A Two. 17 Q Can you give me their names and ages. 18 A Coral, 24 -- 19 Q I'm sorry. Is that Coral? 20 A Coral, C-O-R-A-L. 21 Q Okay. 22 A Twenty-four. And Jay Gomez, 17. 23 Q That's Jay? 24 A Yeah, J-A-Y. 25 Q And are you currently providing any support Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 10 1 J. GOMEZ 2 for either Coral or Jay? 3 A No, sir. 4 MR. DOLAN: Note my objection. 5 BY MR. WELLS: 6 Q And who is their mother? 7 A Jessie Gomez, not from marriage, same last 8 name. 9 Q Okay. 10 A And Amber Kupea. 11 Q And can you spell the last name for Amber. 12 A I think it's K-U-P-E-A. 13 Q K-U-P-E-A, okay. So Coral is the -- is 14 Coral a boy or a girl? 15 A Girl. 16 Q Okay. And she is the daughter of? 17 A Amber Kupea. 18 Q Okay. And does Coral have the same last 19 name? 20 A Yes. 21 Q Okay. And then Jay's mother is Jessie 22 Gomez? 23 A Yes, sir. 24 Q All right. What is your highest level of 25 education? Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 11 1 J. GOMEZ 2 A One year of community college. 3 Q And which college -- 4 A Two semesters -- two semesters. 5 Q Okay. And which college was that? 6 A Miami-Dade Community College. 7 Q And that's down in Florida? 8 A Yes, sir. 9 Q And you're a high school graduate, I assume? 10 A Yes. 11 Q Okay. Where and when did you graduate high 12 school? 13 A I think it was, like, '82. I'm not 100 14 percent sure of that, 1982. 15 Q All right. And what high school? 16 A I went to South Miami Senior High. 17 Q All right. And before we get going, just 18 one more instruction. You know, nobody here wants you 19 to, you know, guess, neither your attorney nor me. 20 But it's certainly all right for you to approximate. 21 So, you know, when I ask you a question such 22 as, "When did you graduate high school?" If you don't 23 know the exact year, you can just say, "Approximately 24 1982," and that's fine or something like that. Okay? 25 All right. And when did you attend Miami- Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 12 1 J. GOMEZ 2 Dade Community College? 3 A '83. 4 Q Okay. Now, since then, have you taken any 5 courses where you would earn a certificate? Any trade 6 courses or anything like that? 7 A Yes. 8 Q Okay. So what course or further education 9 have you had? 10 A I have certification for forklift. I have 11 certification for cherry pickers. And I have a 12 certification for backhoe and OSHA. 13 Q And that OSHA, is that a 40 hour card, 60 14 hour card -- 15 A Thirty -- thirty -- thirty. 16 Q Thirty hour card? 17 A Yeah. 18 Q Okay. And for each of those certification, 19 can you tell me approximately when you attained them? 20 A Well, the three -- the earth moving and the 21 -- the forklift, that was in 2017. 22 Q Okay. 23 A All three of those. 24 Q Okay. And what about the 30 hour OSHA? 25 A That one, I got it in 2019. Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 13 1 J. GOMEZ 2 Q Do you know approximately when in 2019 you 3 got that? 4 A It was summer. It was, like, the summer. 5 It was, like, July. 6 Q Okay. Are you currently employed? 7 A No, sir. 8 Q When was the last time you were employed? 9 A September 18, 2019. 10 Q And who were you employed by then? 11 A Capital Concrete SWP. 12 Q That's S-W-B as in boy? 13 A P as pie. 14 Q So is that the formal name of the entity you 15 were employed by, Capital Concrete SWP? 16 A Well, it's Capital Concrete, but they use 17 the SWP too. 18 Q Okay. And what's your understanding of why 19 they use SWP or do you have any understanding -- 20 A I have no idea -- no idea. 21 Q Okay. All right. When did you begin your 22 employment with Capital Concrete? 23 A It was in May, I think, of -- May of 2019. 24 Q And prior to Capital Concrete, were you 25 employed? Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 14 1 J. GOMEZ 2 A I was employed, yes. By Quality Floor 3 Shine. 4 Q And can you give me the approximate dates 5 that you were employed by Quality Floor Shine? 6 A That was, like -- I started in 2016 and 7 until 2018. Yeah, 2018. 8 Q Okay. And then after Quality, your next 9 employment was in May of 2019 with Capital Concrete. 10 Is that correct? 11 A Correct. 12 Q Okay. And what did you do for Quality Floor 13 Shine? 14 A I was competent person. 15 Q What does that mean? 16 A I take pictures of the guys, what they're 17 doing, if they're building a column. And then I write 18 down what they're doing and what time. 19 Q Who are you taking pictures for? Quality 20 Floor Shine or somebody else? 21 A For somebody else. It's an app called 22 Raken. It's a concrete app -- it's a log. 23 Q Okay. So what is the business of Quality 24 Floor Shine? 25 A They -- they -- if -- they give -- they give Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 15 1 J. GOMEZ 2 work to people that need it, like -- Capital Concrete. 3 They hire from their -- they hire from them. 4 Q Okay. Well, are they a concrete company? 5 A No, they provide employers. All they do is 6 provide to the general contractors employers. 7 Q All right. And your job with them was this 8 "competent person," and you would take photos of the 9 work that they or the people that they are providing 10 employees for? 11 A Correct. 12 Q Okay. Was that a full time job? 13 A Yes, sir. Well, I mixed it up, you know, 14 doing things like picking up garbage. Doing whatever 15 I've got to do on the jobsite. 16 Q Okay, all right. So your employment at 17 Capital Concrete, what was your role at Capital 18 Concrete? 19 A All around everything. I did everything, 20 but my main job was construction log with the photos, 21 Raken. It's called Raken. 22 Q How do you spell that? How do you spell 23 that? 24 A R-A-K-E -- Raken -- N-A-N -- R-A-K-N (sic), 25 I think. Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 16 1 J. GOMEZ 2 Q So, I'm sorry, I'm still a little confused 3 regarding the term Raken. And the spelling of that is 4 R-A-K-N. Correct? 5 A E-N. 6 Q E-N. 7 A Raken, Raken. 8 Q So what does that mean exactly, Raken? 9 A It's an app that they give you from the 10 office. And that's how you log a daily concrete log. 11 Q And so you would take -- is it fair to say, 12 sir, you would take, like, progress photographs of the 13 job being done? 14 A Exactly. 15 Q And then you would upload these photographs 16 into this app or this log? 17 A Yes. 18 MR. DOLAN: Paul, just so that you 19 understand, on the internet it says, "Raken provides a 20 cloud based mobile and daily reporting platform 21 solutions to companies -- construction application for 22 daily reporting that allows users to get real-time 23 updates on the progress of a job, and access, manage, 24 and download various jobs." 25 MR. WELLS: Okay. Veritext Legal Solutions 212-267-6868 www.veritext.com 516-608-2400 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 10/18/2022 04:06 PM INDEX NO. 527680/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/18/2022 Page 17 1 J. GOMEZ 2 MR. DOLAN: Jobsite photos, I'm sorry. 3 BY MR. WELLS: 4 Q Okay. So when you were working at Quality 5 Floor Shine, you performed this activity of taking 6 photos for Raken as well. Correct? 7 A Raken is just the app, yeah. 8 Q Right. 9 A Yeah. 10 Q But you used that app in your employment 11 with Quality Floor Shine? 12 A Yeah,