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  • IRONHORSE AUTO, LLC, D/B/A CENTRAL HYUNDAI v. MATTSON, BRENTT90 - Torts - All other document preview
  • IRONHORSE AUTO, LLC, D/B/A CENTRAL HYUNDAI v. MATTSON, BRENTT90 - Torts - All other document preview
  • IRONHORSE AUTO, LLC, D/B/A CENTRAL HYUNDAI v. MATTSON, BRENTT90 - Torts - All other document preview
  • IRONHORSE AUTO, LLC, D/B/A CENTRAL HYUNDAI v. MATTSON, BRENTT90 - Torts - All other document preview
  • IRONHORSE AUTO, LLC, D/B/A CENTRAL HYUNDAI v. MATTSON, BRENTT90 - Torts - All other document preview
  • IRONHORSE AUTO, LLC, D/B/A CENTRAL HYUNDAI v. MATTSON, BRENTT90 - Torts - All other document preview
  • IRONHORSE AUTO, LLC, D/B/A CENTRAL HYUNDAI v. MATTSON, BRENTT90 - Torts - All other document preview
  • IRONHORSE AUTO, LLC, D/B/A CENTRAL HYUNDAI v. MATTSON, BRENTT90 - Torts - All other document preview
						
                                

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DOCKET NO.: WWM-CV21-6022016-S SUPERIOR COURT JRONHORSE AUTO, LLC d/b/a J.D. OF WINDHAM CENTRAL HYUNDAI vs. AT PUTNAM BRENT MATTSON MARCH 6, 2023 AFFIDAVIT OF ATTORNEY WILLIAM J. O’SULLIVAN STATE OF CONNECTICUT Glastonbury March 6, 2023 COUNTY OF HARTFORD Being duly sworn, I, William J. O’Sullivan, do hereby depose and say: 1 I am over the age of eighteen and understand the obligations of an oath. 2 I have personal knowledge of the facts stated in this affidavit. I submit this affidavit in connection with the defendant Brent Mattson’s Motion for Summary Judgment in this matter. 3 I ama shareholder in the law firm of O’Sullivan McCormack Jensen & Bliss PC in Glastonbury, Connecticut, counsel for Mr. Mattson in this matter. 4 Attached as Exhibit | hereto is a true and correct copy of excerpts of the transcript of Mr. Mattson’s deposition in this case, which was conducted on August 20, 2021. 5 Attached as Exhibit 2 hereto is a true and correct redacted copy of the “Plaintiff's Responses to the Defendant’s Four Bullet Points Per Court Order Dated August 15, 2022” that was served on my office on September 14, 2022. Affidavit of Attorney William J. O’Sullivan 6 Attached as Exhibit 3 hereto is a true and correct redacted copy of the “Plaintiff's Response Re: Damage Calculation” that was served on my office on February 28, 2023. ZF f Yo William J. O’Sullivan ~) Z I iff Ce s Subscribed and sworn to before me this 6" day of March, 2023. MelissaB. Gambardeyfa intra, . Notary Public Soh: Biya” My commission expires: g/SOaN en Le, MELISSA B. GAMBARDELLA NOTARY PUBLIC. CONNECTICUT et “a, 1G wr “Oa a MY COM MIS SIO N EXPIRES 12-31-2026 EXHIBIT 1 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 1 DOCKET NUMBER: WWM-CV21-6022016-S 2 TRONHORSE AUTO, LLC, ) SUPERIOR COURT d/b/a CENTRAL HYUNDAI, ) JUDICIAL DISTRICT ) OF WINDHAM Plaintiff, ) AT PUTNAM vs. BRENT MATTSON, Defendant. 10 DEPOSITION OF BRENT R. MATTSON 11 12 13 DATE: August 20, 2021 14 TIME: 10:00 a.m. 15 HELD AT: Feiner Wolfson LLC One Constitution Plaza 16 Suite 900 Hartford, Connecticut 17 18 By Sarah J. Miner, RPR, LSR #238 Brandon Legal Tech 19 37 Pinnacle Mountain Road Simsbury, Connecticut 06070 20 21 22 23 24 25 www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech. LLC Page: 1 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 APPEARANCES: For the Plaintiff: John M. Wolfson, Esq. Feiner Wolfson LLC One Constitution Plaza Suite 900 Hartford, Connecticut 06103 For the Defendant: William J. O'Sullivan, Esq. O'Sullivan McCormack Jensen & Bliss PC 180 Glastonbury Boulevard Suite 210 Glastonbury, Connecticut 06033 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech, LLC Page: 2 Ironhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 STIPULATIONS It is stipulated by counsel for the parties that all objections are reserved until the time of trial, except those objections as are directed to the form of the question. It is stipulated and agreed between counsel for the parties that the proof of the authority of the Commissioner before whom this deposition is 10 taken is waived. 11 It is further stipulated that any defects in 12 the notice are waived. 13 It is further stipulated that the reading and 14 signing of the deposition transcript were not 15 waived. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech, LLC Page: 3 Ironhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 INDEX WITNESS: Page BRENT R. MATTSON Direct Examination by Mr. Wolfson EXHIBIT Deposition Exhibits Description Premarked Exhibit 1 Summons 114 Exhibit 2 Confidentiality Agreement 135 Exhibit 3 Central Ford Mercury 135 Mazda and Hyundai Computer Policy 10 (Mr. Wolfson retained the 11 exhibits.) 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech, LLC Page: 4 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 BRENT R. MATTSON, having first been duly sworn by Sarah J. Miner, LSR, a Notary Public in and for the State of Connecticut, was examined and testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. WOLFSON: Q Good morning, Mr. Mattson. My name is John Wolfson. I represent Ironhorse Auto LLC d/b/a Central Hyundai in a lawsuit against you that was 10 filed in the Superior Court for the Judicial 11 District of Putnam, in Danielson. 12 You are aware of that lawsuit? 13 A Correct. 14 Q You are here pursuant to a deposition 15 notice for that lawsuit. Correct? 16 A Yes. 17 Q Do you have legal counsel here today? 18 Yes. 19 Who is your legal counsel? 20 Mr. O'Sullivan. 21 Bill O'Sullivan? 22 Correct. 23 He is sitting to your left? 24 Yes. 25 MR. O'SULLIVAN: Stipulations The www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech, LLC Page: 5 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 Q He was just asking to find out what is going on. Fair? A Correct. Q Did you have another conversation with Mr. Longton about what happened with Mr. Alice and Mr. LeClaire? A I don't recall. Q As 2020 came to a close, how were those matters resolved? 10 A The Stephen Alice matter was not resolved. 11 And Jake LeClaire had moved on. 12 Q So you started 2021 and you only had one 13 tech. Is that right? 14 A No. 15 Q You had Matt Fournier? 16 A No, at that point, Matt Fournier had left. 17 Q Who did you have starting 2021? 18 A 2021 was Shep Chapman, Steve Alice, Matt 19 -- I don't remember Matthew's last name -- 20 Latvierra, Matt Latvierra. And then I don't recall 21 the exact date when Donald Carlin, Jr. left us. He 22 may or may not have been there in 2021. 23 Q Donald who? 24 A Carlin, Jr., C-A-R-L-I-N. 25 Q And what was his title? www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech. LLC Page: 58 Ironhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 Who? Donald Carlin? A He was a technician. Q How long was he there for at Central Hyundai? A At Central Hyundai? He was at Central Hyundai about six months. And he was at Central Ford before that. Q Now, during your tenure with Central 10 Hyundai, did your password ever change for the 11 computer system? 12 A For which computer system? 13 Q The dealer management system, what was it 14 called, the CDK? CDK? 15 A For CDK, no. 16 Did it change for any of the systems? 17 Yes. 18 Which system? 19 Hyundai dealer.com. 20 Hyundai dealer.com? 21 Correct. 22 And what is that? 23 That is Hyundai's dealer management 24 system. 25 And what does that system do? www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech. LLC Page: 59 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 A That is where you are able to locate recall information, technical information on repairs, warranty information. Q And who is the administrator of Central Hyundai's use of Hyundai dealer.com? A Ellen Jones. Q And you said your password changed. Is that correct? A Correct. 10 Q And how did it change? 11 A Every month it needs to be changed. 12 Q Are so as the manager of the service 13 department you would change your password or would 14 there be a notice for you to change your password? 15 Would you do it automatically or would they ask you 16 to do it? 17 A They would ask you to do it and then at a 18 certain time it would time out where it would 19 require you to change it. 20 Q And now how does Hyundai dealer.com differ 21 from CDK? 22 A CDK is where all repair information is 23 stored. Customer's concerns, customer's 24 information, regardless of year, make and model of 25 the vehicle. www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech. LLC Page: 60 Ironhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 Now, how many computer systems does Wile have? Computer programs or -- Programs, systems? A Seven, eight. I am not sure. I never counted all of them. So what programs do they use? We use Auto/Mate. Auto Mate, M-E-E-T? 10 No, M-A-T-E. 11 Auto/Mate? 12 Yes. 13 What is that for? 14 That is their dealer management system. 15 What else do they use? 16 Hyundai dealer.com. VINSolutions. 17 What else? 18 Alldata. I think those are the main ones 19 that we use. Xtime. We use Xtime also. 20 Q What is Xtime? 21 A It is for making appointments. 22 Q What was the one before that. Alldata? 23 Uh-huh. 24 What is that? 25 It is repair information, procedures on www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech. LLC Page: 75 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 a member of his family? A That, I didn't ask. Q What about his hands, what happened to his hands? A That, I don't know. I do know that it was from turning wrenches for numerous years, but I don't know if it was an accident or what had happened. Q How old is Mr. Alice? 10 A He is in his early 60s. 11 Q Was Mr. Alice upset in dealing with you 12 because you were so much younger? Did that play a 13 part of it? 14 A That, I don't know. I have seen that 15 issue in the past, but as far as he is concerned I 16 am not sure. 17 Q And Joe Robbins, why did he leave Central 18 Hyundai? 19 A He left Central Hyundai because he had a 20 disagreement with Mr. Timothy Longton about his pay 21 plan. 22 Q Any other problems that he had there? 23 A To my knowledge, no. Not that I am aware 24 of. 25 Q Did you solicit any employees that didn't www.brandonLT.com REN-57R-77.44 Rrandon T eoal Tech TIC Pace: 80 Ironhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 come with you? A From Central Hyundai. Q Central Hyundai, yes? Yes. Who was that? Shep Chapman. Why didn't Shep leave? That, I don't know. He never gave me an exact reason. 10 Q When did you solicit him? 11 MR. O'SULLIVAN: Object to form. 12 THE WITNESS: Once I made the 13 decision I was going to be joining Wile 14 Hyundai, we had a conversation whether he 15 was going to be staying with Central 16 Hyundai. He said he did not want to stay 17 with Central Hyundai. He said he wanted 18 to come with me. I said that is fine, 19 give me a couple of weeks. After a couple 20 of weeks, I called him and he had a change 21 of heart. 22 BY MR. WOLFSON: 23 Q How old is Shep? 24 A Mid 50s. 25 Q How old is Mr. Robbins? www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech. LLC Page: 81 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 Hyundai Motor America to obtain access to Central Motors -- Central Hyundai's DMS system on March 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th? A I am claiming I did not make any phone calls to gain any access to Central Hyundai either those days or days after that or no phone call was ever made to give me administrative access to Central Hyundai while I was an employee or while I was a nonemployee. 10 Q Do you know why someone would say that? il A That, I do not. 12 Q Do you have any concern about why somebody 13 would say that? 14 A I absolutely do. 15 Q And what is your concern? 16 A My concern is that lies are being made up 17 regarding myself regarding all of this, regarding 18 relationships between Central Hyundai, and 19 relationships with Hyundai and relationships with 20 my current employer. 21 Q Now, if you wanted to obtain administrator 22 rights to Central Hyundai's DMS system, how would 23 you go about doing that? 24 MR. O'SULLIVAN: Object to form. 25 THE WITNESS: That, I am unaware. www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech. LLC Page: 112 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 1 BY MR. WOLFSON: Q You are unaware of how you would do that? A Correct Either as a current employee or as a nonemployee MR O'SULLIVAN: That is basically what my objection was. BY MR. WOLFSON: Q So you read the Complaint that was served upon you. Is that right? 10 A Correct. 11 Q Were you surprised by the allegation in 12 the Complaint that -- 13 MR. O'SULLIVAN: Are you referring to 14 the Complaint, John? 15 MR. WOLFSON: Yes, I am going to 16 refer to the Complaint. I didn't copy it. 17 MR. O'SULLIVAN: I can pull it up on 18 my screen. 19 MR. WOLFSON: If you give me one 20 moment, I will make a copy of this. I 21 didn't think we would need it. 22 (Off-the-record discussion.) 23 (Exhibit No. 1 marked for 24 identification.) 25 BY MR. WOLFSON: www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech, LLC Page: 113 Ironhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 Q On Friday, March 12th, 2021, at any time during the day, did you request administrator rights and access to Central Hyundai's DMS? A No, I did not. Q Do you have any idea who would be interested in telling us that you called Hyundai Motor America and asked for administrator rights to Central Hyundai's DMS? A I do not know anyone that would be 10 interested in coming up with that sort of idea. 11 Q Have you looked into this issue after 12 seeing the Complaint? 13 A No, I have not. 14 Q You haven't investigated this at all? 15 A No, I have not. 16 Q Why not? 17 A Because I know that this event has never 18 happened. 19 Q So it is your claim that you never were 20 given administrator access to Central Hyundai's 21 DMS? 22 A That is correct. 23 Q During March of 2021, did you send a text 24 to Shep Chapman about his training status? 25 A I don't believe so. I don't recall. www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech, LLC Page: 117 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 Yes, I did. So what did you do after you got it? A The next phone call was to Mr. Gates. Q I am sorry, I wasn't clear. You received this Complaint at work. Is that correct? A Yes. Q Okay. After you received the Complaint, what did you do? A I read it, signed for it. And then I made 10 a phone call to Mr. Gates. 11 Q So you did read it? 12 A Yes. 13 Okay. Why did you call Mr. Gates? 14 To inform him what was going on. 15 Were you surprised by this Complaint? 16 Yes, I was. 17 And why were you surprised? 18 A Because it is not truthful. 19 Q And so what did you tell Mr. Gates? 20 A I told him what I was presented. And it 21 was decided that we would have a discussion later 22 that night and sit down and go over it. 23 Q And so what happened next after you spoke 24 -- after Mr. Gates hung up? 25 A I finished out my day at Wile Hyundai. www.brandonLT.com R60-52R-2244 Rrandon Tegal Tech. 1.1.C Pace: 119 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 Q And what did he say? A He said business was good. Business was very busy for him. And that he was trying to convince his wife to allow him to buy a new vehicle. Q Did you ask him to become a Wile Hyundai customer? A No, I did not. He asked if he could bring his fleet to us. 10 Just out of the blue? 11 Correct. 12 Did he say why? 13 Yes, he did. 14 Why is that? 15 A He said he was very upset with Central 16 Hyundai. He said the last three oil changes he has 17 gone in for, they have taken over two hours. 18 Q And how long should an oil change take? 19 A It depends on the vehicle, but anywhere 20 from half hour to 45 minutes. 21 So what did you tell Mr. Brown? 22 As far as what? 23 About him coming over to Wile? 24 I said he was more than welcome. 25 Now, did you ever send a text during March www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech. LLC Page: 124 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 1 of 2000 -- I want to get back to this during March of 2021 to March or April -- send a text to Shep Chapman? A Possibly. Very seldom did we exchange text messages. We usually exchanged phone calls. Q Why would you have sent him a text something to the effect of I see you are not up to speed in training? A At one point I was able to see the 10 training levels for previous employees that were 11 under me, whether it was Central Hyundai or if it 12 was Wile Hyundai. And at that point, I sent an 13 email to Mr. Cleary regarding that, and he said he 14 would talk to Tim Longton to address that. 15 Q What do you mean you would -- when was 16 this? 17 A The exact date, I don't remember. 18 Q Was this before or after you left Central 19 Hyundai? 20 A This was after. 21 Q How did you get to see? 22 A That, I don't know. That is why I 23 contacted -- I originally contacted Hyundai Star 24 Rewards because my points were accumulating. And 25 they said they get their information from Hyundai www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2244 Brandon Legal Tech. LLC Page: 125 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 directly. And then at that point, I contacted Kevin Cleary because I could still see trainings. Q When you say you could see training, where were you seeing it? A In the Hyundai learning portal. Q And the Hyundai learning portal is part of what program? A Hyundai dealer.com. It has its own website. You get to it through its website. 10 Q It is not part of CDK? 11 A No. 12 Q Are you saying it is part of Hyundai 13 dealer.com? 14 A Uh-huh. 15 MR. O'SULLIVAN: You have to answer 16 out loud. Yes? 17 THE WITNESS: Yes. I am sorry. 18 BY MR. WOLFSON: 19 Q And that you had access to training 20 histories from of Central Hyundai employees? 21 A It would show me past and present 22 employees that worked under me whether or not they 23 have taken a class. 24 Q When did this first show up? 25 A The exact date I don't remember. www.brandonLT.com 860-528-2744 Rrandon T eoal Tech TC Page: 176 Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson Brent Mattson Job Date:8/20/2021 1 Q So just out of the blue one day you are able to see these training histories? Is that what you are telling me? A Once I was able to get into it after my HMA order number was transferred over to Wile Hyundai. It usually takes a few days before it will transfer over. Once it transferred over, then I was actually able to physically go in it. And I was checking my technicians, and unfortunately my 10 technicians as well as theirs were in there. 11 Q As you sit here today, you don't know how 12 you got that access. Is that fair? 13 A Correct. To this day, I don't know why it 14 was there. 15