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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.
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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
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18
By Sarah J. Miner, RPR, LSR #238
Brandon Legal Tech
19 37 Pinnacle Mountain Road
Simsbury, Connecticut 06070
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Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson
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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
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Ironhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson
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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.
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Ironhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson
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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.)
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Tronhorse Auto, LLC, d/b/a Central Hyundai v. Brent Mattson
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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
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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
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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
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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?
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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.
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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