Friday, March 05, 2010

Social Security Document Submission: June 1993

Page 60 of Document Submission to the Social Security Administration

FAX NO. 609 235 5569 MEREDITH FINANCIAL SERVICES
transmittal for Mrs. Estelle Jacobson c/o Mr. Edward Jacobson


Dear Stell,

This is probably a goofy thing, but it may shed some light on the psychological background of the decision to terminate me at Akin Gump.

1. In one of my earlier letters I speculated that a possible rationale for my termination was that the firm was afraid that I might sue the firm, that it might be possible for me to gather the evidence necessary to proceed with an action against the firm. This was purely unsubstantiated speculation on my part. But this possible reaction of management has a possible parallel in an incident at Hogan & Hartson.

[I remember at my meeting with Earl Segal on the afternoon of October 23, 1991 at which I reported instances of harassment, I said to Mr. Segal that some of the acts of my coworkers might be "tortious." Mr. Segal's eyes widened when I used the word tortious; it looked as if his eyes might pop out of their sockets!]

2. In early January 1987 I was working on a special project for the attorney Maree Sneed re: The Milwaukee Public Schools desegregation case. The task required that I work at a computer terminal in the computer applications department on the fifth floor of the building, in the area occupied by Sheryl Ferguson. At one point, Sheryl Ferguson said angrily to Maree Sneed, “How much longer is this going to go on? There has already been a security breach because of him.” I vaguely recall that Sheryl Ferguson said, “I want him out of here.” Thus, once again, the notion of wanting to be rid of me because of what I might discover, what I might be able to prove

3. Compare my parable about the Arab student who raises the ire of authority figures because of his design of a nuclear bomb. Authority figures fear what he has discovered, what he has “proven.” Thus, this dynamic--which related to my work with Dr. Palombo--has applicability to my therapy, my relationship with my therapist, and my own fantasy life. We may say that the dynamic relates to both the transference and counter transference. The dynamic may shed light on my termination at Akin Gump. This may sound bizarre, but Akin Gump management may actually have terminated me in part because it came to accept--irrationally--the validity or reality of my own fantasy, my own irrational self-image as a “discoverer.” It may be that Akin Gump management irrationally accepted and made a rationalized business decision based on its having accepted my own self-image as a “Columbus,” thereby transforming my private irrational into objective reality. One might say that I become again and again a victim of my own PR.

1 comment:

My Daily Struggles said...

June 14, 1993
3801 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008

Paul G. Yessler, MD
2501 Calvert Street, NW
Suite 101
Washington, DC 20008

RE: Social Security Disability Psychiatric Evaluation
xxx-xx-xxxx

Dear Dr. Yessler:

Enclosed with respect to the above-referenced matter is a collection of letters I wrote and sent (by mail or fax) to my sister after my job termination on October 29, 1991 and before the filing of a disability claim with the Social Security Administration. Most of the letters were in fact written and sent in the year 1992.

I wrote the letters under the influence of my belief that my sister was in communication with my former employer, Akin Gump, and that my sister, upon receipt of the letters, would transmit the letters by fax communication back to managers of Akin Gump.

Both the writing and sending of the letters together with the content of the letters establish the persistence of seemingly paranoid ideation throughout the period beginning October 29, 1991. The letters deal, among other issues, with my concerns regarding harassment by Akin Gump co-workers; harassing (and anti-Semitic) telephone calls I received during 1991 and 1992; my belief that various of my treating psychiatrists were in communication with my former employer; the belief that librarians at the Cleveland Park Public Library (referred to as "the Club") harassed me; my belief that a clerk at a Giant Supermarket in my neighborhood (Adam) harassed me concerning my friendship with Craig Dye; my belief that a specialist at the Brookings Institution (Stephen Hess) was in communication with my former employer; the belief that it was not a mere accident that my former supervisor, Christine Robertson, had me touch her breasts, etc.

Please forward these materials to:

Ms. Fay Peterson
District of Columbia
Rehabilitation Services Administration
Disability Determination Division
P.O. Box 37608
Washington, DC 20013

If you have any questions, you may contact me at (xxx) xxx-xxxx (or leave messages at xxx xxx-xxxx). Might I suggest a follow-up evaluation consult?

You may contact my sister, Mrs. Estelle Jacobson, at (609) 727-3295.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely ,

Gary Freedman

The above cover letter transmitted a document production of approximately 185 pages. The document production is presumably on file at the Social Security Administration. The produced documents were presumably a significant factor in Social Security's disability determination of August 1993.