Embarrassment -- Yes, He Really Said it!

Here's a revealing anecdote. I was terminated from my job at the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld on October 29, 1991. The attorney who fired me, Dennis M. Race, Esq., said he would serve as the contact person concerning my employment.

The following morning, October 30, 1991, I telephoned Mr. Race at his office; I think it was around 9:00 AM. I asked Mr. Race if the firm would approve unemployment compensation for me. Mr. Race said the firm would approve unemployment compensation for me provided I didn't "put down anything that embarrasses the firm." I remember he used those exact words because I remember being confused by the phrase "put down." I said, "put down?" He said he meant he was concerned about my writing anything on my unemployment compensation application that was of an embarrassing nature to the firm.

What do you think Akin Gump thinks of this blog? Would the firm solicit an obstruction of justice to silence me? That sounds paranoid. But I'm being paid to be paranoid. I'm not being paid to be normal.

By the way, this anecdote is memorialized in the following document submission to the U.S. Social Security Administration at page 14.

Here's what I told the U.S. Social Security Administration in June 1993.

"October 30, 1991 -- Around 9:00 AM I telephoned Dennis Race at the office and asked him if the firm would object to a claim for unemployment insurance. Mr. Race said that the firm would not object, as long as I didn't put down anything that embarrassed the firm. Noting that the previous day, Mr. Race had said that one of the reasons for my termination was that I ignored people's corrections, I directed Mr. Race's attention to my job evaluation dated November 1989 that expressly stated that I "catered to individual needs." Mr. Race asked me if J.D. Neary had written that; I said, no, Constance Brown. Mr. Race politely explained that the problems with my work arose after that job evaluation had been written, which apparently in Mr. Race's mind, made that job evaluation irrelevant. The telephone call was cordial. I was somewhat agitated since I hadn't slept the night before. [9/25/92]

You'll notice that Dennis Race reaffirms that he told me my work was of poor quality, at the termination meeting the previous day. Yet, in a sworn statement that he submitted to the D.C. Department of Human Rights (May 22, 1992), Mr. Race said that the quality of my work-product was not a factor in the termination decision. I faxed the above statement to my sister on September 25, 1992. (I didn't receive Akin Gump's Response to Interrogatories, in which Dennis Race said my work quality was not a problem, until late December 1992).

Here's the cover letter I sent to Social Security.

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
[social security number redacted]

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 [Skillings]) 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 (202) 362-7064 (or leave messages at 202 363-3800). 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