April 23, 2002
Re: Appeal from Decision of ALJ Michelle Manzione
Dear Mr. Hardekopf,
I am outraged that you are claiming that I did not file an appeal from the decision of ALJ Michelle Manzione. Is seems that lies are the modus operandi of the TLC, and that you are one of the number one liars there.
Not only did I appeal on time, but I remember the young black woman who took my appeal. I can identify her if I see her again. I demand that you identify the persons who would be taking and processing such an appeal.
You have a sign-in book at the front desk of the TLC office at 40 Rector Street where all visitors must sign in. I assume that I signed the book when I came to your offices to file the appeal. Accordingly, I am demanding that you produce that book in open court so that I can prove that I was there. I filed the appeal on July 3-5, 2001. I remember the date because the decision of Michelle Manzione was dated June 5, 2001 and I had 30 days to appeal.
I also remember that I filed the appeal at very close to 5:00 PM. I remember the time, because your clerk commented that I should have come earlier. However, it was still before 5:00 PM. Therefore, your sign-in book should show that I signed in between 4:30 and 5:00 PM on July 3-5, 2001.
I demand that you identify the person who was working at the front desk on those dates. I think that it is likely that he will remember me.
Unfortunately, or by design, your front desk does not have a time stamp machine. Therefore, you deny litigants such as myself the right to have our submissions time stamped, so that we can prove later on that we filed something. All other offices that handle appeals and other court matters do have time stampers. That, and the other manners in which the TLC does business, leads me to conclude that this is just part of the ongoing effort by the TLC to steal money from taxi drivers.
Enclosed is a copy of the Appeal I filed in your office on July 3-5, 2001. Of course, it is not an exact copy, because your clerk did not time stamp and give me back a copy of my appeal.
I have received a call from your counsel who says that she cannot make it to court for the scheduled appearance at 9:30 AM on Wednesday April 24, 2002 in Room 148 at the Supreme Courthouse on 60 Centre Street, New York, and who asks for an adjournment. However, I will be there, on time.
You also have not replied to the Freedom of Information Law request which I filed with the TLC in October, 2001. Had you complied with my request, your response would have contained a copy of my appeal. The papers your counsel filed in Supreme Court in December said that my FOIL request was being "processed". That was four months ago. You still have not complied.
I note that Supreme Court Justice Lebedeff in her decision ruled that the decision of ALJ Manzione was based on a "patently incorrect factual finding". You have not appealed that decision, in spite of another lie by your superiors Lisa Rana and Peter Mazer told to me on March 15, 2002 that you had appealed. So, it has already been decided that the decision of your administrative law judge was illegal and wrong. Why are you wasting the tax payer's money sending an attorney to court to defend a case, when is has already been decided by the Supreme Court that you are in the wrong?
I demand that you produce at the hearing these items requested and I will see you in court.
Sam Sloan