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Review 10/25/2011
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Although I hired this impostor back in 2007, I am still actively trying today to get information from Leo Terrell regarding my former case (BC377895) against Los Angeles county.
I was employed as an IHSS social worker who was exposing fraud and corruption both within the workplace and within the IHSS program itself.
The workplace fraud committed by county employees was eventually substantiated by the Office Of County Investigations (OCI) in LA County. The fraud and abuse that I reported regarding client and provider fraud was substantiated by LA County's Grand Jury 2007/2008 report.
I remained on the job throughout the time that I had filed my lawsuit against LA County wherein I stated that I was being retaliated against for reporting what I believed to be wrongdoing both within the field and office. I only retained counsel (Terrell) after the union (SEIU) disbanded from Local 660 to Local 721. Due to the merger,I was left without representation when the union rep was fired the day that I was meeting with administration.
After my meeting with them, I realized administration had no desire to listen to my concerns. And instead retaliated against me by pulling all of my case files from my desk as I and everyone else watched. I was then taken off as "back-up" supervisor. Up until the last day that I worked I maintained very good to outstanding evaluations. Prior to reporting fraud,
I was sought out by administration and given complex cases because I understood the complexity of IHSS/MediCal rules and regulations.
Fast forward to 2008, Leo Terrell decides that he needs to settle my case as quickly as possible because I was displeased with his service and was actively seeking new counsel. He hated the fact that I was asking questions and wanted to actively know about my case.
In fact, I went to the law office of Bradley Gage in Woodland Hills and met with an attorney named Le'Roy Travelle Roberson. This attorney kept my files and said he would discuss my case with Gage. When I called the following day, I was told that Roberson was no longer working there. When I inquired about my files I was told they were missing. They remained "missing" for about 2 weeks. I later found out that Terrell and Gage knew one another and that Gage had contributed to Terrell's political attempt at running for a seat in Congress. A coincidence, I ask myself, maybe...
I do believe that this "coincidence" may explain why Terrell sold me out at a mediation that I attended on September 18, 2008. I was never prepped or advised until that very day (in a restaurant bar) that the mediation would be about whether I stayed or left my job. I was shocked.
The day of the mediation I arrived alone. I had finally reached Leo the night before on the phone (after multiple attempts) and he told me we would only be there for about ten or fifteen minutes as "county won't admit to nothing." I was so completely and utterly unprepared...I had no idea that this was a private mediation that he had set up with county counsel and that the issue was whether I remained on or left my job.
The mediation was a nightmare.
Terrell belittled me and yelled at me throughout the mediation. He told me that I would be fired for "releasing confidential information to others." When I asked what that information was, I was never told. I told him that I was a whistleblower and protected. He said that I would be fired and that they were just waiting for this to be over. I was never advised of my rights to a Skelly hearing if in fact I was actually fired. Leo James Terrell was my attorney and he should have advised me of the hearing process but instead he didn't advise me of my civil rights and blatantly lied to me by saying that I would be fired.
He saw my distress and tears...He saw I didn't understand. He refused to allow me to speak to anyone other than him. I was placed in a small room and although I wanted to talk to county counsel...He said I could not. Some issues in my past were brought up including the suicide of my boyfriend that I had personally witnessed.
I was told that I was hated and that all my co-workers hated me. Terrell yelled at me and said that I had made the "top people mad." I was accused of being "married to my job" as he openly laughed at me. I felt so very broken and alone. And, in the end Terrell won. I lost my job when I signed away my rights in the parking lot of the mediator's office at about 9:00 PM as Terrell hovered over me. I left as quickly as I could without getting a copy...I have no idea how I made it back home.
While I have always asked Terrell about what information I had allegedly released, its taken me three years to finally have the energy to ask outside agencies---what was the confidential information that I released to others that would have warranted termination of my job as a social worker? I have written to the Board of Supervisors and OCI. OCI gave me a letter stating that I was never investigated for anything. Armed with this letter I have appealed to the State Bar for help because Terrell still refuses to tell me what the information is...
I submit to you, dear reader, that Leo James Terrell is a liar and a master manipulator. If you want an attorney to demean and belittle you, who fails to advise you and protect your civil rights within the workplace---then hire him. Otherwise I suggest that you run away from this impostor as fast as you can. I only wish I had...
Footnote: The fraud committed by Los Angeles county employees within my office was proven to be true...Yet these workers remain on the job while I do not. What does this say to other whistleblowers?
Sandra Siedenburg
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