attorney public meetings...

On Tuesday, February 1, two public meetings will be held by Biloxi attorney Russell Gill.  These will be at the Sheraton Four Points in Biloxi at the foot of I-110.  Meetings are scheduled for 8:30 am and 6:30 pm.  We understand that these will be informational meetings for anyone interested in oil-spill recovery through legal means.  Mr. Gill has worked in the past with Sheller, P.C., of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, a major personal injury firm.  We understand that there will be Sheller representatives on hand for these meetings.

As we have said before, we may be very close to positive resolution of our Interim Claims with the gccf.  For this reason, we do not recommend hiring an attorney quite yet.  However, this may be our best chance to become aware of our legal choices, and help us make the best decisions for our families and futures.  We will try to attend both meetings and report the results.

good news, bad news...

The Washington D.C. gccf-casino liaison attorney called yesterday with updates on the process.  The good news is that we are on the front burner with favorable prospects for positive resolution of our Interim Claims.  The bad news is that the gccf continues to create delays.  We are now told that the "methodology" will be trotted out for a two-week period for public comment and input early in February.  Interim Claim processing will follow.  When?  Who knows?  Perhaps late February.  This is in direct contradiction to what was said by a local gccf office manager yesterday.  Our local gentleman stated most sincerely that our claims would begin processing February 1st.  A call to the gccf 800# tells us that the methodology is still a work in progress, and that it might be published in three to four weeks.

Here is our email to D.C.:

 

 

Bill,

 

Thank you for your phone call yesterday.  Do you ever get the feeling that we are caught up in some sort of European circus?  ...some sort of theatre of the absurd?

 

by Sasha Chavkin
ProPublica, Dec. 14, 2010, 2:46 p.m.

Feinberg said that he would post a description of his methodology for evaluating claims online and in every claims office in the Gulf, and said he would release the methodology within the next 10 days. "We will have full transparency," he said.

Bill, I am rarely at a loss for words, but, here, I am totally dumbfounded.  Really, is the boss out of touch, or not in control?  It obviously must be one or the other.

"full transparency" means, perhaps, that "nothing we say has any substance at all".  Ten days?  MAYBE forty-five days...  Who's actually running the asylum? 

"full transparency" means having all gccf staffers telling every claimant who asks that Interim Claims will be processed beginning February 1.  Oh, SORRY!  We meant the END of February.

What kind of funky idea is it to trot out the "methodology" for public input?  Nobody out here cares about the #^@&*+% methodology!  That's the gccf's job.  The "people" have been given short stick all along.  Why pretend now?  Consider the bizarre possibility that the gccf might actually entertain public input.  There would be so many hundreds of different suggestions, that if, actually considered, would take YEARS to implement and form a new, improved methodology.  Is nobody there getting the message at all?  WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!  The gccf doesn't have time for this, either.  Every day that goes by brings more lawyers and more punitive damages.

Can't we PLEASE just start processing claims?

Mississippi Attorney General Mr. Jim Hood !

Mississippi AG Jim Hood has just made a strong statement on behalf of all Mississippi bp claimants.  So far, gccf processes have been cloudy and deceptive, perhaps unfair, and slow.  We doubt that the court will take control of the gccf, and we certainly do not wish for needless litigation and expense.  We have been discussing these same issues with our personal contacts within the gccf for at least a month.  Speed, accuracy, transparency...  Thank you, Jim Hood, for delivering a swift kick...

HARRISON COUNTY, MS (WLOX) -  Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has filed a motion asking the federal judge handling the BP multi-district litigation to take control of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility claims process.

In a statement filed Monday Hood asked the court to take control in order to correct the deficiencies in the GCCF in order to facilitate the timely and just processing of claims.

Hood said, "I want Mr. Feinberg to continue paying claims, but I want the process to be transparent, fair and fast.  If the court does not take control, we will be sending Mr. Feinberg a civil investigative demand which will inevitably lead to needless litigation and expense."

This filing follows numerous letters between the Gulf States Attorneys General, BP and Gulf Coast Claims Facility administrator Kenneth Feinberg, which have met with only limited success.

Copyright 2011 WLOX. All rights reserved.

local gccf office visit...

Our recent visit with the LeMoyne gccf office was mostly unproductive, as is often the case.  We mentioned that there were some legal questions about the gccf protocol that should be addressed and cleared up, in the name of transparency, and asked to speak with one of the lawyer team.  It turns out that the lawyer team is in D.C. for "four or five weeks" of training.  We asked to speak with the managers, Tony, Patrick, or John.  The were "in a meeting" for an indefinite time.  (Perhaps they happened to look out a window and saw me coming.)

We did have a brief meeting with another gentleman.  The only answer he had was that, yes, claims processing is set to begin the "first week in February".  We haven't heard anything from our Washington contacts since January 7th.

We remain optimistic about positive resolution for "casinos" claims.  The third and fourth weeks of February should prove to be most instructive.  Many are tired of being abused by the process and are consulting lawyers.  We will try to attend an informational meeting on February 1.  At this point, consultation may prove instructive, especially regarding possible punitive damages.  Hiring is not yet recommended.  Resolution, whichever way, should really be not far off.  Any legal recourse may be a very long process.  Let's see how the Interim Claims process works over the next month, then hire lawyers if we need to.

stay tuned...

A meeting, phone calls, and emails are scheduled today.  A number of questions have recently come up regarding gccf "protocol", procedures, and time-lines.  We will try to get some accurate answers.  Stay tuned...

At this point, we have some degree of confidence that positive resolution of casino claims may be coming soon.  We should know in three to four weeks.  Again, stay tuned...

first week of February...

The first week of February, now from several different sources, seems to be when gccf will start processing Interim and Final Claims.  Conflicting information (not surprising, I know) is all over the place regarding the "90 days...".  The original information was that Interim Claims would be paid within 90 days of having been filed.  More recent rumors say the 90 days will begin when processing begins in February.  That would be a 45 day difference for the claims filed on "opening day", December 17.  We are trying to confirm.

The Sun Herald and WLOX are both very much appreciated for their continued publication of the Mississippi Gulf Coast's claims battles.  ProPublica carries some of the most extensive coverage of oil spill and claims information, as well as extensive public debate in the "Comments" sections following articles.  Check them out at http://www.propublica.org/.   

local gccf smokescreen...

We spoke by telephone with John at the local gccf office in Harrison County this afternoon.  He told me, "Mr. Feinberg said that the gccf will start reviewing Interim Claims the first week of February."  And, "information regarding calculations most likely will be released in approximately two weeks."  There was other discussion including phrases such as, and there are no quotes here, clarification, 90 days, and, we don't know.

John seems a marvelous individual of impeccable integrity.  Given that, he has obviously been given wrong information from above on a regular basis.  The first week of February?  Really?  We just don't know what to think.  Does it take 2000 billable hours to establish a "methodology"?

gccf opened the Interim Claims process on December 17.  And they are saying they will START to review claims the "first week of FEBRUARY"???  45 DAYS LATER?!?!?!  WTF?  REALLY?!?!

"information regarding calculations most likely will be released within approximately two weeks"?  Really?  "most likely"?  Really?  Maybe?  Probably not.  "approximately"  Really?  Maybe?  Not even close?  Do we really believe that actual calculations might actually be released?  How welcome that would be, but how bizarre to contemplate, since every single thing, but one, we have been told by the gccf has proven false.

Why stall until the first (or second) week of February?  And why didn't you just tell us this in December when we first filed Interim Claims?

   

letter to gccf, Washington, D.C. ...

We have just mailed the following letter to our gccf casino-liaison in DC.  Still hoping to hear some kind of concrete time-frame news.  Will keep future information posted.

How's that "methodology" coming along?

 

As Mr. Feinberg found out on his recent road trip, there are many very ill-treated and very angry residents here.  We have been suffering in the gccf pressure cooker for three months.  We have encountered denial, stone walls, half-truths, total lack of transparency, and no real information at all on any of our claims.  We are beginning to suffer loss of houses, cars, and fishing boats.  Loss of health and livlihood  Worst of all, is that we are suffering the fracturing of families under the strain.

 

Have you noticed that there have been relatively few Interim Claims filed here?  Many families have totally lost faith in the gccf process and have have already lawyered up.  Many more are about to.  It is reported that at least one office here has connections with a large personal injury firm with offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  Very large punitive damages are being discussed.

 

I respectfully suggest that life would be better for everyone if the Interim and Final Claims process would move off of ground zero (the number of claims that have been resolved so far) and move into action as soon as possible.

 

Thank you for your help.

follow the news...

The Sun Herald, WLOX, and the Times Picayune all have the latest on the Ken Feinberg visits to Mississippi and Louisiana.  We thank them all for their involvement in our challenges.  The oil blow-out created a huge negative economic impact for our entire Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Recent contacts with top gccf people though, do give us hope for positive resolution.

National media attention is a double-edged sword.  We all wish to press bp and gccf to pay legitimate claims quickly and efficiently.  However, national oil news, of course, damages our January-March snowbird business and our April-August tourism business.  It appears that work hours are still being cut, and business may continue to be off.  Interim Claims will continue to be recommended.    

Feinberg's meetings...

If your are reading this, then you already know what today's news is.  Mr. Kenneth Feinberg held "town hall" meetings in Moss Point and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.  These were very well covered by the Sun Herald and WLOX.  Please visit both websites for details.  http://www.sunherald.com/  http://www.wlox.com/

Thanks again to our Mississippi Gulf Coast media for caring and covering.  Particular thanks go out to Doug Walker for asking some very hard questions in Moss Point, and to Anita Lee for incisive reporting from Bay St. Louis.

Not surprisingly, there was a lot of distress and anger expressed by local citizens, and no really new information forthcoming from Mr. Feinberg.  We do give Mr. Feinberg a lot of credit for coming down here and taking the heat, and there was a lot of heat at both meetings.

At this point, we feel that the gccf will positively resolve our "casinos" claims.  We and Bobby Moak, Mississippi state legislator in charge of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, both hear from a very high gccf source in Washington, that we are on track toward positive resolution soon.

We did have a brief chat with Mr. Feinberg, and a very nice meeting with Amy Weiss.  We met briefly with Beverly Martin, Executive Director of the Mississippi Casino Operators' Association, and continue to seriously value her contributions to our cause.   

attorneys at gccf...

We have personally met with three attorneys in our local gccf office in D'Iberville.  They seem very delightful and competent people, very interested in our cases.  However...

Published:  Sunday, January 09, 2011, 6:01 AM   By Press-Register Editorial Board

WHEN LAWYERS from Brunini, Grantham, Grower and Hewes counsel Mississippi oil spill claimants, they should wear name tags that say: "I root for the other team."
Otherwise, people will believe they’re getting objective, professional advice — not "help" from BP’s hired guns — on whether to accept an offer from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility or sue the oil giant.

Sound ridiculous?

So was Kenneth Feinberg’s decision to bring the Brunini firm on board as one of three firms chosen to give pro bono advice to oil spill claimants. The firm has been working for BP since June, at least.
In fact, its attorneys were described as "BP attorneys" in contracts the oil giant sent to university scientists when it tried to buy them for its legal defense.
Mr. Feinberg is a smart Washington, D.C., lawyer — so seasoned that he was hand-picked to manage funds for victims of 9/11 and the Virginia Tech shootings before President Obama chose him for the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. He must know better than to believe that attorneys who work for BP for money could also, ethically, help oil-spill victims for free.

Come on.

It’s disturbing that Mr. Feinberg would bless this hire at a time when he is hurting for credibility along the Gulf Coast. He has improved the claims process, but only after heavy criticism that he was slow to pay out of the BP-funded facility and that he treated companies unfairly.

Most recently, he made a no-questions-asked quick pay offer to claimants who have gotten emergency payments and are willing to promise not to seek future compensation from BP or others involved in the spill.
When he is criticized for encouraging claimants to settle, Mr. Feinberg shrugs and says the program is voluntary. People don’t have to take the offer, he says; they can appeal to the U.S. Coast Guard or file suit against BP. Yet, he has warned claimants publicly and on more than one occasion that the legal system would not be so kind to them.

It’s time to find a different law firm to do the Claims Facility’s pro bono work. In fact, if Brunini were the only firm on the Mississippi Gulf Coast — which it’s not — then Mr. Feinberg still should have looked elsewhere for a lawyer licensed to do the work.
Some people have called for the Claims Facility and BP to release all documents and contracts connecting the two.
That recommendation doesn’t go nearly far enough. Brunini chose its master way back in June. Let someone else work on behalf of the people.

Feinberg to visit...

We had thought perhaps that January might bring slow news for "casinos" claims.  But the news just seems to keep on flowing.  The big news today, of course, is that Mr. Kenneth Feinberg will be in Mississippi and Louisiana for a series of "town hall" meetings on Monday and Tuesday.  These meetings were just announced Friday.  One wonders from where the motivation came to schedule these meetings so suddenly.  We must note that there has recently been a lot of interest and print in the national and international media about the Gulf Coast's distress.  His reported agenda is so that he "can explain the three options people have to receive oil spill claims."  These three options have already been clearly explained in gccf mailers and on the gccf website.  Surely, he can't present any more information than has already been made widely available.  Every concerned citizen should already be aware of the options.  We are thinking that he wants to put out fires, ironically enough, by blowing smoke.

We do definitely endorse the three options.  Interim Claims, particularly, have merit.  We recommend every casino worker make an Interim Claim.  Resolution of an Interim Claim should carry with it a Final Claim offer.  Decisions on Final Claims can be made after the offer arrives.   

Better news...

The good news is this.  We filed our claims on Monday 12 / 20.  They have finally shown up on the gccf website under "Check Claim Staus" and marked as "Received".    It feels like we are back in the game.  A trusted gccf source tells us that we will be treated very fairly in the Interim and Final Claims processes.  It's just a matter of time in getting the Interim Claims process rolling.  The official gccf information tells us that our Interim Claims will be resolved "within 90 days".  Our source indicates that we may actually be looking at about half that time or even less.

We have been on a roller coaster ride of huge up's and down's for three months.  There has been so much stress associated with the gccf process, that it has become a fairly common topic of discussion among those seeking legal remedies, punitive as well as actual.  At this point, the phrase "trusted gccf..." is a strong oxymoron.  So much information from all levels of gccf has proven to be directly contradictory or patently false in spirit.  However, we are currently on one of those up's.  We very much wish to trust our source, and recommend patience in the Interim and Final Claim processes.   

Questions and Answers, Part One...

QUESTIONS and ANSWERS...

1.  Q:  Press-Register, Sep 25, 2010,  Dan Murtaugh:

"Now he (Kenneth Feinberg) will be clustering claims by industry and applying the same formula to each claim."

     A:  All "casinos" claims were clustered under "denied".  Statistically proven by gccf published statistics, and by conversation with both local and Ohio gccf representatives.

2.  Q:  ProPublica Oct 14, 2010, Sasha Chavkin:

"Feinberg said that although the employees he is putting in the field in the coming weeks will not have the authority to make payments, they will be able to offer answers to claimants on the spot."  “They will have direct access to the particular claim where they will be able to get particular information right then and there to respond to inquiries,” Feinberg said.

     A:  No relevant information regarding time frame or probability of payment is available at all from either Ohio 800 number or local gccf offices.  Of course, there is no access at all to the adjuster/processors.

Questions and Answers, Part Two...

3.  Q:  Amy McCullough, Mississippi Business Journal, Oct 28, 2010

"While Mississippi Gulf Coast casino workers' BP oil spill claims for lost wages are being denied, some New Orleans restaurant workers are hitting the lottery -- despite the fact that that many Big Easy restaurants didn't suffer a devastating tourism blow like Mississippi businesses.  The Sun Herald reports that only three of hundreds of claims filed by casino employees have been paid by BP.  The rest have been denied.  GCCF claims administrator Kenneth Feinberg said in many cases, casino employees have been unable to show economic damage caused by the April blowout of BP Deepwater Horizon oil well.  The New Orleans City Business reports that bartenders, waiters, cooks, and dishwashers are receiving checks for as much as $25,000."

     A:  Really?  How would Kenneth Feinberg know about any casino cases when all gccf resources, both locally and in Ohio, tell us that casino claims are not being looked at at all, and have been categorically denied without any review?  Further, New Orleans is fifty miles removed from any oil, while the Coast of Mississippi is covered.

4.  Q:  casinobpclaims blog, Nov 23, 2010

"As published at http://www.casinobpclaims.blogspot.com/, "We spoke with both an office representative and a supervisor.  They continue to provide very little hard news.  They did confirm that all "casinos" claims were categorically denied without individual review.  They did confirm that the reason that Mississippi claims have been so statistically skewed toward denial is that we have such a high percentage of "casinos" claims having been categorically denied.  They did confirm that what Mr. Feinberg had to say about casino claims being treated equally with tourism claims had not been implemented in a manner timely enough to prevent our tidal wave of denials."

     A:  See #1 and #3.  Recent conversations with gccf local and 800# representatives confirm that all "casinos" claims were denied categorically.

Questions and Answers, Part Three...

5.  Q:  BILOXI, MS (WLOX) Dec 06/2010

Emergency claims filed by Mississippi casino workers with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility were arbitrarily and categorically denied according to the Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood.  "Hood said, "It was denied solely on the basis of these claimants' place of employment."  Hood's office has received several complaints from the casino workers and said, "I appreciate that the GCCF has admitted it's mistake in assessing casino worker claims as a whole based solely on reports of overall casino gross revenues, an inaccurate indicator of employee revenues. However, I find it unacceptable that the GCCF has refused to correct the error by re-evaluating these claims on its own initiative without the need for the claimants to submit new claim forms."

    A:  We agree, and are very disturbed that all gccf sources tell us that casino workers' Interim Claims are, by quotes from gccf representatives in Ohio,  "being held to different standards", "more in depth investigation", "authentication process", "more meticulous evaluation", "different calculations", and "scrutinized a little bit more", when our brothers' and sisters' claims on the Coast have been processed so accurately and efficiently before.
  

6.  Q:  Sun Herald, Dec 09, 2010, Anita Lee:

"Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who heads the GCCF claims process, said each claim, including those from casinos, was examined on its merits. But casino employees, Attorney General Jim Hood, State Representative Bobby Moak, and others believe the employee claims were rejected...while oil gushed into the gulf.  In fact, GCCF denied hundreds of claims for casino workers but paid residents with similar jobs in non-casino establishments."

    A:  Every individual that we have contacted with the gccf in two local offices, as well as several levels at the 800 number in Ohio, has confirmed that "casinos" claims were categorically denied, without even a glance, much less having been examined on it's merits.  In our own place of employment, servers in the leased restaurants have been paid, while servers in the casino-owned restaurants have been denied.
 

7.  Q:  ProPublica: Dec 14, 2010,  Sasha Chavkin :

"Feinberg said that he would post a description of his methodology for evaluating claims online and in every claims office in the Gulf, and said he would release the methodology within the next 10 days. "We will have full transparency," he said."

    A:  Methodology?  Transparency?  When we spoke with Tom Bender of the Ohio gccf office on 12 / 29, he said the "gccf is finalizing the methodology for evaluation of interim and final claims."  He was not sure if or when it would actually be finalized.  Oh, by the way, we were told earlier by the gccf that the Interim Claim process would begin Nov 24th, the day after Emergency Claims access expired.  Five weeks later, and the methodology is still not finalized?

"Full transparency"?  Really?  Everything is still so privatized and compartmentalized that nobody knows anything.  We filed our claims locally on 12 / 20.  As of 12 / 28, Ohio had no record of us having filed.  Our local office had no way to show that we had filed.  Our local office's attorneys have no contact at all with Bill Mulvey, the gccf-casino liaison.  As of today, Ohio shows that we have filed, but cannot tell us if or when the filing might be indicated on the gccf website, and no time-frame estimate at all (except, "within 90 days") on resolution.  They are quoted as saying that they currently have 9000+ claims to process within 90 days.  We must point out that 400,000 emergency claims were processed within 90 days.  By that math, two to four days would seem adequate to process these 9000.
  
8.  Q:  iStockAnalyst.com, Dec 27,2010:

Ken Feinberg, who oversees the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, a $20 billion fund for victims of the oil spill, said, "I'm sensitive to the casino workers' claims. We have every intention of honoring documented casino workers."  Feinberg denied casino workers have been categorically shut out of the claims process.

    A:  Casino workers' claims will prove to be the most properly and well-documented claims of any group to file on the entire Gulf Coast.  If Mr. Feinberg is, in fact, sensitive to that, then why didn't the gccf honor them in the the Emergency Claims process?  Again, see #1 and #3.  Every gccf employee, both locally and on the 800 # phone line tell us that "casinos" claims were categorically denied.

USA Today circulation...

USA Today is reported to be the widest circulated print newspaper in the United States at 1.8 million copies.  USATODAY.com is also viewed by millions of people.  Additionally some newspapers around the country pick up the news for their local editions, for example, the Courier-Post of South Jersey.  Our story, reported by Rick Jervis and published in USA Today on Page 3, Monday 12 / 27, is definitely out there now.  We very much thank USA Today for having the awareness to see a great injustice, and publishing our claims discrimination struggles with bp and the gccf.  Those quoted in the article report receiving word from friends and family all over the country about seeing the story.

We know that many of us are in dire emergency situations.  We will be in touch with the gccf-casino liaison attorney in Washington early this week to try to establish time frames and probablities of having claims approved.   

Happy New Year ! ! !

Happy New Year everyone!  We will try to watch as much as possible of the college football bowl line-up today and forget about all of the crapola for a little while. 

Had a productive meeting with Roderick Miller yesterday to compare notes.

We have been in recent email contact with Bill Mulvey, casino-gccf liaison, and expect to touch base with him by phone sometime early next week.

We are still strongly encouraging everyone to file Interim Claims.  The forms are simple enough.  No additional documents should be required, beyond those already having been filed with Emergency Claims.  However, it might still be recommended to file paystubs received since the Emergency Claims were filed, as well as any additional supporting documents you may have.  Some of us have included letters from our employers, copies of local media statements on our behalf, and copies of statements from our Mississippi Attorney General and our Mississippi Casino Operators Association.