60

 

         10       Q.  Jeff Nugent.  Is he still the president and

 

         11   CEO?

 

         12       A.  There's a new fellow.

 

         13       Q.  Now there's a new fellow.

 

         14       A.  Right, who I don't know.

 

         15       Q.  Okay.  Could you explain -- yes, let me

 

         16   finish.

 

         17               And with regard to Mr. Perelman -- and

 

         18   I'm assuming that Mr. Perelman was the chairman of

 

         19   the corporation?

 

         20       A.  Yes.

 

         21       Q.  And did you ever meet him?

 

         22       A.  Sure.

 

         23       Q.  What was he like?

 

         24       A.  Short.

 

 

 

 

                                                                       60

 

 

 

          1       Q.  Sharp? [Sidebar to GG – I don’t need your high school calculator on this one and what relevance does your ride with him up an escalator in late 1993 while visiting with the Hearst on 64th and 5th Avenue have anything to do with the price of eggs or what we pay at the pump and Warren “Bail me Out” Buffet now starting to brush up against you?]

 

          2       A.  Short.

 

          3       Q.  Oh, short and brusque?

 

          4       A.  I said short.

 

          5       Q.  Was he brusque?  Was he brusque with you?

 

          6       A.  Define "brusque."

 

          7       Q.  Uninterested in you as a person apart from

 

          8   providing answers to questions that were directed to

 

          9   him? [Sidebar to GG-“Now if you would leave me alone do you know how much better I would perform?]

 

         10       A.  I don't know if I can get there with that.

 

         11       Q.  Okay.  Did you have any impression of Mr.

 

         12   Perelman apart from being brusque -- apart from

 

         13   being --

 

         14               MR. GLEKEL:  Short.

 

         15       Q.  -- short.

 

         16       A.  Wealthy.

 

         17       Q.  Short and wealthy.  Do you mean physically

 

         18   short when you say "short"?

 

         19       A.  Yes.

 

         20       Q.  I see.  Because he's only about, what, 5'6"? [Sidebar to GG – No I don’t think he had anything to do with Dr. Stewart describing you as 5’11” although he could have got that 180 lbs just from judging the water displacement as Perelman wiped out on a wave although Dr. Stewart may not have that good an-eye-site, wouldn’t you agree?]

 

         21       A.  Maybe.

 

         22               THE WITNESS:  Don't get offended by

 

         23   this.

 

         24       Q.  And do you recall any conversations with

 

 

 

 

                                                                       61

 

 

 

          1   him?

 

          2       A.  I had limited exposure to him.  It was

 

          3   probably -- if I had ten visits with him; five may

 

          4   have been social, five business.

 

          5       Q.  Did he introduce himself to you at some

 

          6   point in time from the time of your arrival in 1995?

 

          7       A.  Yes.

 

          8       Q.  What did he say?

 

          9       A.  "Welcome aboard."  That's it.

 

         10       Q.  Did he say, "We're going to build a great

 

         11   company"?

 

         12       A.  To me specifically?

 

         13       Q.  Uh-huh.

 

         14       A.  Certainly he said that to groups.  I don't

 

         15   know he said that specifically to me.  He may have

 

         16   said that, sure.

 

         17       Q.  Did you perceive him as the ultimate boss of

 

         18   bosses at Revlon?  Did he get his --

 

         19       A.  Like Tony Soprano here?

 

         20       Q.  You had to make sure --

 

         21       A.  He is the guy.

 

         22       Q.  He was the guy.  What we call the big

 

         23   cheese? [Sidebar to GG – No, I have been watching my diet and besides there are no In N Out Burgers here in Boston… now can I go?]

 

         24       A.  Capo di capi.

 

 

 

 

                                                                       62

 

 

 

          1       Q.  Did he have an office in the same building

 

          2   that you worked in?

 

          3       A.  His office was not in the building, but did

 

          4   he have -- I mean, he was located down on, what,

 

          5   64th or something. [Sidebar to GG – Hey I thought you told me he got dissed out of the building where the Hearsts keep a residence? Am I going to have start questioning everything from now on… What now you’re telling me you dreamed this whole thing up, that you were simply out to get any Jewish guy that you now believe Perelman is the son of God? Christ get me out of here!]

 

          6       Q.  So nearby?

 

          7       A.  Nearby.  Did he have an office in the

 

          8   building?  It was his building.  I mean, he could

 

          9   have anything.

 

         10       Q.  And was he periodically evident at the

 

         11   Revlon facility when you worked there?

 

         12       A.  Not at my level.

 

         13       Q.  But at some level he was?

 

         14       A.  I don't know that.  Not at my level.

 

         15       Q.  I see.

 

         16       A.  I mean, sure he showed up.  It's his

 

         17   company.

 

         18       Q.  To get back to my original question, could

 

         19   you describe to me -- I know the reasons why you

 

         20   severed your relationship with Revlon in the year

 

         21   2000.  Could you describe for me the circumstances,

 

         22   how it came about?

 

         23       A.  Okay.  Be specific.  I was called -- you

 

         24   mean, called in one day and said -- do you want to

 

 

 

 

                                                                       63

 

 

 

          1   take that trip?

 

          2       Q.  Yes, just help me.

 

          3       A.  Yes, I worked for Mr. Nugent for maybe five,

 

          4   six months.  He was putting together a new team.  We

 

          5   had a good relationship “butt I ve been trying to forget it ever since and obviously so far I am succeeding, wouldn’t you agree?” [sic].  He just wanted a new team.

 

          6       Q.  Did he express any dissatisfaction with the

 

          7   direction that your sales team had taken?

 

          8       A.  No.

 

          9       Q.  Did he express any dissatisfaction with the

 

         10   work that you had done?

 

         11       A.  No.

 

         12       Q.  Were you disappointed at being -- am I

 

         13   correct that you were terminated rather than

 

         14   resigned?

 

         15       A.  Yes, right.

 

         16       Q.  Did he give a reason for your being

 

         17   terminated?

 

         18       A.  New team.  You know, if you've been in these

 

         19   conversations, as I have and we all have, they're

 

         20   not lengthy.

 

         21       Q.  Did he cushion the termination by providing

 

         22   a termination package?

 

         23       A.  I had a package.