Dirty Mouth Equals Lean Wallet

03/07/08

Well, it's still not the greatest of ideas, as Aaron Wider, CEO of HTFC (a mortgage investor company), and his counsel, Joseph Ziccardi, found out. Wider was being deposed and apparently didn't like it too much. He was very free with his colorful commentary and expressed himself forcefully through the deposition, with his lawyer "snickering" at it, according to the judge.

The judge wasn't happy. Judge Eduardo Robreno fined Wider and Ziccardi $29,000 for their actions. Considering Wider dropped the F-bomb 73 times, that's a hefty price of about $397 per usage of the word. Costly, indeed. Judge Robreno said Wider and Ziccardi engaged in "hostile, uncivil, and vulgar conduct, which persisted throughout the nearly 12 hours of deposition testimony."

Here are some samples of Wider's eloquence at work:

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The counsel deposing Wider asked Wider to open a file so that the lawyer could ask questions about specific documents.

Wider exploded, "I'm taking a break. [Expletive] him. You open up the document. You want me to look at something, you get the document out. Earn your [expletive] money, [expletive]. Isn't the law wonderful?"

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Later, the opposing counsel said, "We're going to adjourn this deposition if this happens again because you are offending every single person."

Wider replied, "Don't speak for anybody in here except yourself, [expletive] face."

The lawyer said he was speaking for himself and for the court reporter.

Wider said, "If she had a problem with me she would say something. She knows it's [not] directed toward her. It's directed to you because you're a [expletive] and a piece of garbage, and I'm the only person in your life that is [expletive] up your world, and I enjoy it."

Classy.