Turns out the case was actually dismissed sometime last Friday and never went to trial. I did not know this because the court's online database did not update until after I posted my story Monday morning. I assumed (wrongly) that the case was still headed to trial as it had been for several months. My bad.
I've yet to get both sides of the story (the plaintiff's attorney, Jonathan Andres, hasn't returned my calls) but the defendant -- Brian Marchant-Calsyn -- did leave a lengthy response to my original post about the fraud allegations that New Jersey resident Gary Schwarz, filed against his consulting firm, Health Career Agents.
Writes Marchant-Calsyn:
No compensation was provided to Mr. Schwarz and no settlement was discussed. The same attorney representing Mr. Schwarz dismissed five other cases at the same time.Our company has more than 700 members and has had approximately one dozen complaints to the Missouri Attorney General and fewer instances of litigation in more than four years. The majority of both date back to a group of 7-8 individuals who all started their business in the 2005 time frame. These individuals did not have success with their businesses and instead of taking responsibility themselves they chose to blame the vendor, in this case our company.
The plaintiff, Gary Schwarz, claimed in the lawsuit that Marchant-Calsyn performed fraud when he did not reveal to Schwarz that he was a convicted drug dealer prior to Schwarz investing in Health Career Agents.
Responds Marchant-Calsyn:
You reference the subject here so I will expand on the topic. In 1989, when I was 24, I was arrested for drugs and later plead guilty and went to a "boot-camp" for first time offenders. I obviously made bad decisions prior to that and both events were the best things that could have happened to me...Today I am a committed husband to my wife of 19 years and the father of four glorious children.
As I mentioned on Monday, it could have been that the odds against the plaintiff winning in trial were just too insurmountable. Last Thursday Judge Robert Cohen ruled that Schwarz and his attorney could not mention in trial any of the dozen complaints filed against Health Career Agents with the Missouri Attorney General. Also barred from the courtroom was any mention of two questionable businesses that Marchant-Calsyn had been involved with prior to Health Career Agents, which may have been used to demonstrate a pattern of fraud or deceit.
"The judge in the Schwarz case simply ruled (prior to dismissal) to keep irrelevant matters out of the court room. That's what fair judges do," writes Marchant-Calsyn.
I suppose he's right. And for the record, I tried contacting Marchant-Calsyn several times last fall when I first began reporting this story. I even stopped by his office in Town & Country and left him a message. I also spoke several times to his attorneys who gave me a stiff "no comment."
I do wonder, though. If Marchant-Calsyn's business is doing as well as he claims it is, why did his landlord sue Health Career Agents last month for unpaid rent?
I'll let him reply here. It's nice to get some comments once in a while.
