November
10, 2010
Tuntland introduced
a series of emails between Jim and Halvorson regarding Long while he was on
leave.
Tuntland: Did you have a hand in preparing those?
Bjornson: Yes, I reviewed them.
Tuntland: What was the nature of your involvement?
Bjornson: I'm not trying to be evasive, I'm trying to
remember, it was many years ago. Any
letters with Jim would have been edited.
I helped prepare or review. It's
unlikely I started from scratch, but I had a hand because it's a legal
issue.
Tuntland: You were here when Blunt talked about his
recreated document in a side file. Wahlin said there would be an open record
request. How would the public have found
out about that document?
Bjornson: I have no idea.
Tuntland: Jim asked why he was suspended with pay,
right?
Bjornson: Yes.
Jim was aware of the issues. The
response letter he got he knew, he knew.
Tuntland: You realize he said he did not know?
Bjornson: I realize that.
Tuntland: You gave a second deposition regarding Blunt
and Leingang in October of 2007.
Bjornson: Yes.
Tuntland: Following that, did you tell the States
Attorney they should talk to Jim Long?
Bjornson: Yes.
Tuntland: That he might have helpful information?
Bjornson: Yes.
Tuntland: At WSI there was room for lighthearted
stuff?
Bjornson: Yes.
Tuntland: Did you once cover Jim's floor with dixie
cups full of water?
Bjornson: Yes.
Tuntland: Did you bring your daughter to Halloween at
WSI.
Bjornson: Yes.
Tuntland: Did Jim talk with her?
Bjornson: Yes, Jim's very good with kids.
Mitch
Armstrong cross-examines Jodi Bjornson.
It was
established that WSI ran under the "Carvel Model of Governance" which
meant the board would make policies and the CEO would run the operation. Bjornson testified she had day to day
interaction with Long while he was at WSI.
She considered him a friend, but that changed in the fall of 2007. The WSI team was fractured, there was
in-fighting, a contentious audit, the CEO had been charged, there were things
in the press, and internal HR issues.
She was hopeful Long would work to make the team more stable, but sensed
resistance and that his mind was made up on his path.
She said
Long had not come to her with specific illegalities about Halvorson, but that
Halvorson and Long were not getting along.
Long was upset and disappointed that Halvorson had been appointed CEO. She recalled that Wahlin called her once when
she was out of state regarding a charge of nepotism and that Long was
upset.
Armstrong
then moved into questions regarding the depositions she had given in criminal
actions.
Armstrong: You testified in the Blunt trial?
Bjornson: Yes.
Armstrong: You're still employed by WSI?
Bjornson: Yes.
Armstrong: Did any others testify?
Bjornson: Yes.
Camie O'Connor and Karla Bernhardt.
Armstrong: Are they still employed by WSI?
Bjornson: Yes.
Bjornson
testified that while she was trying to reconnect the executive team in fall of
2007, she became aware that Long had tape recorded a conversation between
them. This angered her. She said that Long referred to Halvorson as a
shitty leader, that he was a bad dude and evil.
She said this was while she was still trying to reconcile the team, but
led her to believe she could not reconcile with Long.
She said
that during that time period WSI was an awful place to work. There was constant turmoil and that audio
recording had been made during that time, before Long was involved in the
criminal investigation.
She
testified she met with Halvorson at Perkin's restaurant because they were
paranoid about meeting at WSI office.
They determined the situation with Long could not go on and so contacted
HR consultant Hunter Lott over the telephone.
They also met with the Attorney General's Tag Anderson solely regarding
Long. At that time, Long had had no
contact with law enforcement. She said
they discussed legal issues, consequences, and options regarding Long's
employment. She said Anderson told
Halvorson to put clear reasons for his termination in writing.
Armstrong
introduced a document titled "Critical Incidents" from Halvorson for
Long's termination. Bjornson said she
was involved in writing this. She said
that Halvorson had brought documents to the AG meeting about the computer
project situation and how Long was not doing what Halvorson expected.
Armstrong
introduced a letter Halvorson sent to Long regarding the ITTP project, that
Long's judgment and decisions had been questioned in recent months.
Regarding
Tuntland's questions regarding her role in preparing or reviewing documents,
Armstrong established she had reviewed Long's responses and that she was
pushing for Long's return if he could be conciliatory, but that Long's
responses did not indicate a willingness to come back to WSI.
Bjornson
testified they had delivered Halvorson's information about Long to AG's Tag
Anderson on October 17, 2007 and this was after Long had filed his
whistleblower complaint.
Regarding
Long and Peltz, Bjornson said the three of them were friends and had alot of
fun. She said when Sonja Nallie alleged
they were having an affair in a board meeting, it was a shock to
everybody. After that, Long said Billie
told him she wanted more.
Bjornson
stated on April 2, 2007, Blunt had called her and Halvorson while they were out
of state about a complaint he'd received regarding Jim and Billie. He did not know who had complained and they
talked about where he could get guidance.
She was aware that Blunt had talked with Long after this conversation
about the issue.
She
testified that because they were friends she saw more then other people
did. For example, Billie had made Jim an
audio cd. On it was a suggestive song, a
pop culture song called "When I Think About You I Touch Myself". She also testified that she and Billie and
Long and Romi Leingang went to lunch and that Jim told her later Billie was
rubbing his leg under the table.
She
testified she was aware of the tape recording of Nallie and Hutchings and that
Halvorson had directed Long not to tape anymore, but she believed Long was
still recording as she remembered during that Halloween, and Jim was great with
kids, he was chasing her daughter and his tape recorder fell out of his
pocket. "Who carries their tape
recorder with them?"
She
agreed with Halvorson's decision to terminate Long even though he had filed his
whistleblower complaint. She said she
knew the complaint had nothing to do with his termination because she had
cooperated with prosecutors as well.
Bjornson
testified that WSI got Long's manifesto from the press, that bits and pieces
were accurate, but there was nothing new they had not seen. She found it personally hurtful.
She said
Long was then making statements to the press about injured workers and that WSI
was corrupt. She stated she was involved
in claims handling, but Long was not.
She detailed the multi-faceted process claims go through, said they get
20,000 new claims a year, and that 92% of those claims are accepted. She also
said there is a structured appeal process for claims that are denied.
She said
that Long and she worked together on the state performance audit and at no time
did Long raise concerns regarding illegal activity.
She
recalled at one point the executive team met to determine whether they could
bring Long back, but they determined nobody could work with him and he was
terminated. She said Long's position was
phased out.
She also
said that regarding the 4% pay increase, after the Attorney General's meeting,
everyone was fully paid after that.
Tom Tuntland
then asked more questions of Bjornson.
It was
established that regarding the JR Runnings email about WSI salaries, there had
been nothing illegal about sending that email, but Blunt still wanted to find
out who had sent it.
She said
that Halvorson did not like Jim and vice versa, but that when she and Long had
conversations about Halvorson it was always about what was best for the
organization.
She said
she did not report Long's derogatory comments about Halvorson and that she had
made derogatory remarks also, but to his face.
She also said that the terrible atmosphere at WSI in fall of 2007 was
not all due to Long.
Tuntland
established that as an at will employee if Halvorson had wanted to fire Long he
could just say, I don't like your glasses, you're fired.
Tuntland
asked about going over open records law with Long and one person consent tape
recording laws. Bjornson did not recall
doing so, but said she could have.
Tuntland: Did you know Jim questioned Halvorson about
the propriety of giving Spencer contact lists?
Bjornson: No, I didn't.
Tuntland: Before Jim met with Mike Quinn, did you tell
Halvorson you had advised the prosecutor you would have Jim questioned?
Bjornson: I don't think so.
Tuntland: Do you know?
Bjornson: No.
Tuntland: Jim did talk with you regarding ITTP?
Bjornson: Yes.
Tuntland: He was concerned about the cost and bringing
the project in on time?
Bjornson: Sure, may have.
Tuntland: You advised him to go to the board members?
Bjornson: No, specifically instructing him on that is
not part of my memory.
Tuntland: Are you saying you didn't or you can't
remember?
Bjornson: I was concerned that bits and pieces were
being miscontrued.
Tuntland: Did you see the description of his position
under the project charter?
Bjornson: I don't know.
Tuntland: The sexual harassment policy was signed by
every executive team member except Halvorson.
At the time of that meeting, did Blunt say, we're doing this because of
Long and Peltz?
Bjornson: Not to my knowledge.
Tuntland: You talked about Billie giving Jim and
suggestive song. Do you know who Joe
Cocker is?
Bjornson: He's a singer.
Tuntland: If a male gives a song to a female called,
"You Can Keep Your Hat On", is that suggestive?
Bjornson: I don't know the song.
Tuntland
established that Bjornson had not observed Billie rubbing Long's leg at lunch
and that Bjornson had gone for pedicures with Long and thought Billie had come
along also.
Bjornson
agreed that Long had gone to the press during the time of his suspension. She said it was not long after he had been
suspended before he went to the press.
Tuntland asked whether the press had said Jim was barred from the WSI
building and also barred from conversations with employees or vendors. Bjornson replied, he could have been.
Tuntland
further established with Bjornson that the letter suspending Long was an open
record. He asked whether she knew who
Steve Cates is. She did and she said she
knew Cates had a publication and a blog and was a strong Blunt supporter. As to whether Cates went after Long with a
vengance, she could not recall.
Tuntland: Regarding the rejection rate on claims,
wasn't there a report before Connolly that said North Dakota was 51st in the
nation in the award of benefits?
Bjornson: There could have been.
Tuntland: North Dakota never made it to number 50?
Bjornson: I don't know.
It was
established that Long's position was phased out, but all of his duties were put
into a new position, the COO, which was filled by John Halvorson.
Lastly
Tuntland established that Halvorson had the power to fire Long except for
instances of discrimination against race, gender, religion, or
whistleblowing. And that there was no
law against that.
Armstrong
again questioned Bjornson. Bjornson told
him that many of the allegations inside Long's 26 page document were not
accurate.
It was
established that the JR Runnings email was sent in 2005, well before Long was
put on leave. Bjornson said the email
sent to staff regarding salaries hurt employee morale because even though it
was an open record, she felt it was invasive.
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