This is the Court case of Hill. Versus. John S Captain the third
The Arbitrator is Robert Dolton. (I made 4 requests for A D A prior to this hearing to his office and he
refused. And now he is calling not to allow ADA but tell me merkel can have a hearing not me without
any notice or ADA.
[ARBITRATOR]….. Ok, . Mr. captain if you will let me speak for a minute I want to be clear why we are on
the phone together… I’m not your lawyer Mr. Captain, I’m the arbitrator and because of that we have
certain rules that apply to your contacting my office…
[Mr. Captain]… oh ok…I did not know
[ARBITRATOR] Basically the only way you can talk to me is if Mr. Merkel is on the line also, otherwise it’s
what’s called ex-parte communication and our rules do not allow for that
[Mr. Captain] ok
[ARBITRATOR]…. just like you cant call up the judge without the other lawyer present, it’s the same
thing.is true for an arbitrator…ok So, I want to let you know, you cannot contact my office, by telephone
unless you also get Mr. Merkel on the line and frankly I would ask you not to do that.
What I want you to do is to communicate with my office in writing. I did receive from Mr. Merkel the
documentation that you submitted that you wrote motion 21 and like I told you last time we were all on
the phone together I will be considering that and making a written ruling in which it will be sent to both
parties along with the ruling on and any other matters which at this point it’s only Mr. Merkel’s motion
to compel.. so, I’ll be making a written decision on each of those matters and informing the party’s in
writing of my decision on those issues…
[MR Captain . ok I have something I want to say
[ARBITRATOR. and I’m sorry that I had to yank both your chains and get you on the phone with me. I
was very concerned with a series of calls to my office and I don’t want to be rude to you Mr. Captain
but it’s against the rules for me to talk to you.
so I just want to make everyone aware of what I can and can’t do, and it was the purpose of the call…
[Mr. Captain]. Sure . well go-ahead Sir.. ok well It would seem appropriate that in the event that they
do have consumers protecting their rights in court, that they will send a you know, maybe a brochure to
them maybe outlining how the court proceedings work or should proceed but that’s i guess neither here
nor there.
[ARBITRATOR] I understand and you’re right in many ways I will tell you there are public resources
available that will help you such as it is possible to contact the court administrator where this case has
been filed and talk to the administrator and they will give you the electronic website address Sorta
speak for the arbitration rules that apply to these proceedings
[ARBITRATOR] And if you look at those rules they will tell you very clearly Not only, what is allowed, but
also remember we talked about the pre-hearing statement of proof and how that has to be received by
me and with a copy to Mr. Merkel no less then 14 days prior to the hearing. those kinds of rules are
also in those documents.
I want you to be fairly treated I want you to, you know, get your day in the court sorta speak but we
have certain rules and one of them is no exparte communication.
[Mr. Captain]. Not a problem, and I have some stuff I want to say in doing that. Mr. Merkel, did you
contact his office for hearing? the one that was held by phone the other day? How did you contact him?
[ARBITRATOR. I did that.
[Mr. Captain] Oh you contacted him for his own hearing?
[ARBITRATOR) I set it up for both of you so you would be on the phone with me at the same time.
[Mr. Captain] My understanding, ok go ahead
[ARBITRATOR]. And the reason why I did that is to follow the rules that there is no exparte
communication.
[Mr. Captain] ..Correct
[ARBITRATOR] There are times just so you know in the practical sense how it will happen where my staff
will call up and ask Mr. Merkel if he’s available for a conference and his staff would say no, he’s not
available until 1:30. That’s exactly what happened in the last one. So, there will never be a time when
Mr. Merkel will be on the phone talking about the case, and your Not on the phone and the
convereverse Is also true, there would never be a time to be on the phone with you…
[Mr. Captain] Ok, I can understand that.
[ARBITRATOR]. And that’s how we keep the process pure
[Mr. Captain] And, so Mr. Merkel when you wanted to move a motion which is the motion that you
brought up on the telephone the other day, how is that you contacted his office for that motion to be
heard?
[ARBITRATOR] . I contacted Mr. Merkel, I got a copy of the document in writing and in order to allow
both parties to be heard I set up a conference. And it is not appropriate for you to ask Mr. Merkel
questions like that he does not have to answer to you.
[Mr. Captain] now you stated that there was 14 days’ time period which to respond, but you gave me 5
days, why is that?
[ARBITRATOR] No, no no, that’s a different situation,
[Mr. Captain] ok
[ARBITRATOR] Pre-hearing statement of proof relates to the arbitration date and the ability to offer
evidence The 5 days I gave you was a response time for a motion and that also is covered in the rules
and indeed the response time for a motion is five days, so…
[Mr. Captain] I also… ok go ahead… sorry
[ARBITRATOR] I’m just trying to give you an opportunity to be heard and that’s why I did what I did.
[Mr. Captain] Due to the fact that I’m completely confused by the admissions of his things, not mine I
would like to ask the court to provide me with ADA accessibility for my ADHD which I notified your
office of originally and when I requested the hearing that didn’t happen for me, but it happen for him.
So can you provide me with ADA accessibility for my ADHD? Because I’m getting confused by all this
very quickly.
[ARBITRATOR] I don’t know how to respond to that im unaware our office is handicap accessible but I
don’t know how it relates to diagnosis of ADHD Mr. Merkel do you have anything to say on this
subject
[Mr. MERKEL] No. I don’t think.., my understanding on the rules is that the court isn’t required to
provide that assistance but I know there are public resources available that might be accessed…
[Mr. Captain] So, I’d like to delay all further proceedings for 30 days until which time I could receive
my equal rights under the ADA code because I’m getting confused not by the subject matter, but by
the way in which you’re handling the subject matter, like I filed my motion 20 long ago, and I don’t get
that but you’re going to make me file more, so, I’m getting confused by the dates and times because
of my ADHD and Mr. Merkel. I’d like to postpone all hearings until a full review can be done by
somebody who has more knowledge of the ADA code then me if you don’t mind.
[ARBITRATOR] If you’re and let me be clear here, Mr. Captain if you’re telling me that you want to
have a delay on the proceeding.. to obtain legal counsel lawyer that represents you…
[Mr. Captain] no, I dont want that
[ARBITRATOR] I will grant a motion If you’re telling me that you’re not going to get a lawyer I will not
grant any motion to delay the proceeding and eventually after once my process is over and if you wish
to appeal from the arbitration award than you can go on to a full-court.. you can tell the court for the
basis for your motion.. and perhaps the court will suspend the proceedings at that time, but I’m
unaware of any rule that allows me to violate the timelines for the arbitration process which are very
tight, and are binding on both parties aware unaware of any basis for which I could postpone or delay
the proceedings due to ADHD. or frankly any other handicap. I’m unaware of any requirement or, they
wont allow me to do that.
[Mr. Captain] Well, if a they, I can provide you with whatever you need to prove that this is causing
issue with my ADHD. And therefore, I’m not getting a fair trial. A delay of the court by 5 or 10 days has
no bearing on the court at all or any burden by any party
[ARBITRATOR] Actually, it does if you miss timelines within your arbitration process that you require to
be certain completed in a certain number of days and if it isn’t and the parties violate the courts rules in
the cases subject to dismissal.
[Mr. Captain] And I request to your office
[ARBITRATOR] Well I’m gonna follow the timeline on the arbitration To, adhere to those timelines so
that the court system moves efficiently. And I’m going to do that.
[Mr. Captain] I requested this issue to your office prior to the court ever starting your arbitrational
beginning be proceeding that my ADA needs be met and I made that to your office since the beginning
of this proceeding or assignment to you that I need assistance by ADA law and the denial…
[ARBITRATOR] I can’t help you in that regard you can talk to the circuit court., you can talk to the judge
and if. The judge rules that I have to, you know, provide you with special assistance, they are going to
have to be the ones to tell me what it is, I’m supposed to do because I’m unaware of any rule relates to
that.
[Mr. Captain] But unaware.
[ARBITRATOR] There are physical access rules that apply under ADA to my office a kind of accessible so
any rule that I’m unaware about that I have no knowledge of anything related to ADHD with respect to
ADA requirement for accessibility in the courts, you gonna have to get a ruling from a judge if you want
these proceedings the delay I’m going to need the document called in order from the judge telling me
that I cannot proceed. Otherwise, I’m going to do my duty under the court system which is due adhere
to the timeline set a time for hearing all this hearing on that day under the rules that apply to arbitration
hearing and in state of Oregon if you comply with the rules to provide me with the right
documentation. I will consider your evidence, and Mr. Merkel will be under the same rules and if he
doesn’t provide his . pre hearing statement of facts. he wont be able to.. Its that simple.
[Mr. Captain] Well regardless of whether your office is ADA Compliant or not. I’m not asking whether
you have bathrooms or those sorts of things for or for your front doors. I’m simply telling you that the
court should be, I should be allowed under ADHD and ADA additional resources that are available to
me through the law and rights by the law to that seek assistance because the tricks that Mr. Merkel
uses are not favorable to an ADA disability. Of course, I have the right to get assistance under ADA.
There’s no question about that and if you’re not aware of that doesn’t mean it’s not legal.
[ARBITRATOR] you need to adhere to the assistance that the court (…?)
[Mr. Captain] I ask a motion to move the court to give me time because of the fact that I am being
subjected to additional issues regarding my ADHD putting the timeline in the back. I had already
submitted things and those were not heard yet and you’re hearing his, now I’m completely confused at
what to do next. You told me to write you a letter within five days heck the male takes five days at
Christmas time.
I mean. so . simply I cannot keep up with the request and way in which you’re presenting them to me
because my ADHD does not allow it. Of course, the court allows for accessibility rights to people with
disabilities and everybody knows that, I mean, the whole system would be flawed if we didn’t know that
[ARBITRATOR] Mr. Merkel he Has moved for a continuance of the proceedings. what is your response?
[Mr. MERKEL] My response is that we would like the proceedings to go according to schedule. I know
that there are resources that he’s referring to that you can access but they don’t have anything to do
with the proceedings before you, in other words, he must access those resources and then be
available with those resources to proceed as scheduled.
[Mr. Captain] I object to that!
[ARBITRATOR] your motion was denied Mr captain, we are going to stick to the timeline…
[Mr. Captain] under protest and I will proceed with you guys, and I accept the fact that I have been
denied my ADA right to equal access to the courts and I will proceed with the proceedings under
protest.
[ARBITRATOR] Okay, very good, thank you
[Mr. MERKEL] Thank you, bye.