Journals Ad - 7.28.2020
Hudson Valley estate caretaker says he was cheated out of house and salary for 7 years
Surviving the Covid Divorce Process
By Leslie F. Barbara
Divorce has always been fraught with peril.
Even under the best circumstances, navigating a divorce elicits high emotions and complexities ranging from issues of custody to financial matters, all while negotiating feelings of betrayal, lost trust, and a feeling of starting a new life untethered. Now add Covid-19. Add courts that were frozen and now still mostly limited to emergencies and Skype calls.
BY BILL HELTZEL
Add quarantine requirements when traveling about the country and the fear of illness or, worse yet, exposing your child to it.
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Add domestic violence, with shelters closed, problems relocating, and difficultly obtaining alternate housing. Covid strains relationships – couples now have added concerns about safety protocols to protect their families. Masks and gloves or just masks? Can our children see other children and, if so, where and when? Covid also strains our mental health. The economic uncertainty contributes toward increased anxiety which results in rising substance and alcohol abuse. Sober people are relapsing. Moreover, infidelity (a common reason for divorce) – now comes with additional concerns. What if a spouse has extramarital relations with another person outside the quarantining unit? How do I know where that person has been? How can I keep safe? Is that a basis to seek exclusive occupancy of the marital residence? Also, as Covid-19 outbreaks appear, many people want to relocate to safer areas, raising issues of jurisdiction and venue. If you relocate, you typically need the permission of your spouse or the court. You also need to think about the most favorable and appropriate venue strategically. These new issues – and with limited judicial intervention available – make the role of the attorney more important than ever. Without regular hearings and the ability to move cases in court, people need the expertise of attorneys who can find solutions. Lawyers now have to primarily rely upon their ability to negotiate to resolve custody, visitation, relocation, issues of child support and maintenance, and financial property settlements. If litigation becomes necessary, lawyers need to be strategic about where to commence the action and how to proceed. As we navigate this uncertainty, the guidance of experienced family lawyers remains critical to protecting our rights as spouses, parents, and partners. Leslie F. Barbara is Chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron’s Matrimonial and Family Law practice group. With over 20 years of experience representing high profile clients, she is one of the most celebrated matrimonial and family lawyers in New York. Contact her at: lfb@dhclegal.com
New York City ▪ Washington D.C. ▪ White Plains ▪ Albany 212.557.7200 ▪ DHCLegal.com
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AUGUST 3, 2020
FCBJ
WCBJ
bheltzel@westfairinc.com
or seven years, David Frost claims, he has worked without pay as caretaker of an organic farm in the Hudson Valley. Now he wants his due. Frost filed two lawsuits in July, accusing Emily Falencki and the Lentex Co. of breaking promises to give him the caretaker house and reimburse him for $382,922 in back pay and expenses. “Emily Falencki will be unjustly enriched,” Frost asserts in one of the cases, “if the promises of her grandmother, father and she are not enforced.” Falencki, a Canadian artist who lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, did not respond to an email asking for her side of the story. Frost began working for the Falencki family in 1987, as caretaker of Cascade Farm Estate in Patterson, a 200-acre property that straddles Putnam and Dutchess counties. The farm was owned by William Falencki, a Polish-American investment company executive, and his wife, Karin, also from Poland. Frost was required to live on the estate year-round. His compensation included use of the caretaker house, the utilities, annual salary, health insurance and out-of-pocket expenses. In 1996, the Falencki’s son, John, formed Cascade Farm School, an organic farm, and Frost’s responsibilities increased significantly. William Falencki died in 1990, his son, John, in 2003, his wife, Karin, in 2010. Karin’s granddaughter, Emily, inherited Lentex Co., the owner of the farm, according to one of the lawsuits, and became Frost’s supervisor. Frost states that he had developed a warm, personal relationship with Emily’s grandparents. He was Karin’s personal assistant when she was in residence at the estate and he was with her when she died. Karin promised him many times that the caretaker house would become his, according to a complaint filed July 7 in Dutchess Supreme Court, for all his efforts for the family
and the farm and “because she wished to provide him a form of retirement benefit.” He claims that her son, John, repeated the promise before he died and that her granddaughter, Emily, confirmed, after she inherited the estate, that the home would become his upon the “completion of probate.” Frost states that he put his own money into the caretaker house, beginning in the 1990s, for flooring, rooms, decks and a pool. And because of the promises, he never pursued other employment opportunities. But last year, Frost alleges, Emily “indicated” that the house would not be transferred to him. Frost is asking the Dutchess court to award him title to the house, free of liens and claims, and he is demanding $500,000 in damages. He also is demanding $382,922 in back pay and expenses, in a July 10 complaint filed in U.S. District Court in White Plains. In mid-2011, he states, Emily suspended his $40,000 salary, his health insurance, payments for utilities on the house, and out-of-pocket expenses, “due to the ongoing probate process associated with Karin Falencki’s last will and testament.” Emily reassured him that when probate concluded, she would restore his salary and health insurance and cover his expenses, according to the complaint. He was expected to continue working in the same position and performing the same duties. “While this was less-than-ideal,” he states, he accepted because he trusted that Emily was acting in good faith. The probate process has long since concluded, according to the complaint, but Emily still has not compensated him. Frost calculates that he is owed $240,000 for foregone wages, $112,693 for health care and $30,229 for utilities. He is demanding $382,922 for breach of contract, failure to pay earned wages, failure to pay minimum wage and overtime. Frost is represented by Poughkeepsie attorney Allan B. Rappleyea in the Dutchess lawsuit, and by Manhattan attorney Casey Wolnowski in the federal case.