Bahia Collections

March 2, 2002: Looks like the previous 'good' news of the Bahia attorneys requesting a default judgement against Wagner High School Alumni aka Wagner High Online Alumni for ZERO dollars didn't work out for the Bahia. They are now requesting a judgement of $48,116.12. To see details of the Bahia's Request for Judgement, click here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).

More history and my take on things below.

A Note from Gary McClellan

I have been informed via the mailing lists that many folks who attended the San Diego 2000 reunion have received a dunning letter from the Bahia Resort requesting payment for a portion of the banquet costs that have not been paid.

I can not tell you how you should handle this request, however I will tell you how I intend to handle the request.

First, here is some background information:

The San Diego reunion was produced by John Prunier. He has stated continually that the financial responsibility is his and his alone.

While John may have used the WHOA label when representing himself, WHOA is just a name assigned to a web site and certain mailing lists that are maintained by volunteers on an informal basis.

Based on the limited information I have been able to obtain without John's cooperation, it appears that John seriously mismanaged the reunion. Since early December, I have been aware of discrepencies in both the San Diego and Philippines portions of the reunion. All attempts to receive an accurate accounting from John have been met with silence.

John currently has debts to the Bahia ($38,000) for the San Diego portion of the reunion and debts to 2 fellow alumni ($26,000) for the Philippines portion of the reunion.

I have heard reports that John has been in California for close to a month at the writing of this note - 4/3. Even after returning from the Philippines, however, John has not communicated with anyone investigating the reunion, despite requests to do so.

Now, what I am going to do.

I believe that the legal and financial responsibility for the Bahia bill are solely John's. He collected money from everyone and should have the resources, based on my estimates of what he has already collected, to clear $18,000 of the Bahia bill, leaving a balance of $20,000. If that had been the only unpaid bill from the reunion, I would have suggested to those who are forming an official WHOA organization that the new organization should attempt to raise funds to help John with this debt that appears to have resulted from his mismanagement.

I will be writing the Bahia stating that

"While I am not a lawyer, it appears you have no legal standing whatsoever to demand payment from individual attendees. I have already paid John Prunier for the banquet. Please contact John Prunier for payment.

However, if you believe that the Bahia does have an enforceable legal claim against me, please send me a copy of the contract that you believe establishes that claim so that I may have my lawyer review it. Please indicate which provisions in the contract you believe establish my personal liability for the amount you are claiming.

Please be advised that I am joining with other reunion attendees in producing whatever documentation I have available to assist Federal and State authorities to prosecute John Prunier for fraud. If you are interested in joining us in this prosecution, please contact me".

This note is only my personal opinion and in no way reflects legal opinion or the opinions of fellow Wurtsmith/Wagner alumni.

Update

The Bahia has filed a civil case.

Here is the interogatory I received on behalf of 'Wagner High School Alumni aka Wagner High Online Alumni': Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5

Here is John Prunier's response: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4