April 28, 2015 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE O
Transcription
April 28, 2015 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE O
FILED 15 APR 20 PM 4:08 KING COUNTY THE HONORABLE JOHN CHUN SUPERIOR COURT CLERK ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED E-FILED 1 CASE NUMBER: 14-2-07669-0 SEA 2 Noted for Consideration: April 28, 2015 3 4 5 6 7 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON 8 FOR THE COUNTY OF KING 9 10 11 12 13 MOVE, INC., a Delaware corporation, REALSELECT, INC., a Delaware corporation, TOP PRODUCER SYSTEMS COMPANY, a British Columbia unlimited liability company, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, an Illinois non-profit corporation, and REALTORS® INFORMATION NETWORK, INC., an Illinois corporation, Case No. 14-2-07669-0 SEA DECLARATION OF CHRIS CROCKER IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO UNSEAL THE SINGER DECLARATION AND ATTACHED WHISTLEBLOWER LETTER 14 Plaintiffs, 15 16 17 18 vs. ZILLOW, INC., a Washington corporation, ERROL SAMUELSON, an individual, and CURT BEARDSLEY, an individual, and DOES 1-20, Defendants. 19 20 21 22 23 CROCKER DECL. IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO UNSEAL THE SINGER DECLARATION AND ATTACHED WHISTLEBLOWER LETTER - 1 2348919.2 #982031 vI /99985-001 1 2 3 I, Chris Crocker, declare as follows: I am over the age of eighteen years, have personal knowledge of the matters set forth below, and am otherwise competent to testify. 4 5 6 7 From late December 2012 until April 13, 2015 I was employed by Zillow, Inc. as Vice President, Strategic Partnerships. In that capacity I worked with Errol Samuelson and Curt Beardsley who had become Zillow officers and employees after leaving their employment with Move, Inc. 8 In my capacity as Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, I became aware of the lawsuit 9 brought by Move, Inc. and others against Zillow Inc. and Mr. Samuelson, and eventually against 10 Mr. Beardsley also. I learned about the allegations being made in the lawsuit and came to 11 understand that Move, Inc. and the other plaintiffs had difficulty obtaining complete discovery 12 from the defendants. I also observed conduct and actions on the parts of Mr. Samuelson and Mr. 13 Beardsley as Zillow officers and employees that I believed was unlawful and violated an order 14 that had been entered against Mr. Samuelson. I decided to disclose my observations and 15 knowledge to one of the attorneys for Move, Inc., Mr. Singer, who I erroneously identified as 16 "Mr. Skinner," in an unsigned letter to him. I did not disclose this information as a "disgruntled" 17 or "bitter" employee as Zillow has claimed. I did so confidentially because I wanted to avoid 18 and was worried about retribution and retaliation from Zillow for disclosing the activities I had 19 witnessed. 20 Each and every statement in the letter I sent to Mr. Singer true and correct to the best of 21 my knowledge, and each is based upon personal observation and experiences, except that my 22 23 CROCKER DECL. IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO UNSEAL THE SINGER DECLARATION AND ATTACHED WHISTLEBLOWER LETTER - 2 2348919.2 #982031 v I /99985-001 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 reference to "other databases" meant mUltiple sources of data compiled into one spreadsheet. I have not revealed any "trade secret" in this letter. The letter does not contain information or describe a method or process that derives independent economic value from not being generally known and readily ascertainable by others who might economically benefit from the information's disclosure.· I do not understand the unlawful character of the conduct described to be a trade secret. My letter to Mr. Singer asked that it be destroyed because I was concerned about retaliation from Zillow and that being labeled publically as a "whistleblower" would harm my future employment prospects. I did not ask or suggest the letter be made available to the public, 9 nor did I confer in advance with any person, including counsel, affiliated with the parties in the 10 lawsuit about my letter or its contents. My only communications with Mr. Singer before sending 11 the letter involved my telling him that as long as I was a Zillow employee he would have to go 12 through the proper channels for us to communicate and I redirected him back to Perkins Coie. 13 I have retained Jacquelyn Beatty ofKarr Tuttle Campbell to represent me in this matter. 14 I swear under the penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the 15 foregoing is true and correct. 16 Dated this 2-o1'.t day of April 2015, in Seattle, Washington. 17 18 19 Chris Crocker 20 21 22 23 CROCKER DECL. IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO UNSEAL THE SINGER DECLARATION AND A IT ACHED WHISTLEBLOWER LETTER - 3 2348919.2 #98203 1 v 1 I 99985-00 I CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 1 2 I hereby certify that on April 20, 2015, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk 3 of the Court using the Court's CM/ECF System which will send notification of such filing to the 4 following individuals registered to receive electronic notices by email transmission at the email 5 addresses provided thereto. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 CMIECF Participants: Susan E. Foster Kathleen M. O'Sullivan Katherine G. Galipeau Mary P. Gaston PERKINS COlE LLP Clemens H. Barnes Estera Gordon MILLER NASH GRAHAM & DUNN LLP Counsel for Errol Samuelson Counsel for Zillow, Inc. I further certify that I served a copy of the foregoing to the following non-registered CM/ECF attorneys via electronic mail: David J. Burman Judith B. Jennison PERKINS COlE LLP dburman@perkinscoie.com i jennison@perkinscoie.com K. Michael Fandel MILLER NASH GRAHAM & DUNN LLP michael.fanclel(mmillernash.com Counsel for Errol Samuelson 14 Counsel for Ziilow, Inc. 15 James P. Savitt SAVITT BRUCE & WILLEY LLP jsavitt(m,sbwllp.com 16 Counsel for Curt Beardsley 17 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the 18 19 foregoing is true and correct. DATED at Seattle, Washington on April 20, 2015. 20 21 Is/Katy Albritton Katy Albritton, Legal Assistant 22 23 PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL - 6 CABLE, LANGENBACH, KINERK & BAUER, LLP 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 3500 SEATILE, WASHlNGTON 98 \04-1 048 (206) 292-8800