"WHO" were and are the participants in the willfully, fraudulent, concealment and misconduct against David Bell?
•Agraquest
•Pam Marrone
•Denise Manker
•Brian Campbell
•Liberty Mutual Insurance
•Daniel Reich, Esq.
•The California Workers Compensation system
The key people who started Agraquest can be identified in the article, "Green" Solutions To Pests Have Firm Seeing Green" (Davis Enterprise) in which is stated:
"When Entotech was sold, Marrone, Duane Ewing and Bruce Holm started Agraquest with former Entotech scientists Sherry Heins, Denise Manker and Desmond Jiminez. Ewing and Holm have retired from their executive posts, but Heins, Manker and Jiminez continue to help lead the company.”
It is rather disturbing to say the least that Denise Manker would be held so "credible" in the eyes of the court when in fact she gave false and misleading information in her testimony.
•One such example concerns the OSHA inspection and citation that Agraquest received. (It should be noted that this inspection was at the 2nd location where David worked, 1530 Drew Avenue - Davis Ca. and not the 1st location of Agraquest where David got so sick).
David, on giving his testimony to the court had given a reference to the fume hoods that were not sufficient according to OSHA while he had worked at Agraquest and that originally the fume hoods were not available when he first started working for the company.
•On the stand, Denise Manker "swore under oath" that she handled the responses to Cal/ OSHA. She said the result was "one minor thing" for the fume hood, which met federal OSHA standards but not Cal OSHA standards.
•Manker stated they slightly adjusted “the” fume hood to meet the more stringent Cal OSHA requirements.
•She led the court to believe that Agraquest was cited for only one fume hood and there were no other violations found by OSHA.
Additionally, in the written December 22, 2002 response to Cal/OSHA for Agraquest's citations and fines prepared by Denise Manker to Cal/OSHA; PAGE 1 , PAGE 2 , PAGE 3
Manker had said Agraquest was a safe place to work. She actually produced some pages from what was purportedly the Agraquest Safety Manual which was non existent when David Bell worked at Agraquest. It should be noted that Denise Manker was NOT the safety manager when David Bell was employed at Agraquest, altho this purported safety manual does in fact show Manker is.
•SAFETY MANUAL HERE: #1; Cover Page , #2; (page 3) , #3; (page 5) , #4; (page 7) , #5; (page 11) , #6; (page 13)
Manker also sent to Cal/OSHA a copy of two documents, which is believed to be the attempt to convince Cal/OSHA what a safe place Agraquest was:
•1) An August 12, 2002 e-mail from Dave Ward concerning Agraquest Ex Mod worksheet :
•“Here is a copy of your current experience modification worksheet. It shows that Agraquest has only reported 1 claim in the entire 3 years of its experience period and that was only $756. This excellent record entitles you to a .74 experience mod. - only 1 point away from your lowest obtainable. Congratulations and keep up the good (safe) record.”
•2) The Experience Rating Form
•It is questionable IF there were no other problems that OSHA found when inspecting Agraquest other than the “one” fume hood as Manker so testified, then why did MANKER also testify she had spent six months on the investigation including onsite visits?
•What Denise Manker FAILED to tell the court was that Agraquest\'s "citation and fine from OSHA" was for "SEVERAL ILLEGAL CHEMICAL FUME HOODS" and not just "ONE" as she referenced. Further, OSHA states:
"Employer met minimum [EMPHASIS ADDED] Cal OSHA standards of many safety and health issues.
According to Dr. Larry Rose, who was the medical examiner for Cal/OSHA for twenty eight years, this was an unacceptable response by OSHA in their handling of the complaint against Agraquest. Further details on this can be found in Dr. Rose's article, CalOSHA: Going Down the Tubes and his statements during the taping of, Workers Comp, The Destruction Of Ca-OSHA/EPA And The Case of David Bell.
Even in the response from Agraquest to David’s filing of Motion to Compel Discovery that was prepared by the Agraquest scientist, Manker is not truthful.
• Denise Manker denied any knowledge of David working in the company’s insectory . However, David did in fact retrieve mosquitoes from the insectory for his Laginex project. This can be found in David Bell's Performance Appraisal - PERFORMANCE RESULTS (this pdf file is very slow to load);
Goal #1: Formulation
• Did extensive literature search that resulted in new vegetable oils/fatty acids being tested in formulations with good statiliby results.
• Prepared, maintained, and tested formulations for stability studies.
Goal #2 : Fermentation/Microbilogy
• Learned Laginex primary and secondary shake flask prepartation.
• Prepared media as needed,
• Concentrated fermentation broth for use in formulations.
Goal #3: Bioassay
• Learned Mosquito bioassay method and improved method.
• Increased number of bioassay method and improved method.
• Maintained bioassay data records.
•"Started and maintain database of bioassay results for production material and formulated product."
Non-Goal achievements:
• Produced video and slides of infected mosquitoes that will be useful for dissussions of infection.
• Regularly cleaned lab to reduce cross-contamination.
• Purchased materials as needed.
PLEASE NOTE: In the Employee Comment section of the PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OF DAVID BELL his comment to:
•What areas of your review do you agree with your supervisor? What areas do you disagree" Any insights into your performance you would like to comment on?
DAVID BELL: I am very satisfied with my review. I started with little documentation and supervision.
As is documented in “The Concealment of David Bell Getting Sick At Agraquest From Denial From Agraquest And Continuing Through The California Workers’ Compensation System.” portion of this website it is also well documented how Denise Manker didn’t tell the truth about her connections with the fungus Histoplasma (found in David Bell’s blood serum) and the undeniable fact that Manker does not nor did not disclose to the court that David was not only exposed the Agraquest’s strain of Bacillus Subtilis QST 713 which was discovered by the Agraquest scientist, Sherry Heins in a peach orchard in Fresno, CA, but that David was also exposed to the Bacillus Subtilis strain AQ 153 [ATCC 55614], discovered by George Vandemark in which United States patent 6,004,774 (which Manker herself is listed as one of the four Agraquest "inventors") says that ATCC 55614 can be used to treat among other human pathogens, Histoplasma.
David's filing of "Motion to Compel Discovery", in which he requested the WCAB to enforce compliance from Agraquest to both Federal and state Hazard Communications Laws (Right-To-Know) of hazards in the workplace, Judge Volkan in her order of October 20, 2006, chose to ignore all of the items requested in the motion and only requested the "known" microorganisms which related to David's ongoing health problems and Agraquest. David, perplexed by the lack of compliance by the WCAB judge to uphold the law, was told to list these microorganisms and inadvertently forgot to list pseudomonas which had been identified in him in numerous cultures and on several dates.
Additionally, in David’s Motion to compel Discovery David sought his worker right-to-know rights of hazards in the workplace per Federal and State of California Right to Know of hazards at the workplace [HAZ COM].
•This had been also been rquested in a written letters to:
•Agraquest - no response
•Agraquest/Liberty Mutual Attorney, Daniel Reich:
•Daniel Reich went as far as to say he wasn’t “familiar with the workers right-to-know law” and “even if there is such a law, I would think that your request is over broad, and likely outside the purview of workers compensation."
On November 14, 2006 David received from the Worker's Compensation Law Office of Katchis, Harris & Yempuku; “This is in response to the 10/6/2006 order signed by Judge Volkan at the Sacramento WCAB in which David had filed for a Motion to Compel Discovery” states, “Please note that the following organisms marked with a “yes” are thought to have been present at Agraquest during your employment period” Marked with a “No” were; Staph aureus, Acinetobacter, Staph sp. and Histoplasma. The answer to Staph aureus also contained the comment, “not at the time Bell was at AQ. We got this strain in late 2001” and the comment to Staph sp. was “No, not at the time he was here."
•It is believed this information was supplied to Reich by Denise Manker.
It is questioned “why” Staph sp. and/or Staph Aureus would be at any biotechnology company whose intentions are to discover and manufacture “friendly” microorganisms to be used on food crops and sprayed for insect control. Also of extreme concern is what biosafety level Agraquest has (and did have) when known disease producing microorganisms are know to be at the lab. Just what "unknown" pathogens are there?
•The Agraquest/Denise Manker connection to Staph Aureus:
•Denise Carol Manker is in fact listed as one of the “inventors” on United States patent 6,911,338 which was filed with the United States Patent Office on April 11, 2002 which states:
•“It is lethal to the major fungal and bacterial pathogens of humans including C. albicans and A. fumigatus (Table 1) and Pseudomonas sp.”
•It kills bacteria that contaminate food such as S. aureus and E. coli (Table 1). It has been found to be lethal to Stachbotrys sp. (contaminator of homes, and public building) and also number of wood decay fungi.”
Additionally listed on U. S. patent 6,911,338: Penicillium, Rhizotonia, Stagnospora, Sclerotinia, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Verticillum, Cercospora, Tapesia, Micrococcus, Candida and Bacillus subtilis.
A hearing that was set for a "status conference" ended up being a "pre trial". There had been a continuance of the "status conference" at the request of defense attorney, Daniel Reich. Somewhere in between the request for continuance and the hearing the "status conference" had been changed to "pre trial" without any knowledge of David Bell or his attorney.
•Neither David Bell nor his attorney were ever notified of this change.
It was also a shock that what ended up being the "trial" which was to be heard by Judge Robinson ended up with a completely different Judge, Suzanne Dugan. Neither David or his attorney had any knowledge of this change either.
•In Judge Dugan’s “Report and Recommendation on Petition for Reconsideration she says:
•“ Presiding Judge Josi Harter set the trial on 7/11/07 before Judge Dugan for four hours with the trail date as 9/10/07. Applicant did not challenge me at that time nor before he received his decision.”
Additionally, Judge Dugan did not recuse herself or let it be known that she had previously worked for a law firm that represented Liberty Mutual. In her November 21, 2007 Report and Recommendation on Petition for reconsideration she states:
•“I had no knowledge about the facts f the case before the trial. Although I worked for Laughlin, Falbo, Levy, and Moresi over a decade ago, that law firm did not represent any party in this trial”.
Whether the law firm of Laughlin, Falbo, Levy, And Moresi did or did not represent Liberty Mutual at the time Judge Dugan worked for them is an unknown. However, the law office of Laughlin, Falbo, Levy and Moresi do represent Liberty Mutual.
•On the website for Laughlin, Falbo, Levy and Moresi they in fact states:
•“Statement of Practice Summary; Workers' Compensation Defense; (State and Federal), Subrogation, General Civil and Trial Practice, Labor and Employment Law Defense, Maritime Law, Insurance Coverage, General Business, Probate, Real Estate, Condominium Law.
•Also listed under representative clients: Liberty Mutual. Verification can be found HERE http://www.martindale.com/Laughlin-Falbo-Levy-Moresi-LLP/107993-law-firm-office.htm
As to David’s witnesses and the workers compensation “trial”; although listed as a witness for both the Applicant (David) and the defense (Agraquest and Liberty Mutual) no witnesses were allowed to take the stand on David’s behalf because Judge Dugan would not allow it.
•As Judge Dugan put it,
•“the testimony of applicant’s Mother relating to his fiscal and medical activities would not have been relevant”.
David Bell’s Mother had much to say on the witness stand, had she been allowed:
•Specifically the issue of her son acquiring histoplasma from his workplace environment at Agraquest.
•It was her who found out about the United States Patent 6,004,774 in which Agraquest scientists were listed as “inventors” on said patent. She also discovered that after David had first sought emergency medical care that the four Agraquest scientists started signing away their interest rights to this patent.
•She also wanted to question the court as to why David’s ex-coworker, Brian Campbell at Agraquest and currently an employee of Pam Marrone’s new company, Marrone Organic Innovations had been reading the CONFIDENTIAL medical report of the Qualified Medical Examiner, Dr. Ng during the “trial” of her son in the next seat to her, on her right hand side.
•Just who gave Brian Campbell access to this report? It wasn’t David, his attorney or any of David’s witnesses who gave Brian Campbell permission to read this confidential medical report.
Judge Dugan, by barring any testimony or questions from David Bell’s Mother did in fact further deny David Bell the right to a "fair trial" as is to be given to each and every citizen in the United States under the protection of the United States Constitution.
