 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
|
Page 35 |
|
II - 152 1 Q.
Did they ever tell you what FACCA is? 2 A.
No, sir, I don't think they ever felt the need to. 3 Q.
And you don't know who is involved with FACCA? 4 A.
I know that the president, I suppose that's his title, 5 the head man, his name is Dr. Ed
McClellan. 6 Q.
Isn't it true that the Wills have had positions on this 7 board? 8 A.
I do not know. 9 Q.
You don't have knowledge of that? 10 A.
No, sir. 11 Q.
Isn't it true that the Wills were involved in creating 12 FACCA? 13 A.
I do not think so. I'm almost positive
that they did 14 not.
FACCA has been existence for many years before the 15 Wills went to Florida. 16 MR.
STILLEY: Pass the witness. 17
MR. OLIVER: Nothing further, Your
Honor. 18
THE COURT: That's it. Two times around.
That's 19 it. 20
THE WITNESS: Thank you. 21
THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen of the
jury, we'll 22 take our afternoon recess at this
time. Recall the 23 admonition. Be prepared to return -- well, return to your 24 jury rooms at 25 after. 25
(The following proceedings were held outside the
II - 153 1 hearing of the jury:) 2
THE COURT: Counsel, let's see what
else there is to 3 direct toward this Fair Labor
Standards Act situation in 4 terms of witnesses or see if you have
anything in response to 5 say. 6
And I don't want to get to you having to write down 7 every question you have to write of
every witness, 8 Mr. Stilley, and have to have you
bring it in for me to 9 review it, you know. And I don't think I would let the jury 10 see me taking my questions to a
19-year-old and see if he 11 approved of them, you know. Fine. Do
what you want to do. 12 Make yourself happy. I'm just saying, I don't know. I don't 13 know. 14
But I'm just saying, don't get to the point where 15 you have -- you know, I told you about
Mr. Gerhardt, that 16 ended that. If you have any more, you know what you got to 17 do.
So let's not get to that with other people. Okay. 18 MR. STILLEY: Yes, sir. 19
THE COURT: I'm trying to be nice, you
know. Tried 20 to warn you. You didn't get the message. So let's get to 21 this part about the Fair Labor
Standards Act once I come 22 back.
Any witnesses? The defendant, you got
some rebuttal 23 on that, let's deal with that to see
where we are there, 24 okay. 25
MR. STILLEY: Certainly, Judge. Thank you.
II
- 154 1
THE COURT: Okay. 2
(Court in recess from 3:05 p.m. until 3:33 p.m.) 3
(The following proceedings continued within the 4 hearing of the jury:) 5
THE COURT: Good afternoon, ladies and
gentlemen of 6 the jury. Mr. Briggs. 7
MR. BRIGGS: Your Honor, we'd call Sam
Gerhardt to 8 the stand. 9 THE COURT: Very well. 10
SAM GERHARDT, 11 Having been first duly sworn, was
examined and testified as 12 follows: 13
DIRECT EXAMINATION 14 BY MR. BRIGGS: 15 Q.
Good afternoon. Would you please state
your full name 16 for the record. 17 A.
My name is Sammy Lee Gerhardt. 18 Q.
What's the name that you typically go by, sir? 19 A.
Sam. 20 Q.
Sir, do you currently work at Mountain Park Baptist 21 Church Boarding Academy? 22 A.
Yes, I do. 23 Q.
What is your position there? 24 A.
I'm pastor there. 25 Q.
How long have you been pastor there?
II - 155 1 A.
For a couple years. 2 Q.
For a couple years now? 3 A.
Yes, sir. 4 Q.
Prior to that, let's see, when did you become a pastor? 5 A.
I've been there so long, just transitions take place, I 6 have to stop and think for a few
minutes. It's been, I guess 7 it was probably 2002, yes, sir. 8 Q.
Okay. Who is the pastor prior --
before you? 9 A.
Brother Wills, Pastor Bob Wills. 10 Q.
What's his title now? 11 A.
He is senior pastor. 12 Q.
And prior to becoming pastor, what was your title? 13 A.
Associate pastor, same place. 14 Q.
Pastor Gerhardt, how long did you go or how far did you 15 go in school? 16 A.
I have a master's in Christian education. 17 Q.
Where did you get that degree? 18 A.
From Caroline University of Theology. 19 Q.
And I take it you also have a bachelor's degree? 20 A.
Yes, sir. 21 Q.
And from what college or university? 22 A.
From the same university, Caroline University. 23 Q.
Pastor Gerhardt, what is the ministry of Mountain Park? 24 A.
To reach young people through Christ. That's
first and 25 foremost. That's why we're there.
II - 156 1 Q.
Okay. And to achieve that ministry
does Mountain Park 2 have a mission or missions? 3 A.
Yes, sir, we have a dual mission, to provide a quality 4 academic opportunity as well as to
develop within them that 5 sense of character and responsibility
to be productive 6 citizens and to nurture them toward a
real genuine faith in 7 Christ. 8 Q.
Hopefully everybody can see that okay. Pastor 9 Gerhardt, I'll show you what has been
marked as Plaintiff's 10 Exhibit 9. Page 2. And
I'll highlight a portion of the 11 page.
What I've highlighted sir, first off, does this page 2 12 come from the Mountain Park
parent/student handbook? 13 A.
Yes, sir, it does. 14 Q.
Were you involved in the preparation of that handbook, 15 sir? 16 A.
Yes, sir, I was. 17 Q.
So you are relatively familiar with the handbook? 18 A.
Yes, sir, I am. 19 Q.
And referring to page 2, those twin missions, have I 20 highlighted twin missions, highlighted
in the handbook? 21 A.
Yes, sir, you have. 22 Q.
And is this handbook provided to all the parents that 23 enroll students at Mountain Park? 24 A.
Yes, sir. 25 Q.
As part of the twin missions, what are the basic or
II - 157 1 fundamental parts of Mountain Park's
practice and curriculum 2 that arise out of these missions? 3 A.
Everything we do. 4 Q.
Okay. So would that include the
academics? 5 A.
Yes, sir, it would. 6 Q.
Okay. And it also includes, you know,
teaching the 7 students to maintain a clean presence
as well? 8 A.
Yes, sir, all of those things. 9 Q.
Okay. Maintain a clean environment? 10 A.
Yes, sir. 11 Q.
And is also learning a good work ethic as well? 12 A.
Very important, yes, sir. 13 Q.
Okay. So work is a fundamental and
integral part of 14 Mountain Park's mission. 15 A.
We could not operate and do what the parents ask us to 16 do without any and all of those. You must have all of those 17 parts. 18 Q.
Okay. And how is that work important? What does it do 19 for the students? 20 A.
Again, it provides the students with a sense of 21 accomplishment, a sense of
responsibility and accountability. 22 A young person who can learn that
mowing the yard and doing a 23 good job at mowing the yard, and
somebody walking up and 24 saying, boy, the yard looks nice. I know Brother Wills is 25 faithful when he comes to visit to
make a comment that, boy,
II - 158 1 the grounds are looking good,
appreciate you fellows keeping 2 the grounds up. And so it gives them a sense of 3 responsibility and then the
accountability with that, which 4 in the same sense applies to their
spiritual life. We were 5 created by God Almighty and we have a
responsibility and an 6 accountability toward him. So you take the simple things and 7 apply them to the spiritual things. 8 Q.
And these simple things, do you hope to develop these 9 within the students so they'll carry
on the simple things in 10 the way of life once they leave
Mountain Park? 11 A.
Oh, yes, sir, most definitely. And
it's just eating 12 that apple one bite at a time, a day
by day process to try to 13 instill those principles of just solid
character. 14 Q.
Sir, prior to working at Mountain Park and going to 15 college, did you have any background
that involved strict 16 regimented environment you were
involved in? 17 A.
Yes, sir. I worked with -- just the
time frame there a 18 little bit, I worked with the
ministries from the time I was 19 young, 21 years old. I went to work with my mother and 20 father-in-law. 21 Q.
Did you also go in the service? 22 A.
Yes, I worked with them until '84, '85 until I joined 23 the military. 24 Q.
What branch of the service? 25 A.
The Army.
II - 159 1 Q.
Sir, are you married? 2 A.
Yes, sir, I am. 3 Q.
And who is your wife? 4 A.
My wife is Mrs. Wills' daughter, Debbie Gerhardt. 5 Q.
And Debbie is also a defendant in this lawsuit? 6 A.
I'm afraid so. 7 Q.
And does she work at Mountain Park? 8 A.
Yes, sir, she does. 9 Q.
And what does she do? 10 A.
She takes care of the bookkeeping and helps supervise 11 the young ladies. 12 Q.
With -- who sets the policies at Mountain Park? 13 A.
Pastor and Ms. Wills with input from me. 14 Q.
So you do participate in some of the policy making? 15 A.
Yes, sir. 16 Q.
Okay. At Mountain Park who has the
authority to hire 17 or fire staff? 18 A.
Pastor Wills. 19 Q.
Is your wife involved in making policy at Mountain 20 Park? 21 A.
Not in a general sense, no, sir. 22 Q.
And do you and your wife have any kids? 23 A.
Yes, sir, we do. 24 Q.
Okay. Is one of them Bo Gerhardt? 25 A.
My son is Bo Gerhardt. |
|
If you have any questions or comments on this site please e-mail me at drgraves2@charter.net |