Page 34 - REDEMPTION_Flipbook_Final 2025

- Geraldine Hughes -

ney. I was told that his brother is an identical twin. Strangely
enough, I noticed that he did not receive any phone calls from
his brother the entire time that I worked for him. It is difficult
for me to imagine Mr. Rothman having a double.
Rarely did family or friends call for Mr. Rothman at the
office. Occasionally, his housekeeper would call him concern-
ing matters around the house. Most of his calls came from cli-
ents or creditors leaving threatening messages for him to call
them. One creditor called and threatened to "drop a dime" on
Mr. Rothman if he did not get paid. Needless to say, when Mr.
Rothman arrived at the office that was one call he returned
immediately!
I also recall Mr. Rothman being a cigarette smoker who
did not obey building ordinances which prohibited smoking
in a public building. He smoked wherever he pleased-in your
face or at your desk. He kept an ashtray at everyone's desk so
he could walk throughout the office and have access to an ash-
tray wherever he went in the office. He had a bad habit of sit-
ting his cigarette in the ashtray at your desk, forgetting it and
then walking away with it still burning. The smell of smoke
really bothered me, but I knew it would be useless to ask Mr.
Rothman not to smoke in the office or around me. He chewed
me out once for making that request. I decided to bide my time
and walk lightly until I could get out of his office.
Mr. Rothman ran his office like a concentration camp. His
goal was always to inflict pain, humiliate and render you
worthless so he could feel more superior. In his eyes, there
were only two classes of people, boss and employees. Even
his associate attorneys fell under the employee classification
because he treated them no differently. He would rant and
rave and humiliate them publicly just like the clerical staff.
We were all equally abused.
My desk was located at the back of Mr. Rothman's office
only a few feet away from the large conference room. Most of
the meetings held during the Michael Jackson case were held
in this conference room allowing me to see and hear a great
deal.... meetings between Mr. Rothman and Dr. Chandler,

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