Response to Joe Paul's Op-Ed piece in the Stratford Star

Alas, Democratic Mayoral candidate Joe Paul has come out from behind the bushes regarding his problems and lawsuit with Bank of America. He previously said it was race which allowed him to be hired by BoA in the first place, but then it was his age (65yrs.) which got him fired. As I said, you can’t have it both ways Mr. Paul.

He now comes back in an Op-Ed piece in the Stratford Star on July 11 and states that during his tenure at BoA he was addressing the issue of making banks more efficient  and I might add, more profitable, and more helpful to the needs of its’ customers. Well wouldn’t you know it, along comes 2008 and the almost total collapse of our national banking system. As we all know now, the bank he worked for during that period of time was one of the major players in the resulting economic crisis. As he was according to his own description, “a senior vice-president of one of the largest banks in the country” was he not aware of what was going on for all those years prior to Sept.2008 and if he was what did he do as a person who “stood by his principles”? He said,” the banks changed but he didn’t”. He then goes on to indicate that somehow his firing had something to do with him “standing up and fighting when he saw injustice”.

I am curious exactly how Mr. Paul fought back because in his Op-Ed piece he basically infers that his “fighting back” was the “real reason” he was fired by BoA and not the charges he made in court that it was racial and age prejudice that got him fired. So tell us again Mr. Paul, which one was it, race, age, or fighting back against injustice? Injustice never came up in court. Why not? I think a better line of action would have been to look into Federal “Whistle Blower” statutes and act accordingly.

According to Mr. Paul, “conditions of the settlement prohibit me from disclosing its details”, you could have spoken up in court about your ethics and values, you chose not to at that time. Now, under a court gag order, all you can tell us is that you were fired because of age, or was it race, or was it because you’re a “standup guy. By the way Mr. Paul isn’t it a breach of your agreement with the court to have even mentioned the case. One more thing Mr. Paul, in my opinion, a person’s character is one of the most if not the most  important things to look at in choosing any and all public officials, from the mayor to the governor, to the congress, to the president.