End Game. . .

AARP has filed a motion that they will be filing their FINAL appeal to the DC appellate court. For those who do not know, and until recently I had no idea, DC does not have a Supreme Court: "The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia, the capital city of the United States. The court was established in 1942 as the Municipal Court of Appeals, and it has been the court of last resort for matters of D.C. local law since 1970. - Wikipedia"

As a recap, it has been almost 7 years since I was discriminatorily fired by AARP for being gay which led to years of fierce litigation, including some of the darkest days I have experienced in my life. I want to remind everyone that I am not talking about a Fortune 500 company, I am talking about a supposed "non-profit" that says it is working to make life better and takes donations and membership dues to pay the bills. It's these yearly dues/donations their members (possibly you?!?) pay that has financed this vendetta waged by the soon to be gone CEO and her minion.

Speaking of money, this last phase will probably cost them about as much, if not more, than the last appeal - since March 15th when we won in court - my legal fees are almost $100K, which ultimately they are paying, and the interest on the jury award as of this writing is $73,000. One can only imagine what their Harvard educated lawyers are costing them. To keep the guesstimate simple, if you double my fees, it would be $273K more they have spent.

Stop wasting money that should be going to help the vulnerable elderly, which is supposedly why you exist! Reminder: you say you are a non-profit. . . act like one!

Speaking of which, I recently received this direct mail from AARP Foundation asking me for a donation to help this vulnerable elderly population (see attached) which is an actual problem that money can help solve. Sure, I'll help by telling you to stop litigating this lawsuit that you lost in a two week trial with a jury of 8 DC residents and instead of giving that money to your Harvard educated attorney's, use it and actually help this vulnerable population. It would be the equivalent of 22,750 people donating the $12.00 you are asking me for. To me, AARP feels like the televangelists from the 1980-90's (I can say this, I went to Oral Roberts University) - "Send us money to help "god's" work, but don't look at my rolls royces, mansions, private planes, etc." YOU need to send money to help these people, BUT I'm gonna use that money for this lawsuit to continue to attack an employee we discriminated against and illegally fired.

If we were dealing with mature, grown-up people who cared about learning from their mistakes and trying to make things right, you wouldn't be reading this post. Unfortunately, we are talking about two very small, petty people who cannot believe that they lost! They seem to be so mad that their discrimination was validated that they will spend another couple hundred thousand dollars needlessly. Again, when one is using money coming in the form of memberships and donations that people have sent to fight for good, you really don't care. It's different when it is your money, life and career. I know this first hand.

I'll close with this. I am not sure how many of you know about "The Chicken Coop" story, but it is how AARP began, with a purpose to help those who could not help themselves and try to make life better for all.

You can find the story here in AARP's own words: https://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/history/chicken-coop-inspires-mission.html

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, who started AARP when she found a fellow teacher living in a chicken coop because she could not afford medical care and rent, never meant for AARP to be what it is today. A profit driven "non-profit" that has seen numerous employment discrimination lawsuits under the current CEO. The most that I can find for any one AARP CEO, if I am wrong, please add a comment below with the correct information. For those who want to research, it doesn't take long on the DC Courts website to see these numerous lawsuits and this does not capture the many more people who were discriminated against, abused and should have sued, but had to take the package offered and sign that NDA because they had no other option. Doesn't this all sound like the antithesis to what Dr. Andrus was trying to accomplish? To give help and options to those who had none? To be there for the David, not be the Goliath?!? As AARP has become richer and richer, it has lost its way, but it still relies upon money from its members to help generate this vast wealth. It was under the current CEO and COO/CFO who made the association the Goliath crushing every single person who stood up for themselves. . . except one, that is. . .I am sorry I was that one, but I hope my personal sacrifice, struggle, and perseverance is the change agent that AARP needs.

There is a new CEO coming, lets hope they learn from this gross situation, I mean they will be the one stroking the check for all this. It seems the board doesn't want more of the same as I heard through the grapevine the COO/CFO was (allegedly) not chosen to be CEO. I would love to spend time with the new CEO (with my attorney of course) and share my story. The offer is there.

Finally, a reminder, I am NOT under an NDA and am working on a book about this whole experience to share my story and be a resource for others who may be going through something similar.

The fight continues and we will be victorious. . . .