Judge: (Charlie) Crist meddled in case

(Charlie Crist is the leading GOP candidate for FL Gov.)


April 13, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - A judge has threatened to sanction Attorney General Charlie Crist for getting involved in a politically charged case about a government whistle-blower and a troubled privatization venture.

Circuit Judge Thomas Bateman III's strongly worded order came after Crist got an emergency hearing on a Saturday before another judge and had the whistle-blower's sealed lawsuit opened for the first time.

In the lawsuit, Sam McDowell accused his former employer, Convergys Corp., of failing to safeguard sensitive personal information when it began handling the state's massive payroll operation. The $350-million contract has been fraught with controversy.

Bateman's Tuesday order called the attorney general a "non-party interloper" in the case, and he gave Crist's office one week to explain why he should not impose sanctions against Crist's office.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/04/13/State/Judge__Crist_meddled_.shtml

for governor?

or should that be amended to:

Crist was considered the front runner for governor.

Seems that there's a spat of funny going ons out of his office lately, that are starting to cause problems for good ol' Chain Gang Charlie'.

>Employees who worked for the state during the 18-month period between Jan. 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, may be affected, according to an e-mail message sent to all state employees on March 16. The state's Department of Management Services (DMS), which oversees the People First system, estimates that 108,000 current and former state employees may be affected by the data breach, although that estimate could change as the department's investigation into the matter continues.

The e-mail was sent after a subcontractor of outsourcing service provider Convergys Corp. improperly allowed subcontractors in India to index state personnel files, said DMS spokeswoman Tiffany Koenigkramer. The offshoring was done as part of Convergys's nine-year, $350 million contract to manage the state's personnel work.

Convergys had subcontracted the indexing work to GDXdata Inc., in Denver, which itself turned to a subcontractor in India, a violation of the GDXdata contract with Convergys, the DMS said. Convergys has since cancelled its contract with GDXdata, the agency said.

Convergys said the offshore work was done without its knowledge. "Convergys was misled by GDX, one of several subcontractors hired to perform work for the state of Florida," the company said in a statement.
http://enterprisesecurity.symantec.com/publicsector/article.cfm?articleid=6563&EID=0

--

Whoa! I didn't realize how big Conversys is getting. Good article on the company here:

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051221/BIZ/512210334/1001

>>Most people, he says, already do their own outsourcing, whether it's sending their dry cleaning out or hiring a teenager to cut their grass.

"It's as simple as having someone do something for you that you might be able to do for yourself, but they can do more effectively or more conveniently for you so you can do other things," he said.

For large companies, outsourcing services enable them to better focus on their core businesses.

"I know there are people who don't like the idea of outsourcing," Orr said. "But in the end, you have to face reality and economic necessity. You can't put walls around our country. You can't put walls around our jobs."<<