On March 13, 2012, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Johnson will render a decision in the matter of debarment charges brought against FTR International by the Los Angeles Community College District, for work performed during 2006-2008 regarding the Allied Health & Science Building project.

FTR’s legal counsel consists of four attorneys, Theresa M. Traber, Lauren Teukolsky, Bradley A. Raisin and Armenak Kavcioglu.  A writ of mandate has been filed in Los Angeles Superior Court to overturn the Board’s February 8, 2012 Findings to Debar. Citing the same evidence that the LACCD Board possessed, but didn’t bother to consult in its hatchet-job reputation-smearing campaign, FTR’s legal team has proved to the Court, in their brief, that LACCD failed to introduce any evidence that would back up their three claims. It will be shown that, as a matter of fact, LACCD couldn’t introduce evidence. Why? Because there was none. Instead, the evidence, or lack thereof, will show that LACCD fabricated the charges to cover up its own corruption, mismanagement, and waste on the project. The evidence FTR’s lawyers presented to Judge Johnson debunks the three spurious charges that occasioned the debarment ruling. By providing the same evidence to Judge Johnson, a well-known Superior Court judge with a reputation for keeping politics out of the courtroom, FTR believes that she will rule accordingly and reverse the Board’s unjust recommendations, bringing justice to FTR and its aggrieved parties.

What’s at stake is not just the waste of millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money. The issue is far greater. At stake is the potential for severe injury to the reputations of FTR and Mr. Katbi, a protection granted them under the due process rights of the U.S. and California Constitutions. As citizens of a country that guarantees equality under the law, we should hope for (and expect) nothing less.

It is a shame, not to mention a waste of time, money and prestige, that the LACCD Board would bring to public scrutiny this ridiculous, mistake-riddled, and vindictive matter, which is nothing more than a misguided attempt to cast FTR as a scapegoat to divert attention away from their own problems.  LACCD would have served the taxpayers far better by fixing their system rather than blaming others for their own mistakes.