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Dr. Notes class action certified

South Florida Business Journal - June 3, 2005

A class action suit on behalf of former employees has been certified against Dr. Notes, a Boca Raton software company.

That adds to an array of judgments and legal proceedings against the company: $1.22 million in judgment liens, $1.19 million in federal tax liens and 10 pending suits that seek more than $702,000 from the company and its CEO, Dr. Angel M. Garcia.

The latest plaintiffs found by The Business Journal include a limousine company, a beach front hotel and more doctors.

The company and Garcia have not responded in court to nine of the pending cases and so far have failed in their attempts to block the class action from being certified. Garcia and his lawyer, Howard Camerik, did not respond to three e-mails and a phone call to each of them over two weeks seeking comment.

The class action was certified in Broward County Circuit Court in May and has five employees listed.

The court certification requires Dr. Notes and Garcia to provide contact information for its former sales employees. Hollywood attorney Richard Celler said he plans to ask them to join the suit, which alleges the company didn't pay salary and overtime for many sales employees.

Last summer, the company had about 160 employees, although it has eight now, according to past statements by Garcia and former Dr. Notes employees.

The limousine and hotel suits indicate Dr. Notes was a valued client that initially paid bills, but later stopped doing so. Suits by several doctors allege the company fell short on promises to pay for prescription data or a free trial of its software.

Suits outline hotel, limo use

As part of Dr. Notes' business of selling software to physician offices to help them record patient data and do billings, the company invited doctors from around the country to its Boca Raton headquarters for sales and training. The company sold the software to more than 5,000 doctors, Garcia has said.

Dr. Notes was initially a great customer at the Holiday Inn in Highland Beach, racking up several hundred thousand dollars in room and dinner charges over a year, until it stopped paying in July 2004, hotel GM Rick Clark said. The company often bought dinner for 15 to 30 doctors, plus employees, twice a week.

But the company fell behind on its payments in July and continued using the hotel's services through August - racking up $31,822 in charges, according to the lawsuit. The hotel won a default judgment in April, but the damages have yet to be specified.

The Rose Limousine Service of South Florida was used for about a year to transport the doctors and employees, usually running up $25,000 a month in bills, owner Jerry Feldman said.

Dr. Notes stopped paying in late 2004, according to the lawsuit.





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