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HEIDI K. ERICKSON'S OFFICIAL SITE
The Racing Commission
Ms. Erickson states the Racing Commission conducted a SHAM hearing, its conduct like an old boys club, interruptive while denying Ms. Erickson her basic rights and numerous times didnt allow her to finish her legal arguments. There is not one woman on the Racing Commission, why is that! Commissioner Betro then denied Ms. Erickson her right to have her witness testify. "The Commissioner denied my basic due process rights" by not only refusing to allow me to cross examine testimony, denied by witnesses to testify, denied my request for reasonable accommodations but basically by having no standards for conducting this hearing! When I started getting inconsistent testimony from Officer Sterling while he started changing his previous testimony and not being able to support this new testimony the Commissioner interrupted and blocked my impeaching him. The Commissioner then out of no where in the procession of my Appeal starting shooting questions at me while I was in the middles of attempting to impeach the Officer. Then denied me my rights to continue the cross-examination and when the Officer added new testimony denied me my right to cross examine his new testimony containing many new alleged facts.
The Commissioner is a retired Police Officer and was conducting the hearing more like a police interrogation then like an administrative review.
When Erickson asked for a reasonable accommodation due to her dyslexia those on the Commissioner's hearing panel laughed out loud. The Commissioner then denied Ms. Erickson her request.
On 8/11/04 The State Racing Commission conducted an alleged hearing from Ms. Erickson's Appeal of a denial for a stable employee license blocking her employment at Suffolk Race Track. William Keen, Chief Racing Steward testified that the State Police informed him that Erickson was dishonest on her application that she had been arrested for the outstanding charges of animal cruelty and therefore she had answered a question in error. Keen also said that Erickson immediately showed him her social security care and informed him that she was dyslexic and could have mixed up things abit. But then Officer Sterling of the State Police testified that he could find no evidence that Erickson had ever been arrested for the outstanding charges of animal cruelty at the time he informed the Racing Commission and Chief Steward Keen. Erickson said she had not been arrested for the animal cruelty charges against her. She did not answer any questions untruthfully, although because of her dyslexia she may have misinterpreted the questions and that she had mixed up the numbers of her social security which happens frequently. Ms. Erickson also had informed both the racing stewards and the state police of her outstanding charges and all other landlord tenant issue. State Police Officer Reinen testified that Erickson did in fact did inform the State Police and the stewards of her criminal record created by deceitful landlords in an attempt to effectuate an eviction without due process. Erickson requested of the Racing Commission reasonable accommodations (due to her dyslexia) as to her imperfect application application that tended to transpose numbers and offered the Commission an Affidavit from a Harvard Specialist on Disabilities like dyslexia. The Racing Commission denied her appeal. Erickson stated that her defense attorney advised her not to testify at the Appeal Hearing, and her testimony shouldn't have been necessary to develop the issues that her license had been denied due to her dyslexia. The Racing Commission refused to allow Ms. Erickson to cross examine witnesses who were testifying for the Commission and Erickson claims that she has not only been discriminated against due to her dyslexia but that she was also denied due process rights. Erickson filed a law suit in the Federal District Court seeking relief the Racing Commission actions to prevent her employment. Keen stuck to his story that his denial was based on the recommendation of the State Police.