Opinion ID: 203944
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sicher's Dual Job Responsibilities

Text: Hired in 1995, Sicher was Dr. Walton's sole employee and was responsible for managing his medical practice. Her job responsibilities in Dr. Walton's practice included welcoming patients, scheduling appointments, doing the bookkeeping, accepting and depositing co-payments and medical reimbursement checks, and receiving the practice's bank account statements. While he was busy providing medical services, Dr. Walton relied on the defendant, his trusted representative in the office environment, to manage all the financial and administrative functions of the office. Through her position, she became personally close with many of the families of Dr. Walton's patients. In 1998, upon the founding of CGF, Dr. Walton asked Sicher to take on all administrative responsibilities for CGF. Her formal duties included accepting and depositing donations for CGF, informing Dr. Walton of any donations, and opening and reviewing CGF's monthly bank statements. In practice, Sicher's activities went well beyond her formal duties. Her duties were essential to the management of CGF; she effectively acted as the director of CGF. As said, Dr. Walton did not perform these tasks. She was the face of CGF, together with Dr. Walton, because of her active role at fundraisers and personal relationships with members of the foundation. The PSR also makes clear that she was very visible and took an active role in certain fundraising events by selling tickets, playing host during the events and performing a meet and greet. She also acted as the point person for the CGF annual charity golf tournament, working closely with a sports celebrity. This very visible role she played over a number of years was not that of a person performing ordinary clerical duties. She did not merely accept monies raised by the foundation and act as the keeper of the accounts and books. There is evidence she was engaged with persons who did fundraising activities for CGF and then stole the money they had raised. She was installed in a position in which she developed significant relationships with the families and was the point of contact for fundraising events. For example, a former CGF board member and parent of two patients testified that it was Sicher who gave her two daughters, then 11 and 13 years old, wrist bands to sell in their neighborhood in Connecticut as a fundraising effort. The girls went door-to-door, raising $300 in cash, which they gave to the defendant in a plastic bag. The defendant then took the money. Moreover, in at least one instance Sicher was engaged with a family having a fundraising event about which Dr. Walton knew nothing. A former CGF board member testified that she had held a fundraising birthday party for CGF at her house, working with Sicher, who never told Dr. Walton about the event. Sicher received the money from the event but pocketed it for herself. The district court was certainly rational in not inferring that money raising drives originated and were managed sua sponte without any involvement by a representative of the charity.