AG Ellen Rosenblum Calls Oracle's Claim That Governor's Chief of Staff Agreed to Settlement "Complete Fabrication"

Oracle sticking to its story, says litigation should be over.

Lawyers representing Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum punched back hard against Oracle America Inc. in a Multnomah County Circuit Court filing Feb. 17, calling Oracle's claim that Gov. Kate Brown's chief of staff agreed to settle all litigation between the state and Oracle "a complete fabrication."

As WW reported last month, Ken Glueck, Oracle's top in-house lobbyist, says that after a series of conversations with Brown's then-chief of staff Brian Shipley, Glueck and Shipley reached a verbal agreement to end the numerous lawsuits between the parties in exchange for Oracle providing the state with $25 million in software and services.

The underlying dispute centers on who's to blame for the $300 million failure of Cover Oregon, the online health insurance exchange Oracle built for the state.

In January, Oracle filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court seeking to enforce the alleged verbal agreement between Glueck and Shipley.

The response, filed on the DOJ's behalf by Lisa Kaner of the Markowitz Herbold law firm, attacks Glueck's account on several fronts. But perhaps the most important is that the agency asserts that no matter what Shipley might have represented, he lacked the authority to enter into a settlement.

"Even if Oracle's story were true (which it is not), Oracle's effort to enforce the supposed settlement would still fail for several reasons," the DOJ response says. "Only the Oregon Department of Justice, not the Governor's Chief of Staff, had authority to negotiate a settlement of the State's case against Oracle."

The DOJ also says Glueck and Shipley never wrote anything down and that neither Oracle's actions in other litigation with the state nor in its recent filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission reflect a belief that Glueck and Shipley reached an agreement.

"Not even Oracle believes the truth of its allegations," the DOJ filing says.

Oracle disagrees with that assertion.

"The Governor, her ex-Chief of Staff Brian Shipley, and her current legal counsel, Misha Isaak, know full well that they agreed to settle this litigation, and so do numerous others who will provide important information during discovery," said Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger in a statement.

"The Attorney General's specially appointed lawyers are taking the position that Attorney General Rosenblum can veto settlement agreements authorized and negotiated by Governor Brown," Hellinger continued. "We are surprised by the State's position and wonder if its lawyers have considered precedent they may be setting about the scope of the chief executive's authority to govern what happens in Oregon."

(Disclosure: Ellen Rosenblum is married to Richard Meeker, co-owner of WW's parent company.)

There have now been six lawsuits filed as a result of Cover Oregon's flop.

The DOJ filing says the state would like to resolve the issue of culpability once and for all.

"This new complaint continues Oracle's strategy to delay and avoid a public trial regarding its failure to provide a functioning public website for healthcare coverage for Oregonians," the filing says. "The Court should dismiss Oracle's complaint promptly so the parties can get on with litigating Oracle's failure to deliver a working health insurance exchange."

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