1. Ms. Thompson said company policy prohibited release of information regarding additional compensation.

Reference:

We spoke with Mr. Allan Rogers, a reference provided by the candidate, Mr. Marcus Constantine. Mr. Rogers was formerly President of Allied Cable Network, and assumed his current position as Chairman of Delphi News in February, 1996. Hew uncertain about when exactly he had hired Mr. Constantine at Allied Cable Network, but told us that in mid-1994 he had found himself "needing a Market Director badly," and acting upon the recommendation of a trusted associate, decided to hire Mr. Constantine for that position. As Marketing Director, Mr. Constantine was in charge of consumer marketing, and also assisted Mr. Rogers in strategic planning. Mr. Constantine also "found" the primary advertising agency for Allied Cable Network, and oversaw the company's relationship with that agency.

Mr. Rogers estimated Mr. Constantine's earnings at Allied Cable Network as "north of $200,000... probably between $220,000 and $260,000" when bonuses were included. When we quoted the figure of $40,000 which Mr. Constantine had listed as his bonus at Allied Cable Network for 1995, Mr. Rogers said he could not recall having personally signed off on that bonus, but added that the bonus would probably have come in the form of a "sales override" which would have been administered by the Sales Manager. He thought the $40,000 figure was probably accurate, though.

Mr. Rogers recalled that Mr. Constantine probably had as many as 30 employees under his supervision at Allied Cable Network, including "the consumer staff and affiliates, plus the on-air promotion department." When asked what he thought of Mr. Constantine's performance as a manager, Mr. Rogers responded, "I'm a big fan of Marc's. He's creative, honest, and loyal, and I never heard a single complaint from Human Resources operations or any of the [the candidate's] employees." Nor did Mr. Rogers ever hear any complaints regarding the candidate from any of the 11 or 12 other vice presidents who reported directly to him [Mr. Rogers].

Mr. Rogers went on to say it was his experience that managers tended to be "either too nice or too tough," and that he had faulted Mr. Constantine on only one occasion for being "too nice." On this occasion, Mr. Rogers had told Mr. Constantine that he did not like the way one of Mr. Constantine's subordinates had handled a certain matter, and Mr. Constantine had come to that employee's defense. Mr. Rogers said that he respected Mr. Constantine for "defending his guy," but insisted that the employee in question be informed of his position, and Mr. Constantine honored that decision.

Mr. Rogers had no reservations about Mr. Constantine's ability to handle the administrative side of his job. "Detailed biweekly status reports ere standard operating procedure," said Mr. Rogers, and Mr. Constantine's reports ere always accurate and on time. "He had everything buttoned up from that standpoint,"said Mr. Rogers.

Mr. Rogers said Mr. Constantine had recently left Allied Cable Network, due to the fact that "the new regime was bringing its own people." Mr. Rogers subsequently brought Mr. Constantine aboard at Delphi News, where the candidate has been serving as a Consultant on marketing strategy for the past month or so. Mr. Rogers has been hoping to appoint Mr. Constantine as a full time Marketing Director. However he emphasized that Delphi News is still very much in the startup phase, and that he did not even have a marketing budget in place yet, so making Mr. Constantine a long term offer wan not possible at this time. According to Mr. Rogers, Mr. Constantine is currently being compensated at roughly the same rate that he was at Allied Cable Network, albeit at a flat rate rather than in the form of salary and bonuses.

In conclusion, Mr. Rogers acknowledged that he would certainly like to keep the candidate, but added, "I'm an adult about these things."

Reference:

We spoke with Ms. Darrah McCann, Executive Vice President and Worldwide Account Director for the United Express account at the above captioned advertising agency. Ms. McCann was a reference provided by the candidate, Mr. Marcus Constantine.

Ms. McCann told us that she had formerly been Worldwide Account Director for the Burger Royale account at Sokel & Associates. She had been the person to hire Mr. Constantine in 1988 as a Senior Vice President/Account Director. He was assigned t the Burger Royale account, and reported directly to Ms. McCann. Mr. Constantine was hired at an annual rate o roughly $150,000, said Ms. McCann, and was probably earning about $225,000, including both salary and bonuses, by the time he left Sokel & Associates in 1994.

According to Ms. McCann, Mr. Constantine was in charge of "the national calendar" for the Burger Royale account, which made him responsible for national promotional schedules and marketing plans. "Handling Burger Royale was a very strategic position," said Ms. McCann, as it involved the creation, definition, and implementation of various promotional and marketing events. Mr. Constantine had five or six other employees reporting directly to him, and members of the media and creative groups also reported to him indirectly. All told, there were probably 20 people under his direction.

Ms. McCann was highly enthusiastic about Mr. Constantine. She described the candidate as very bright, an one who worked extremely well with people. "There was lots of pressure...lots of problems [with this account], but [the candidate] managed the frenetic atmosphere, relieved the stress, and sent his people in the right direction, said Ms. McCann.

The problems on the account were not Mr. Constantine's doing, according Ms. McCann. Burger Royale was a typically "undisciplined retail business," she said. "There was lots of animosity between the franchises and the company, and between the company and the holding company," said Ms. McCann. "The atmosphere grew more and more contentious." It was this sort of situation which Mr. Constantine managed so effectively, said Ms. McCann. The candidate was a very creative thinker who got to the solution very quickly. He excelled at dealing with the client at various levels and effectively manipulating the various factions within the client-company who were not getting along.

According to Ms. McCann, Mr. Constantine was a "low-maintenance guy" who needed very little supervision. If he needed help, he did not hesitated to come to Ms. McCann, but otherwise he was an independent operator. Ms. McCann described the candidate's managerial style as "hands-on," and added that, if the candidate ad a weakness, it might have been that Mr. Constantine "could have delegated more." But when Ms. McCann would point this out to the candidate, his response was, "There's no time to be wrong," and Ms. McCann said she could not argue with that reasoning.

Ms. McCann said that Burger Royale eventually decided to "unbundle the account," moving the creative element to another ad agency and leaving the franchise-related activities with Sokel & Associates. Burger Royale had hoped that Mr. Constantine would make the move to the new agency, but he had become involved with another account at Sokel & Associates, and was subsequently recruited by Mr. Allan Rogers at Allied Cable Network. Ms. McCann concluded by saying Mr. Constantine was a very intelligent person with whom people loved to work. "I'd hire him myself," said Ms. McCann, "but he's too expensive."

All credit information below was obtained from Equifax Credit Information Services.

The date of last activity for this file was listed as: 9/97.

3. There was an account listed with "MACYS/GCCC," classified as "pays or paid in more than 30 days from the payment due date, but not more than 60 days, or two payments past due."

4. There appeared to be an account for AMEXTRVLSV which was classified as "open-pays or paid in more than 120 days, or four payments past due," and was further notated as "paid collection".