Harold W. Vadney III is a wannabe translator who lies about his credentials. In August 2007, I exposed him on the now-defunct Network of Independent Linguists’ Discussion Forum. He has now set up a blog devoted to telling lies about me and others. This is my reply. To comment or for further information write to Richard_Benham_AU-StopVadneysLies[at]yahoo.com.

Tuesday 19 August 2008

Vadney loses his top and drives full-throttle to perdition?

Affectations can be dangerous.
—Gertrude Stein




We have seen that the Vadney is not above crying poor. His so-called “AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF NOTICE OF APPEAL” (apparently he never actually did file a notice of appeal in due form) alleges that he can’t afford the cost of the appeal,can’t afford a lawyer, etc. He apparently can’t even scrape together $1600 to pay a judgment debt for court costs to one of the defendants in his lost defamation suit. Poor How-Old!

And not so long ago he was bragging about his success and wealth.The Schenectady Daily Gazette published a puff piece on 25 April 1998 (p. B-11), in which Vadney was described as “a businessman who turned a gift for languages - he speaks five - into an international translation service founded in 1986 that currently employs 300 consultants”. Who could have told them that? Even to this day he claims to “travel frequently to venues in Europe, especially Germany, France and Italy” (from the “about me” rubric on his blog, current as at time of writing). Then there is the small matter of that apartment in Italy. And I wonder how it is that he can afford to get around in a BMW convertible. By all reports, he drives around with the top down, his long scarf flapping in the breeze. Surely, he must cut a ludicrous figure posturing around like that at his age: a clear case of delayed mid-life crisis. And what poseur would be complete without vanity plates? In his case, apparently: “OBEN OHNE” (German for “topless”). No doubt the car is registered in his partner’s name, but how often do you think Edward J. Hayes III gets to drive it?

It all adds up, really. The riches to rags, the obsession with toplessness, the holidays in Italy, the convertible with the top down, the long flowing scarf, all point to one thing:

THE VADNEY THINKS HE’S ISADORA DUNCAN!


If the Vadney wants to emulate Isadora Duncan, then so be it. I am sure she was a bit of an exhibitionist too. Let us hope his reënactment of her life proceeds at breakneck speed. But there are a few important differences that rather spoil the parallel:
  • People actually paid money to see Isadora Duncan topless;

  • Isadora Duncan actually achieved something in life; and

  • by the time she was the Vadney’s age, Isadora Duncan had been dead for seven years.

Of course, this is sadly purely hypothetical in the Vadney’s case, but we could perhaps add a further major divergence here:
  • When Isadora Duncan died, some people were rather upset about it.

It remains to be seen, of course, if anyone would be upset if the Vadney met a similar fate to Isadora Duncan’s. (Maybe Hayes III would be upset about the damage to his car.) Let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long for a resolution to this question.


Well, I couldn’t find a picture of Isadora Duncan topless.
So here’s Mata Hari bottomless.
Like the Vadney, she got herself into trouble with her compulsive lying.


(Courtesy of wikia.com)



Some references


I have been a bit slow about posting reference material, partly because blogging is far from my main occupation, partly because I need to ensure I am not exposing my sources to any legal risks, and partly because I am in the process of changing hosting companies. But here are a couple of files.

  • Vadney’s affidavit in support of his so-called appeal. Here you can see his pathetic bleatings about how he didn’t understand what was going on at the trial of his defamation case, and how he is now a “poor person”, who can’t afford a lawyer or even the court fees for an appeal. A far cry from his usual chest-beating.

  • Judge Teresi’s findings, including, among others, that the “defamatory” allegations against the Vadney were, in fact, true. Also noteworthy is that defamation proceedings are so rare in the US that the court reporter didn’t even know the word “libel”. Maybe they should have got Terry, whoever she is!



I don’t suppose anyone will download, let alone read, those files, but at least they’re there, and at least the Vadney knows that I know....

A more serious matter....


The Vadney has been harassing my octogenarian parents in Adelaide (Australia) with phone calls in the small hours of the morning. This is totally unacceptable. Ostensibly, he was trying to contact me, but he knows very well that I am at the other end of the world, in Europe. I will take whatever action is necessary, legal or otherwise, to protect my parents from this harassment.

Of course I won’t be retaliating in kind by calling the Vadney’s elderly mother in the middle of the night. I wouldn’t want to wake up the whole trailer park!

Coming soon!


Vadney’s career as a thief!

11 comments:

Scott Horne said...

That godshite has been harassing your parents by telephone in the middle of the night? That is indeed completely unacceptable. Please report the matter to the relevant authorities and take other measures to protect your fine parents from harassment.

And what's this about not paying a $1600 judgement? What happened to "accountability, accountability, accountability"? Has he paid the judgements to the other parties? I understand that three judgements were entered against him.

Perhaps that licence plate was meant to say ORDEN OHNE, in reference to his military career.

Richard D. Benham said...

All Vadney's cases were dismissed and he was ordered to pay costs to all defendants. He sued the late Mr Bleezarde and his publishing company separately; so there were four defendants in all. I doubt he’s paid any of his costs orders. I am appalled that, with such an obviously merit-free case, he wasn’t also ordered to pay legal fees.

Maybe OBEN OHNE refers to his having “nothing up top”!

Anyway, it’s not acceptable to ring up strangers in the middle of the night, let alone elderly people, and I am sure even Vadney is capable of looking up the time difference. (He’s also capable of working out that if I’m middle-aged, my parents must be elderly, although I am aware that having children in one’s early teens is not unusual in trailer-trash society....)

Scott Horne said...

Unfortunately, courts in the US do not issue orders for lawyers' fees in matters such as this. It may, however, be possible for the defendants to sue the vexatious litigant in order to recover their legal fees resulting from his abuse of process. Doubtless they haven't bothered to try because he would be unable to pay the judgements, his pretensions of wealth and success notwithstanding.

Someone should call Mr Vadney's mother and tell him how badly he behaves. Perhaps she'd take her 57-year-old hellion over her knee and give him a spanking.

Richard D. Benham said...

Yes, in this respect the US legal system is a bit backward. In Australia or the UK, he could probably have been forced to pay a deposit for costs, that term including legal fees. So his whole idiotic and meritless case would never have got off the ground, and the defendants and their insurance companies would not have been left out of pocket. Of course, there is a problem with that approach where under-resourced but meritorious cases are concerned.

Who knows how Mrs Vadney would react? Do trailers actually have phones?

Richard D. Benham said...

Maybe Vadney wanted to say "Orden ohne Verdienst" ("medals without merit"), but was too lousy to pay for the extra word.

Scott Horne said...

US courts can also require surety against costs. Usually this must be requested, but sometimes the court will order it of its own discretion.

By claiming "poverty" (financial, I presume; intellectual and moral have already been established), Mr Vadney has given his future targets a basis for demanding surety against costs.

Many jurisdictions provide legal assistance for indigent people with meritorious cases. These people generally are not required to put up surety, for that would obviously squelch them. But they do have to prove indigence, and they also have to demonstrate that their case has merit. Mr Vadney need not apply.

Richard D. Benham said...

Yes, I know about the surety for costs in the US, but, as I said, the definition of “costs” in the US does not include legal fees. So it can make it uneconomic for a defendant to defend the case, even with the surety, and even though the case may be a dead duck on its merits.

I think the Vadney’s current claims of poverty should be taken with as many kilos of salt as his previous claims of wealth.

Scott Horne said...

Litigants with unpaid judgements against them can also be required to put up surety, since they have demonstrated their lack of trustworthiness.

Rather than pestering your parents, Mr Vadney would be wise to pay the judgements against him immediately. But the words wise and Vadney sit oddly together. At any rate, let him not say that I didn't warn him.

Scott Horne said...

It's interesting that Mr Vadney is now suing five people for "defamation". This should be interesting: those defendants will be able to obtain his academic and military records, at a minimum. And that information will be entered into the public record. I'm looking forward to finding out what explains the apparent demotion and the sudden discharge that were reported in his military records.

Richard D. Benham said...

Is he? I hadn’t heard. He has made a few threats lately, but he is always “about” to serve writs on people, and so I have stopped paying attention to his threats.

I would welcome the chance to defend a defamation suit against the Vadney, because I would then get the opportunity to prove the truth of my allegations, and, once judgment was made, to have the authority of that judgment to back me up.

Of course, I would lodge a countersuit against him, even though, as a self-proclaimed “poor person”, he would probably just go bankrupt if I tried to execute the judgment.

Scott Horne said...

Oh, I don't believe that he has effected service yet. But he did file 35 pages of codswallop with a court in his area about a week ago.

Here's a quote from Mr Vadney's "AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF NOTICE TO APPEAL": "I do not have the resources to cover the costs of this appeal or of another trial." Then why the hell is he initiating another suit, if he cannot afford to see it through to the end? Just another Vadneyite lie?

I've had about enough of his defamation. I shall take legal action against him if his defamatory statements about me have not been removed within fifteen days—i.e., no later than 15 September 2008. I encourage others to do the same.

About Me

I am a professional translator in the combinations French>English and German>English. I hold qualifications from the University of Adelaide (BA, DipCompSc), the Australian National University (LittB), the University of Geneva (Certificat de spécialisation en linguistique), and the the UK-based Institute of Linguists (Diploma in Translation for both my language combinations). I am an implacable opponent of bullshit in all its forms.