Mary Starkey stands before students of the Starkey International Institute for Household Management in an undated photograph. (Flickr)
Mary Starkey, this city’s septuagenarian queen of etiquette who wrote the book on being a butler and trained thousands in her Cap Hill mansion, was rebuked in court Tuesday.
After 100 minutes of deliberation, a jury of seven Denverites determined that Starkey & Associates, an arm of the butler bootcamp she ran for decades, owes a $9,500 refund to a wealthy couple after allegedly hiding a butleress’s criminal history from them.
“The Slushers unfortunately trusted the defendant to find them a house manager,” Bryan Kuhn, the lawyer for Naomi and Shannon Slusher, told jurors in opening arguments.
“Ms. Starkey betrayed the trust of the Slushers. Ms. Starkey knew about problems with one candidate, and she opted not to disclose them,” Kuhn alleged this week.
Starkey & Associates contends it did what it could for the Slushers and their four children. It recommended a manager for their home after another, John Hensley, was fired, even though it didn’t have to. That replacement, Emile Stafford, had a drunken driving arrest.
“This case is about getting what you paid for, no more and no less,” said Thomas Goodreid, the attorney for Starkey’s company. “The Slushers got what they paid for and want more.”
The appointment came with a 60-day guarantee. When Hensley was fired 61 days after he began working in North Carolina, the Slushers were not allowed a refund, Goodreid said.
Starkey, 76, testified on her own behalf Monday afternoon and again Tuesday morning, walking jurors through her 45-year run atop the Starkey International Institute for Household Management, which operated out of a mansion at 1350 Logan St. in Denver.
The school closed years ago, and the mansion was sold to a housing co-op for $2.8 million in December. Starkey & Associates placed graduates of the school in people’s homes.
Starkey, who is hard of hearing, struggled at times to follow questioning from Slusher’s attorney and her own and to remember dates and details. A court employee typed a transcript of what was being said onto a screen before her. Starkey grew combative at times as she defended her life’s work teaching people how to pamper the well-heeled.
“I never had to give refunds. I have a reputation: If I am not right the first time, I will be the second time,” Starkey said of her ability to find replacement butlers for clients.
“Did you refund the Slushers in this case?” asked the couple’s lawyer, Kuhn.
The 13,000-square-foot Starkey Mansion at 1350 N. Logan St. (BusinessDen file)
“No,” Starkey responded Tuesday, “because I found a replacement, did I not?”
Starkey admitted knowing about Stafford’s past arrest — her former student had confided about it before joining the school — but said she forgot about it by the time she recommended Stafford to the Slushers. It did not appear on a background check that Starkey & Associates performed before the placement because the arrest was more than seven years prior.
“My husband and I had expected the (Starkey) agency to work in good faith to find us a house manager, and she did not operate in good faith,” Naomi Slusher testified. “The candidates she presented to us were not quality candidates. I don’t feel that she lived up to expectations.”
Shannon Slusher testified after his wife about a Google search he did of Stafford’s name.
“I found a drunken mugshot for Ms. Stafford from the state of South Carolina,” he told jurors.
Before sending the case to the jury, Judge Andrew McCallin pared it down. He found no evidence that Starkey & Associates had defrauded the Slushers or negligently misrepresented Stafford’s past. Jurors were left with only a breach of contract claim to consider.
“You didn’t set out to defraud the Slushers, did you?” Starkey’s attorney, Goodreid from Goodreid Grant & Walta, asked the longtime etiquette expert Tuesday.
“Absolutely not,” she answered. “Why would I do that?”
“It certainly isn’t in your business interests to have dissatisfied clients, is it?” Goodreid asked.
“And it’s not who I am as a person,” Starkey half-shouted. “I care about my clients!”
In comments after the verdict came down Tuesday, Shannon Slusher saw things differently. He said the case was never about money but about exacting some justice on Starkey.
“She is an absolute scumbag of a human being,” he told BusinessDen.
Mary Starkey stands before students of the Starkey International Institute for Household Management in an undated photograph. (Flickr)
Mary Starkey, this city’s septuagenarian queen of etiquette who wrote the book on being a butler and trained thousands in her Cap Hill mansion, was rebuked in court Tuesday.
After 100 minutes of deliberation, a jury of seven Denverites determined that Starkey & Associates, an arm of the butler bootcamp she ran for decades, owes a $9,500 refund to a wealthy couple after allegedly hiding a butleress’s criminal history from them.
“The Slushers unfortunately trusted the defendant to find them a house manager,” Bryan Kuhn, the lawyer for Naomi and Shannon Slusher, told jurors in opening arguments.
“Ms. Starkey betrayed the trust of the Slushers. Ms. Starkey knew about problems with one candidate, and she opted not to disclose them,” Kuhn alleged this week.
Starkey & Associates contends it did what it could for the Slushers and their four children. It recommended a manager for their home after another, John Hensley, was fired, even though it didn’t have to. That replacement, Emile Stafford, had a drunken driving arrest.
“This case is about getting what you paid for, no more and no less,” said Thomas Goodreid, the attorney for Starkey’s company. “The Slushers got what they paid for and want more.”
The appointment came with a 60-day guarantee. When Hensley was fired 61 days after he began working in North Carolina, the Slushers were not allowed a refund, Goodreid said.
Starkey, 76, testified on her own behalf Monday afternoon and again Tuesday morning, walking jurors through her 45-year run atop the Starkey International Institute for Household Management, which operated out of a mansion at 1350 Logan St. in Denver.
The school closed years ago, and the mansion was sold to a housing co-op for $2.8 million in December. Starkey & Associates placed graduates of the school in people’s homes.
Starkey, who is hard of hearing, struggled at times to follow questioning from Slusher’s attorney and her own and to remember dates and details. A court employee typed a transcript of what was being said onto a screen before her. Starkey grew combative at times as she defended her life’s work teaching people how to pamper the well-heeled.
“I never had to give refunds. I have a reputation: If I am not right the first time, I will be the second time,” Starkey said of her ability to find replacement butlers for clients.
“Did you refund the Slushers in this case?” asked the couple’s lawyer, Kuhn.
The 13,000-square-foot Starkey Mansion at 1350 N. Logan St. (BusinessDen file)
“No,” Starkey responded Tuesday, “because I found a replacement, did I not?”
Starkey admitted knowing about Stafford’s past arrest — her former student had confided about it before joining the school — but said she forgot about it by the time she recommended Stafford to the Slushers. It did not appear on a background check that Starkey & Associates performed before the placement because the arrest was more than seven years prior.
“My husband and I had expected the (Starkey) agency to work in good faith to find us a house manager, and she did not operate in good faith,” Naomi Slusher testified. “The candidates she presented to us were not quality candidates. I don’t feel that she lived up to expectations.”
Shannon Slusher testified after his wife about a Google search he did of Stafford’s name.
“I found a drunken mugshot for Ms. Stafford from the state of South Carolina,” he told jurors.
Before sending the case to the jury, Judge Andrew McCallin pared it down. He found no evidence that Starkey & Associates had defrauded the Slushers or negligently misrepresented Stafford’s past. Jurors were left with only a breach of contract claim to consider.
“You didn’t set out to defraud the Slushers, did you?” Starkey’s attorney, Goodreid from Goodreid Grant & Walta, asked the longtime etiquette expert Tuesday.
“Absolutely not,” she answered. “Why would I do that?”
“It certainly isn’t in your business interests to have dissatisfied clients, is it?” Goodreid asked.
“And it’s not who I am as a person,” Starkey half-shouted. “I care about my clients!”
In comments after the verdict came down Tuesday, Shannon Slusher saw things differently. He said the case was never about money but about exacting some justice on Starkey.
“She is an absolute scumbag of a human being,” he told BusinessDen.
