Subway Hero Sues His Lawyer

Claims She Tricked Him Into Signing Contract He Believes Is Unfair

(AP)  A quick-acting commuter who became an instant hero after saving a teenager who fell in front of an oncoming subway train has sued a lawyer he says manipulated him into signing an unfair, one-sided contract.

Wesley Autrey Sr. says in court papers he signed the contract Feb. 12 without reading it, agreeing that lawyer Diane L. Kleiman would represent and advise him in financial and other matters stemming from his subway heroism.

Autrey, a 50-year-old Bronx construction worker, says in court papers that the contract is "a one-sided agreement" he was induced to sign by "fraud" and that it gives the lion's share of everything he earns to Kleiman and her business partner, Marco Antonio Esposito, operator of an entertainment production company.

Autrey's lawsuit asks the court to declare the contract void.

Kleiman, a former prosecutor, denied on Monday that she had cheated Autrey. She said Autrey and several family members read the contract after keeping it for several days.

"Somebody made him a better offer," Kleiman said, speculating on why Autrey wanted to get rid of her. "They (Autrey's family) are playing people off against each other."

Autrey's lawsuit, filed Friday, says the contract gives Kleiman and Esposito exclusive rights to exploit his name and reputation and gives them ownership of intellectual property rights to his story.

The contract also gives Kleiman and Esposito the right to receive all gross receipts from commercial exploitation of Autrey's name and to keep half those receipts, whether or not they helped generate the money, court papers say.

Autrey must give up his right to a trial by jury in any dispute with Kleiman and instead go to arbitration, in which he could be required to pay her legal fees, court papers say.

Autrey grabbed public attention on Jan. 2, 2007, after Cameron Hollopeter, a 19-year-old student at the New York Film Academy, suffered a seizure and fell onto the subway tracks at the 137th Street/City College station.

Standing on the subway platform with his two young daughters and scores of other commuters as a train approached, Autrey saw Hollopeter convulsing on the tracks. He jumped down and pulled the teen into the 12-inch-deep drainage trough between the tracks and lay on top of him as the train passed over their heads.

The train grazed the top of Autrey's hat, and he and Hollopeter remained under a car for 20 minutes while MTA workers shut off the electrified third rail.

At a dinner for notable New Yorkers at The Waldorf-Astoria hotel on Feb. 5, Kleiman introduced herself to Autrey's 33-year-old son and said she was available to be his father's lawyer, court papers say.

Autrey said Esposito presented him the contract in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, shortly before he was to go to the White House and meet President Bush. He said Kleiman had already signed it. He said he felt pressured, and he signed.

Kleiman said the Autreys had contacted her to represent them "and now they're portraying us in a bad light. We're out of pocket thousands of dollars and have not charged them anything."

"If they had just let me know they didn't want me to represent them, then we could have sat down and talked," Kleiman said. "I don't want to represent anyone who doesn't want to work with me."

Autrey's new lawyer, Barbara Mehlsack, said she would have no comment on the case.

[kailumego1]

This man did something 99.9% of the people in America or worldwide wouldn%u2019t have dare attempted to do and some of you have the audacity treat so trivially.

The inane, repulsive and insidious remarks made by smb221 and some of the others have clearly demonstrated how low someone will stoop to defame another's character.

And what's morally disgusting this individual wouldn't have risked his life in this manner if it had been a family member, but to disgrace this good man for his unselfish deed. Go crawl back under your rock.

[kailumego1]

I%u2019m quite sure money was not a motive when he risked his life, however, if sponsors want to capitalize on his %u201Cgood deed%u201D offering him lucrative deals why the HELL NOT?????

Some of you greedy thoughtless I don%u2019t give a dam about anyone other than myself would have jumped leaps and bounds at the offer.

%u201CHollywood%u201D has made millions reenacting ridiculous stories, which merits don%u2019t even compare to this man%u2019s deed and the majority of you sit back and watch.

So, why not a real life story with some %u201Cteeth%u201D that displays the absolute goodness in us all as oppose to the overly-dramatized sensationalism showed down our throats.

For example, I%u2019m quite sure Hollywood will jump at the chance to create a made-for-movie about Anna Nicole%u2019s life story, and add it to the gruesome stockpile of overly-dramatized stories, i.e. Jon Be net, Lacy Peterson, Shante and Kitty Kames, etc, etc, etc,.

However, some individuals here have the audacity to belittle this man because he has been approached with movie deals and endorsements, you people need to take your head out of you%u2019re a@@.

The president of the United States should be offering him a metal of heroism along with a lucrative job.

I wonder if those who so vehemently oppose him being compensated would have strongly vocalized it if he had been WHITE. And yes I said it and don%u2019t give a dam who doesn%u2019t like it.

[agnim]

Obviously this lawyer witch is another thief who ducked under the 'bar'!

It's a shame that one can't trust a lawyer to be an upstanding person.

I'm sure if that if the deal was fair and reasonable this HONORABLE guy would never fuss.

[randalds]

Why do lawyers always wear a necktie?

It keeps the foreskin from constantly slipping up over their head.

[trumpthumper]

Hey Newster1...

What the heck news were you reading? Try to get your facts straight before you decide to knock somebody for doing the right thing.

Autrey didn't think about compensation when he risked his life to save a stranger. It was a split second decision that I'm not sure I would have done. He was totally self-less. He saved a life, and not the one you tried to describe. Read the NEWS before you nickname yourself
"newster1". How embarrassing for you...newster, indeed! lol - phhtt!

[whatithink-2009]

Smb221 wrote:

"But READ a contract before you sign it! "

- Best advice anyone can give another.

[smb221]

whatithink, that is true. Plus, if someone gave me money for it, I'd probably take it too. But READ a contract before you sign it!

[whatithink-2009]

smb221,

This guy is poor and has two small children. He deserves to be rewarded. It wasn't like he was standing there waiting for someone to fall off the platform. If you want to talk about greedy b@stard, let's talk about this Saudi prince billionaire who wants to lay off a lot of people at Citigroup because his profits will not be high enough.

[processor2]

a joke:

Question: What's the difference between a lawyer and a catfish?

Answer: One is a bottom crawling scum-sucker, and the other is just a fish.

...

[whatithink-2009]

newster1,

He didn't pull her up, he jumped on top of a young man and held him down in a narrow opening while a subway train ran over the both of them. I'm not sure how willing you'd be to do the same for a strange. It's very easy to put someone down anonymously over the internet. It is very hard to do something truly heroic. There are plenty of people in Washington who have done nothing worth their salaries. I truly hope that he is rewarded for his spontaneous act.