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American Morning
The Human Face of The Enron Collapse: The Lindquist Family
Aired January 22, 2002 - 08:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We've been talking all morning about fresh allegations that Enron employees were shredding documents as recently as last week. Well after the start of a federal investigation, Congressional inquiries, et cetera.
The collapse of Enron, besides being the biggest bankruptcy in American history, was also a personal disaster for thousands of investors and employees. For one member of Enron's rank and file, the company's collapse hit him right where he lives.
Ed Lavandera has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Mark Lindquist, Former Enron Employee: Ready? Let's go in there. Okay. Up we go!
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mark Lindquist has a lot on his mind, but you'd never know it by watching him play with his 3-year-old son, Garrett. After eight years at Enron, he was laid off from a $56,000 a year job.
M. LINDQUIST: Is she the one just calling?
I think it did us all a lot of good. I got to spend a little -- a lot more time with him. I did spend some time with my daughter, you know. And my wife and I, just -- we're a whole lot closer.
KIM LINDQUIST, WIFE: He's very affectionate.
LAVANDERA: But, remember, there's a lot on his mind. Garrett is autistic. Taking care of the boy is a full-time job for his mom, Kim. Insurance coverage provides four therapy sessions a week, which will eventually help Garrett communicate.
M. LINDQUIST: My biggest worry is benefits for this little guy, because we've got to keep his therapies going.
LAVANDERA: That will be tough. When Lindquist worked, insurance cost $82 a month. Now it's going to take $654 a month to keep Garrett's treatments going. Lindquist isn't sure how much longer the money he saved will last. There have been offers to help. One man plans to donate insurance expenses until the family is in the clear. M. LINDQUIST: I just want to support my family. I want to work. I want to keep them well. I want to just have a pretty good life. I want my son to grow up well.
LAVANDERA: Mark Lindquist prays for a bright future and that his family will make it through. But until the next job comes along, he'll enjoy the time off and even act like a kid himself.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAFFERTY: Joining us now from Houston, Mark Lindquist and his wife, Kim. We welcome both of you to "AMERICAN MORNING." It's nice to have you with us.
K. LINDQUIST: Thank you.
M. LINDQUIST: Thank you.
CAFFERTY: Mark, are you bitter?
M. LINDQUIST: No, I'm not bitter. I'm just -- I'm just worried. There's not much -- you know, there's not much I can be bitter about. It was business, I guess, and it just -- for me, it just worries me because I want to get insurance and keep insurance for my family, and just provide a good home and just, you know, continue on.
CAFFERTY: You were an employee there for what, eight years?
M. LINDQUIST: I was at the building for eight years, five as a contractor, and the last -- I guess -- two and a half years, as an Enron employee.
CAFFERTY: Any sense that the company was in trouble? Did you get any indication at all that some of this stuff was in the wind or coming?
M. LINDQUIST: None at all. Towards the end, you know, we all did. But, I think we all were just completely blind sided. Even when the stock hit lower than $30, I just said, you know, "it's going to come back. It's Enron. There's no way this could happen. It's a huge company. They're all over the world. And it's just stock. It will come back."
CAFFERTY: And did you have all your retirement, 401(k), in Enron stock?
M. LINDQUIST: No, luckily, when I was hired on, I forgot to roll my EDS 401(k) over. So, I just -- I thought did. I just never did. And so my 401(k) was saved.
CAFFERTY: Is it true you were fired by a voice mail? I find that incredible. Tell me about that.
M. LINDQUIST: Yes. We were asked that day to go home, and that we'd be notified by voice mail that -- whether we were to come back the next day. And I checked the voice mail regularly and about midnight, I got the call. I don't even know who it was, but basically said that my job was eliminated, and not to come back.
CAFFERTY: Unbelievable. Kim, tell me a little about how this has affected you. You have turned the other cheek in a way that boggles the mind. You've actually looked for little pieces of good deeds that have come out of all of this. You're keeping a record of them. Talk to me about what you've gone through in connection with this.
K. LINDQUIST: Yes, I have a really long list for everything that Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, these guys have done. I can name so many more good things that have happened to us. And, I guess, if I could say anything to all the people in our boat, it's that there's so many good people out there. We've had strangers calling us, you know, offering help, other parents with children with disabilities. It means a lot when they call.
And Salvation army sent us gift certificates. They were at the job fair at Enron Field. They sent us gift certificates for Christmas. We were able to get our little boy a bike. And, the list just goes on and on. We've had -- a New York lawyer called us yesterday. He has a son with autism, and he was offering any help that we need.
As you mentioned earlier, someone has said they would pay our C.O.B.R.A. bill for the month of January for sure. And if needed further --
CAFFERTY: C.O.B.R.A. is the health insurance that you have to assume the premiums on yourself once you leave the company employment...
K. LINDQUIST: Right.
CAFFERTY: ...and it gets very expensive?
K. LINDQUIST: Right, right.
CAFFERTY: I was just looking at a picture of Garrett that we had up there while you were talking. And I wonder if somewhere, Ken Lay might be watching this interview.
K. LINDQUIST: I hope so.
CAFFERTY: I mean. Yeah, I hope he is, too. What ought to happen to these people, do you think?
M. LINDQUIST: I try not to be bitter, but I just -- I just somehow hope that they experience what the employees are going through. However that would happen, you know, that they would know what it's like to really wonder where their next paycheck is going to come from. And to have to work a lot of odd jobs to try to make that happen. CAFFERTY: There was a report yesterday that over the last 10 or 11 years, Ken Lay took $300 million out of Enron. That was -- that was his compensation.
M. LINDQUIST: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Have you found another job yet? Are you looking? What are you hoping to do? Maybe we can give you a quick hand here on "AMERICAN MORNING."
M. LINDQUIST: I have a -- I've floated a lot of resumes. A hundred resumes or more. And I have a couple opportunities that I'm hoping for. And right now, I'm working a contract job, doing IT work. And that's going to last probably another four or five weeks. So, you know, we're pretty good right there, just got to hit the -- just got to get some more interviews in, you know. The contract job doesn't have insurance, so although it's helping us with our finances some, it doesn't help with the insurance.
CAFFERTY: Give me an idea of the kind of treatment Garrett requires. He's autistic. I think the report we had on just ahead of you said he has -- is it four treatments a week? Tell me what that involves. and how much that costs.
K. LINDQUIST: We do four treatments -- four days of therapy a week. We do small animal therapy. We do behavioral therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy, and he also goes to the public special preschool every morning.
So he gets quite a bit of therapy, and then at home. It's roughly -- without insurance, about $980 a month. With insurance, $400. So, there is a big difference there.
CAFFERTY: Yes, indeed. He's a great looking kid. And I wish the three of you the absolute very best. I've got four kids of my own. And I just -- I have no idea what I'd do if I was in your situation. I feel for you, and I hope it works out all right. With your attitude, I'm sure it probably will.
Thank you very much for sharing your story with us on "AMERICAN MORNING." I appreciate it.
M. LINDQUIST: Thank you.
K. LINDQUIST: Thank you for having us.
CAFFERTY: All right. Mark Lindquist, his wife, Kim, and of course, their son Garrett.
Don't forget, too, tonight at 8:00 on CNN, Lou Dobbs anchors a one-hour special, live from Houston, on the fall of Enron.
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