Mean Messages

Whispers opened a box of chocolates back in February, so from time to time we’ll feed you one until the box is empty. So here it goes.

Remember when former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sourcing executive John J. Ryan sued his ex-wife and her law firm, Estes Gramling and Estes PLC of Fayetteville, for $20 million?

Ryan claimed that the Fayetteville law firm wrecked his global business deals during the process of representing his ex-wife in the nasty, Ryan vs. Ryan divorce. Well, that suit is still unfolding in Benton County Circuit Court, and the key defendants in the case, attorney Douglas Gramling and Ryan’s ex-wife Paula Ryan, have asked that the court rule against John J. Ryan and dismiss the complaint.

A hearing is scheduled for early June.

In the meantime, Whispers came into possession of an audio file that, according to a source with intimate knowledge of the case and its sordid backstory, is purportedly John J. Ryan leaving a series of rants on his ex-wife’s answering machine — rants he apparently knew would be reported to her lawyer, Gramling.

“You are the worst attorney out there,” goes the message, referring to Gramling. “You’re a freakin’ joke. You’re an embarrassment to everyone in the legal profession!”

In the divorce proceedings, Paula Ryan suggested her ex-husband could be a real boor, and that he had a mean streak as long as California and as wide as Texas.

Listening to those voice messages, and if it’s indeed John J. Ryan leaving those screeds, Whispers would have to say she’s right.