assaulted workers and caused trouble around the winery. Dirgham’s mental state caused him to explode in angry fits, to threaten staff in front of customers and to fire some on the spot. One female employee (who does not want her name publicly associated with this book) says the last straw came for her in the fall of 2006 when Dirgham rushed into the main tasting room early one morning and ordered her to get out.
“I told him no, I had to be here to open up. He grabbed me, took me off the ground and tried to throw me across the room. After that, I ran off toward the back of the winery. He chased me! Screaming at me …. I was scared to death. I slammed the door and called the police.”
This outburst, and many others, was likely the result of Dirgham’s advancing dementia or possibly Alzheimer’s disease. The precise diagnosis remains unclear, but at this writing Dirgham has become completely incapacitated.
This same female employee also explained that she was paid part of her salary from an Oasis Vineyard account, the other part from Oasis Enterprises Inc. “It wasn’t unusual,” she said, “for my vineyard paycheck to get a ‘stop payment’ on it. If Corinne got mad at you, she’d just stop your check. It was a terrible way to live, because the landlord isn’t going to wait for half their money.”
The fight for control of the winery shifted into full blown war at the end of 2006. Corinne Salahi was at the Hume location more than ever before, and she complained bitterly about her son’s spending habits and bad management techniques. Tareq and Michaele insist Corinne did not know much about the vineyard business as her career had been concentrated on the Montessori school. The younger Salahis say they were trying mightily to keep the business afloat despite, what they call Corinne’s deliberate sabotage. Employee turnover was high, due mostly to those protesting Corinne’s and Dirgham’s abusive treatment and there was an ever present imbalance in the cash drawer at the end of the day.
“It was exhausting every day,” Michaele said, “But what else could we do? This is Tareq’s legacy.”
Things finally got so tense in November of 2006 Corinne Salahi hired a lawyer to do battle with her son. Ultimately, the two sides agreed to put the struggling vineyard into receivership. A court appointed monitor would be brought in to make an independent judgment as to who should run the day-to-day operations of Oasis Vineyards. Court receiver, Huntley Thorpe, quickly decided managerial duties would go to Tareq. Thorpe was to commence looking for a suitable buyer for the property—maybe even Tareq himself, if he could get together a solid enough business plan.
Corinne Salahi would not be denied what she honestly felt was hers alone. Teaming with a friendly local real estate agent in early 2007, her son says she surreptitiously put Oasis Vineyard up for sale. Her husband apparently had no idea and co-owner Tareq says he absolutely didn’t know. “It was an illegal action,” Tareq would say later. “I don’t know how she thought she could get away with it.”
The well placed real estate offering caught the attention of none other than NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, whose purported girlfriend was a fan of Oasis wines.
“One day in the fall of 2007 I was just walking through the main tasting room,” Michaele recalls, “and we spotted each other. I knew Shaq and his wife, Shaunie, from my days at Nordstrom. They were great customers there.”
The two immediately recognized each other and Michaele asked in astonishment, “What are you doing here?” And according to Michaele, the conversation took a stomach churning turn.
Shaq replied, “I’m buying this place!” his arms outstretched to indicate he meant the whole property.
“Shaq,” Michaele remembers saying, “I married the owner of Oasis and my husband didn’t tell me anything about this.” To which he, reportedly replied in a breezy
“I told him no, I had to be here to open up. He grabbed me, took me off the ground and tried to throw me across the room. After that, I ran off toward the back of the winery. He chased me! Screaming at me …. I was scared to death. I slammed the door and called the police.”
This outburst, and many others, was likely the result of Dirgham’s advancing dementia or possibly Alzheimer’s disease. The precise diagnosis remains unclear, but at this writing Dirgham has become completely incapacitated.
This same female employee also explained that she was paid part of her salary from an Oasis Vineyard account, the other part from Oasis Enterprises Inc. “It wasn’t unusual,” she said, “for my vineyard paycheck to get a ‘stop payment’ on it. If Corinne got mad at you, she’d just stop your check. It was a terrible way to live, because the landlord isn’t going to wait for half their money.”
The fight for control of the winery shifted into full blown war at the end of 2006. Corinne Salahi was at the Hume location more than ever before, and she complained bitterly about her son’s spending habits and bad management techniques. Tareq and Michaele insist Corinne did not know much about the vineyard business as her career had been concentrated on the Montessori school. The younger Salahis say they were trying mightily to keep the business afloat despite, what they call Corinne’s deliberate sabotage. Employee turnover was high, due mostly to those protesting Corinne’s and Dirgham’s abusive treatment and there was an ever present imbalance in the cash drawer at the end of the day.
“It was exhausting every day,” Michaele said, “But what else could we do? This is Tareq’s legacy.”
Things finally got so tense in November of 2006 Corinne Salahi hired a lawyer to do battle with her son. Ultimately, the two sides agreed to put the struggling vineyard into receivership. A court appointed monitor would be brought in to make an independent judgment as to who should run the day-to-day operations of Oasis Vineyards. Court receiver, Huntley Thorpe, quickly decided managerial duties would go to Tareq. Thorpe was to commence looking for a suitable buyer for the property—maybe even Tareq himself, if he could get together a solid enough business plan.
Corinne Salahi would not be denied what she honestly felt was hers alone. Teaming with a friendly local real estate agent in early 2007, her son says she surreptitiously put Oasis Vineyard up for sale. Her husband apparently had no idea and co-owner Tareq says he absolutely didn’t know. “It was an illegal action,” Tareq would say later. “I don’t know how she thought she could get away with it.”
The well placed real estate offering caught the attention of none other than NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, whose purported girlfriend was a fan of Oasis wines.
“One day in the fall of 2007 I was just walking through the main tasting room,” Michaele recalls, “and we spotted each other. I knew Shaq and his wife, Shaunie, from my days at Nordstrom. They were great customers there.”
The two immediately recognized each other and Michaele asked in astonishment, “What are you doing here?” And according to Michaele, the conversation took a stomach churning turn.
Shaq replied, “I’m buying this place!” his arms outstretched to indicate he meant the whole property.
“Shaq,” Michaele remembers saying, “I married the owner of Oasis and my husband didn’t tell me anything about this.” To which he, reportedly replied in a breezy
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