Paula Deen fired from Food Network for racist comments

[merithyn]

So you don't care that you've portrayed something as a criminal charge when it's a civil matter? And you don't care that you presented something as a statement of facts when it's actually the unsubstantiated claims of someone with a pecuniary interest in the matter? A large portion of cases like this are settled for relatively small amounts precisely because much of the claims can never be substantiated. You brought a totally unsubstantiated set of claims in and acted as though it was a factual telling of what was going on in their restaurants. It may or may not be, but until it's been argued in court I think it's very strange that you're so shocked by the details of the complaint, it seems like you had no idea that a plaintiff's attorney just types whatever their client tells them happened into a complaint, and that just because something is in a complaint doesn't really mean anything.

No.

Lisa Jackson is white by the way, the racial discrimination stuff was never her claiming she was discriminated against based on her race. But rather it "offended her" to hear anti-black racial discrimination because she has an adopted nephew or something who is black or half-black or something.

Didn't read it, did ya'?

[garbon]

So you don't care that you've portrayed something as a criminal charge when it's a civil matter? And you don't care that you presented something as a statement of facts when it's actually the unsubstantiated claims of someone with a pecuniary interest in the matter? A large portion of cases like this are settled for relatively small amounts precisely because much of the claims can never be substantiated. You brought a totally unsubstantiated set of claims in and acted as though it was a factual telling of what was going on in their restaurants. It may or may not be, but until it's been argued in court I think it's very strange that you're so shocked by the details of the complaint, it seems like you had no idea that a plaintiff's attorney just types whatever their client tells them happened into a complaint, and that just because something is in a complaint doesn't really mean anything.

No.

Ignore him, he's just being obnoxious.

[merithyn]

So you don't care that you've portrayed something as a criminal charge when it's a civil matter? And you don't care that you presented something as a statement of facts when it's actually the unsubstantiated claims of someone with a pecuniary interest in the matter? A large portion of cases like this are settled for relatively small amounts precisely because much of the claims can never be substantiated. You brought a totally unsubstantiated set of claims in and acted as though it was a factual telling of what was going on in their restaurants. It may or may not be, but until it's been argued in court I think it's very strange that you're so shocked by the details of the complaint, it seems like you had no idea that a plaintiff's attorney just types whatever their client tells them happened into a complaint, and that just because something is in a complaint doesn't really mean anything.

No.

Ignore him, he's just being obnoxious.

I know.

[Eddie Teach]

Obnoxious or not, he's got a point. The accusations haven't been investigated yet so may not be credible.

[garbon]

Obnoxious or not, he's got a point. The accusations haven't been investigated yet so may not be credible.

It's obnoxious as it misses what Meri was saying and instead just focuses on the fact that she used the wrong word.

[Eddie Teach]

I think it's focused on the impression that Meri's already judged them guilty(which using the wrong word didn't help).

[merithyn]

Obnoxious or not, he's got a point. The accusations haven't been investigated yet so may not be credible.

It's obnoxious as it misses what Meri was saying and instead just focuses on the fact that she used the wrong word.

'Tis the Languish way. I'm just too fucking tired to care enough to "debate" it.

My point: Paula Dean's brother is an asshole, and she's a moron for not taking better care of her business under him. I read her statement (or whateverthefuckOttoinsistsitbecalled) and it's pretty clear that she's lying about the whole thing. Her responses of "I don't know" are total crap.

Had she been an adult, owned up and said, "Yeah, we were raised that this is okay, we're learning that it's not, and we're going to make some very real changes," I'd have backed her. Instead, she's lying about all of it, crying that everyone is picking on her little brother, and basically acting like a 66-year-old child. Based on that, no tears for her losing everything.

I've gotta' guess that those who are supporting her have no idea what she and her brother are accused of. (To be fair, usually, I'm a big supporter of waiting until all of the facts come out, but her brother admitted to most of the accusations, so I don't have a problem saying that.)

[merithyn]

I think it's focused on the impression that Meri's already judged them guilty(which using the wrong word didn't help).

I said that the accusations weren't pretty, and that they weren't about the n-word. I said that Bubba sounds like a prick.

None of that is changed if you take out indictment and replace it with accusation.

[merithyn]

Besides, I didn't use the wrong term, since I wasn't acting as a lawyer and using legalese:

Definition of INDICTMENT
1a : the action or the legal process of indicting b : the state of being indicted
2: a formal written statement framed by a prosecuting authority and found by a jury (as a grand jury) charging a person with an offense
3: an expression of strong disapproval 

[garbon]

Besides, I didn't use the wrong term, since I wasn't acting as a lawyer and using legalese:

Definition of INDICTMENT
1a : the action or the legal process of indicting b : the state of being indicted
2: a formal written statement framed by a prosecuting authority and found by a jury (as a grand jury) charging a person with an offense
3: an expression of strong disapproval 

I think using the word that way would make sense if you'd then posted some of the articles of people badmouthing her. Doesn't quite fit the link you posted.

[merithyn]

I think using the word that way would make sense if you'd then posted some of the articles of people badmouthing her. Doesn't quite fit the link you posted.

I dunno. I kind of saw the complaint as just a whole lot of badmouthing, and then asking for money for having had to deal with it.

I mean, I believe that they're justified badmouthing based on what both Bubba and Paula have said about it, but it's still badmouthing.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Didn't read it, did ya'?

This is why, while I think I've made good faith efforts to tolerate the people I dislike on this forum, it doesn't typically work for me. I can't stand when someone is wrong, and then basically pulls a bunch of bullshit because they feel they shouldn't be called out for being wrong. I did read the complaint, what you obviously are unaware of is the amended complaint or any of the actual developments in the case.

In response to Lisa Jackson's original complaint, the defendants lawyers raised some very good points. Namely, a white person is not typically entitled to protection under racial anti-discrimination statutes, nor can they sue for damages under such statutes when said discrimination was focused simply at their coworkers but never them directly (which any anti-black racial discrimination would not be directed at a white employee.) That meant that in all reality even if everything she claimed in her original complaint were true, she'd be unlikely to win a judgment on the racial discrimination claim (the sexual harassment claim and others, sure.) So they filed an amended complaint, in which Jackson revealed she had two nieces that were bi-racial with a black father, thus justifying her racial discrimination claim.

Additionally, under deposition it was revealed some of the specific claims in the original complaint were actually not true (in that Jackson's deposition testimony directly contradicted claims made in her original complaint.)

I'd wager a decent bit of coin that Bubba Hiers is an asshole that is sexually inappropriate at work, and he's probably racist too. I'd wager Deen is racist as well. They are from Georgia, I'm surprised they can even read or write. But that's a far cry from believing Jackson has evidence beyond a preponderance of the evidence to win a suit against them, it'll all depend on how the other employees testify and what proof she has documented. Given that her own testimony conflicted somewhat with her original complaint, it'll definitely be the case that she may have lost credibility.

Further, there is the legal issue of whether or not Bubba's restaurant is properly linked to Lady & Sons and Paula Deens business, because it appears the actual ownership structure is strange enough that they may not be. I also believe the suit seeks $1.2m in total damages, so even if they prevailed that would be a relatively minor hit to Deen's estimated $17m+ fortune (her house alone is worth over $13m.) No one should feel sorry for a 66-year old multimillionaire who is still generating income from at least three restaurants and is entitled to continual royalty payments from cookbook sales and etc. Even if she's never paid a dime again for television appearances or sponsorship I strongly suspect she'll be able to perpetuate at least a six-figure a year income into perpetuity on top of the large fortune she's already amassed.

[garbon]

This is why, while I think I've made good faith efforts to tolerate the people I dislike on this forum, it doesn't typically work for me. I can't stand when someone is wrong, and then basically pulls a bunch of bullshit because they feel they shouldn't be called out for being wrong. I did read the complaint, what you obviously are unaware of is the amended complaint or any of the actual developments in the case.

So the solution is to make up shit that the person clearly wasn't meaning to say?

[merithyn]

This is why, while I think I've made good faith efforts to tolerate the people I dislike on this forum, it doesn't typically work for me. I can't stand when someone is wrong, and then basically pulls a bunch of bullshit because they feel they shouldn't be called out for being wrong.

What "bullshit" did I pull to say that I shouldn't be called out for being wrong? I said that I didn't fucking care. The same goes for your opinion of me (or anything else, for that matter).

I did read the complaint, what you obviously are unaware of is the amended complaint or any of the actual developments in the case.

In response to Lisa Jackson's original complaint, the defendants lawyers raised some very good points. Namely, a white person is not typically entitled to protection under racial anti-discrimination statutes, nor can they sue for damages under such statutes when said discrimination was focused simply at their coworkers but never them directly (which any anti-black racial discrimination would not be directed at a white employee.) That meant that in all reality even if everything she claimed in her original complaint were true, she'd be unlikely to win a judgment on the racial discrimination claim (the sexual harassment claim and others, sure.) So they filed an amended complaint, in which Jackson revealed she had two nieces that were bi-racial with a black father, thus justifying her racial discrimination claim.

Additionally, under deposition it was revealed some of the specific claims in the original complaint were actually not true (in that Jackson's deposition testimony directly contradicted claims made in her original complaint.)

I'd wager a decent bit of coin that Bubba Hiers is an asshole that is sexually inappropriate at work, and he's probably racist too. I'd wager Deen is racist as well. They are from Georgia, I'm surprised they can even read or write. But that's a far cry from believing Jackson has evidence beyond a preponderance of the evidence to win a suit against them, it'll all depend on how the other employees testify and what proof she has documented. Given that her own testimony conflicted somewhat with her original complaint, it'll definitely be the case that she may have lost credibility.

Further, there is the legal issue of whether or not Bubba's restaurant is properly linked to Lady & Sons and Paula Deens business, because it appears the actual ownership structure is strange enough that they may not be. I also believe the suit seeks $1.2m in total damages, so even if they prevailed that would be a relatively minor hit to Deen's estimated $17m+ fortune (her house alone is worth over $13m.) No one should feel sorry for a 66-year old multimillionaire who is still generating income from at least three restaurants and is entitled to continual royalty payments from cookbook sales and etc. Even if she's never paid a dime again for television appearances or sponsorship I strongly suspect she'll be able to perpetuate at least a six-figure a year income into perpetuity on top of the large fortune she's already amassed.

Which part of this contradicts what I said? I said that the case wasn't about the n-word (which you seem to agree with), that her brother was a prime asshole (which you also seem to agree with), and that the accusations weren't pretty (which they aren't - and you seem to agree with).

In fact, you just used a whole lot more words (as is your wont) to say the same thing.

[OttoVonBismarck]

So the solution is to make up shit that the person clearly wasn't meaning to say?

I tire of continually trying to understand the barbs people are throwing at me. Please explain your assertion here.