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pjhimself
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#751

Post by pjhimself »

CNN has more on this as of Friday 3/24 (shoulda done more looking before the previous post):

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/entertai ... index.html

And testimony:

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#752

Post by RTH10260 »

Srely a collegue of George Santos, though he may lack some of the intellect properties
An accused Russian spy boasted that infiltrating the US was easy. He's now in prison after getting caught with files that blew his cover.

Bethany Dawson
Sat, March 25, 2023 at 2:51 PM GMT+1
  • Secret messages from court documents give a look into the wild life of an accused Russian spy.
    The DOJ accuses Sergey Cherkasov of operating undercover in the US, and got a cache of his messages.
    He boasted wildly about his false identity, writing "We fucking did it!!! AAAAAAA." Then his luck ran out.
Court documents containing secret messages purporting to be between a Russian spy and his handler give a wild look into a decades-long cover story that later dramatically fell apart.

The messages were contained in charging documents made public by the Department of Justice, which is bringing an espionage case against Sergey Cherkasov.

The DOJ alleges that Cherkasov spent years building a false identity as a Brazilian called Viktor Muller Ferreira, which he used to sneak into the US.

One message in the complaint shows Cherkasov jubilant after getting accepted into a prestigious US university, where he hoped an international-relations course would get him access to privileged information on US foreign policy.

"Today we fucking drink!!!" he wrote, later adding "We fucking did it!!!"

Another message published by the Department of Justice celebrated that he would enter the US "with a status of a fucking top-dude with the fantastic work perspectives, citizenship perspectives."

However, despite his confidence in the cover story, in the years that followed, Cherkasov's luck ran out, the documents said.

After graduating from his US course — CNN reported it was at Johns Hopkins University — the DOJ said Cherkasov tried to get jobs in the US government, think tanks, and the media.

Ultimately, it said, he was accepted for an internship at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands — but was denied entry by Dutch security in April 2022 when he tried to take it up.

Not long after, he was arrested in Brazil, where he was charged with identity theft and fraud, the DOJ said.

From there, Brazilian agents found a huge cache of evidence which they shared with the FBI to build its case. He was later convicted in Brazil and given 15 years in prison.

Per the complaint, Cherkasov's was arrested with several hard drives and a phone, which were full of information detailing a cover story stretching back more than a decade.

His hard drives also held a map to a hiding place in Sao Paulo, per the documents.




https://www.yahoo.com/news/accused-russ ... 08244.html
(original: Business Insider)
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#753

Post by RTH10260 »

get your hot coffee from a hot bikini lady
Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Bikini Baristas Over Dress
A Washington city's dress code ordinance that says “bikini baristas” must cover their bodies at work has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court.

By Associated Press
Oct. 29, 2022, at 6:48 p.m.


EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A Washington city's dress code ordinance saying bikini baristas must cover their bodies at work has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court.

The decision in a partial summary judgment this week comes after a lengthy legal battle between bikini baristas and the city of Everett over the rights of workers to wear what they want, the Everett Herald reported. Everett is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Seattle.

U.S. District Court in Seattle found Everett’s dress code ordinance violated the Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. and Washington state constitutions. The Court found that the ordinance was, at least in part, shaped by a gender-based discriminatory purpose, according to a 19-page ruling signed by U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez.

It is difficult to imagine, the court wrote, how the ordinance would be equally applied to men and women in practice because it prohibits clothing “typically worn by women rather than men,” including midriff and scoop-back shirts, as well as bikinis.

Bikini baristas were “clearly” a target of the ordinance, the court also ruled, adding that the profession is comprised of a workforce that is almost entirely women.

In 2017, the city enacted its dress code ordinance, requiring all employees, owners and operators of “quick service facilities” to wear clothing that covers the upper and lower body. The ordinance listed coffee stands, fast food restaurants, delis, food trucks and coffee shops as examples of quick service businesses.

The owner of Everett bikini barista stand Hillbilly Hotties and some employees filed a legal complaint challenging the constitutionality of the dress code ordinance. They also challenged the city's lewd conduct ordinance, but the court dismissed all the baristas' claims but the dress code question.

The court directed the city of Everett to meet with the plaintiffs within 14 days to discuss next steps.




https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles ... over-dress
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#754

Post by RTH10260 »

Video shows Va. deputies pile on top of Irvo Otieno before his death
Seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with murder in the case.

By Salvador Rizzo, Laura Vozzella and Samuel Oakford
Updated March 22, 2023 at 9:03 a.m. EDT|Published March 20, 2023 at 10:40 p.m. EDT

As many as 10 sheriff’s deputies and medical staff at Virginia’s Central State Hospital can be seen piling on top of a shackled Irvo Otieno for approximately 11 minutes until he stops moving, according to new video showing the encounter that led to the 28-year-old Black man’s death.

Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.
The hospital surveillance video, which has no sound, shows Otieno’s final moments on March 6, from the time Henrico County sheriff’s deputies drag him into a hospital admissions room in handcuffs and leg irons, to the 11 minutes in which they restrain Otieno on the ground, to the moment when they release Otieno’s limp body around 4:40 p.m.

Minutes later, video shows workers beginning to apply chest compressions and a defibrillator machine to Otieno’s upper body, before a medical technician drapes him with a white sheet at 5:48 p.m.
:snippity:
“Let me be clear — mental illness is not a crime. Being a Black man in America is not a crime,” NAACP chief executive Derrick Johnson said in a statement about the Otieno case, adding, “No person should ever face this level of violence from those who are meant to ‘serve and protect’ and treat people facing mental health crises.”
:snippity:
In a public filing in the case Monday, Baskervill listed Dropbox links containing the footage as part of her obligation to turn over information to defense attorneys. Lawyers for two defendants sought to block the release of the video in court filings Monday, arguing that by releasing evidence or giving statements to the news media, prosecutors could influence the pool of potential jurors, and prevent the defendants from receiving a fair trial.
:snippity:



https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va ... -deputies/
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#755

Post by pjhimself »

On the Paltrow case (referenced above):
- plaintiff rested
- defense requested directed verdict
- didn’t happen
- more testimony today (mostly “expert” witnesses)
- defense rested

Likely more drama to follow before it ends.

To me this is he said, she said.
The “witnesses” have been challenged.
Defense has offered a lot of experts, though none can say who crashed into who.

Lotta money being spent; will the result be just ?

Curious to me how this got this far.
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#756

Post by northland10 »

I was browsing the DC Federal Court opinions, as is my weird thing, and came across the case Alejandro Toledo v Department of State. Toledo was President of Peru from 2001 to 2006. He was later accused of collusion and money laundering. He is living in California so Peruvian authorities had requested extradition. It went through the normal process in the ND of California along with the 9th Circuit and the State Department had approved extradition so he then filed suit in the DC Federal court. The judge said no thank you.

https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/sh ... 3cv0627-13

The judge spent a great deal of time over how the extradition process works which I found very interesting. With that, they said, yeah, um.. you had your due process. Pound sand. The judge also took a moment to say:
DC Federal Court - emphasis Northland10 wrote:While the merits of plaintiff’s claim have been disposed of, a final point bears belaboring, for the foregoing cases also highlight a peculiarly inappropriate aspect of plaintiff’s requested relief in this case. Strikingly, the due process holdings in these cases [NL10: cases that the plaintiff cited and the court said, nope earlier in the opinion] all arose in the course of the fugitives’ habeas challenges to their judicial extradition determinations. Here, by contrast, plaintiff has chosen to bring his Fifth Amendment claim in a fresh lawsuit, before a different judge sitting on a different court, rather than in his ongoing habeas proceedings.

Plaintiff could have raised this same due process argument before the Northern District of California and the Ninth Circuit, as all the fugitives before the other courts to have faced this argument were able to do in their habeas proceedings. Indeed, perhaps he did—the Ninth Circuit heard argument in plaintiff’s case mere weeks ago, and that panel may well have something to say about due process in its eventual decision.

More likely, though, plaintiff has opted for this unprecedented procedural gambit to avoid clearly unfavorable precedent extant in the Ninth Circuit. See Lopez-Smith, 121 F.3d at 1326. Perhaps plaintiff hopes that by obtaining preliminary relief here, he would set this Court against those in the Ninth Circuit and the Northern District of California, which are already considering the government’s ability to detain and extradite him. This kind of forum shopping is anathema to our judicial system. The five judges involved in plaintiff’s long-running West coast proceedings (two magistrate judges and a panel of appellate judges) have the benefit of years of familiarity with plaintiff’s case and a substantial record before them, developed through multiple rounds of adversarial briefing, hearings, and argument, on which they are able to base their findings of probable cause and other relevant conclusions. Plaintiff is now attempting an endrun around their final decisions on his case by receiving fresh consideration from a judge on the opposite coast, to whom he has furnished a highly selective and misleading presentation of the factual background, see Def.’s Opp’n at 27 n.9 (detailing how “several of Toledo’s statements appear to overstate the facts”), and requiring an expedited decision on an emergency motion for preliminary relief. The irony is striking that plaintiff would engage in such abuse of the judicial process in order to complain that he has not, in fact, received enough process. This Court will not call a halt to the elaborate procedures already in motion regarding plaintiff’s extradition.
This seems to this IANAL that the judge is giving a hand slap to the attorney who brought this case.
101010 :towel:
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#757

Post by keith »

northland10 wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:59 pm
:snippity:

This seems to this IANAL that the judge is giving a hand slap to the attorney who brought this case.
To me, it seems more like a beat down than a hand slap.
Has everybody heard about the bird?
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#758

Post by northland10 »

keith wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:07 pm
northland10 wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:59 pm
:snippity:

This seems to this IANAL that the judge is giving a hand slap to the attorney who brought this case.
To me, it seems more like a beat down than a hand slap.
I would have thought the same, but without some sort of threat of sanction, I decided it was just a hand slap.
101010 :towel:
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#759

Post by Slarti the White »

pjhimself wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:23 pm On the Paltrow case (referenced above):
- plaintiff rested
- defense requested directed verdict
- didn’t happen
- more testimony today (mostly “expert” witnesses)
- defense rested

Likely more drama to follow before it ends.

To me this is he said, she said.
The “witnesses” have been challenged.
Defense has offered a lot of experts, though none can say who crashed into who.

Lotta money being spent; will the result be just ?

Curious to me how this got this far.
People become very emotionally attached to their assumptions (especially in an adversarial process where money is involved like this) which creates a barrier where giving them up creates cognitive dissonance. Think of it like a potential energy barrier -- each person is in a valley that requires a large amount of energy to get out of, even if there are more stable (lower energy) valleys on the other side. Your story is baked into your self-identity (as the hero of your own story) and, quite likely, your memory has been (subtly or significantly) altered to further support this narrative. Furthermore, the narrative of the other side is completely incompatible (since the other party is the hero in their story) which makes it easy to dismiss, deride, and even despise them to protect yourself from the pain of admitting that you are not totally right.

As for whether or not the result will be just, it is a question of who's standard of justice you are looking at. As you say there was a lot of money spent, I suspect that both plaintiff and defendant should have paid better attention to War Games...

Strange game, the only winning move is not to play.
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#760

Post by pjhimself »

Jury has the Paltrow ski case to deliberate.
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#761

Post by raison de arizona »

I haven't been following the Paltrow case very much, but I did run across this today.
Mike Sington @MikeSington wrote: Photos emerge of Gwyneth Paltrow’s accuser, Terry Sanderson, skiing, cycling, hiking, and riding a camel, all taken after the ski collision.
Also, is he Q-Anon?
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#762

Post by pjhimself »

. A jury sided with actor Gwyneth Paltrow on Thursday, deciding she was not at fault for a 2016 ski accident with a retired Utah optometrist who sustained broken ribs and a concussion after the fall.

Terry Sanderson filed a $300,000 lawsuit against Paltrow, alleging that reckless skiing caused her to run into him from behind on Feb. 26, 2016, at Utah’s Deer Valley Resort. The collision left Sanderson with four broken ribs, a concussion and lasting brain damage that impacted his daily life and personal relationships, he said.

The jury, who began deliberations earlier in the afternoon, agreed that Sanderson was in fact at fault for the crash, not Paltrow.

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop ... -rcna76831
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#763

Post by raison de arizona »

Douglass Mackey found guilty. Rs would have you believe he was convicted of making memes, but what he really did was attempt to subvert the vote by convincing Ds to vote by TXT message. Which isn't a thing.
Background (gift I think): https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/nyre ... =url-share
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#764

Post by Greatgrey »

ImageImage
What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
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#765

Post by RTH10260 »

She lost her child in a home birth. Prosecutors charged her with murder
The medical examiner ruled the death of Kelsey Carpenter’s baby an accident – yet she faces life in prison: ‘I mourn every day’

Sam Levin in Los Angeles
Mon 3 Apr 2023 11.00 BST

Kelsey Carpenter was alone in her San Diego apartment when she went into labor on 14 November 2020.

The mother of two had planned a home birth for her third child. But the baby came two weeks earlier than expected, so she delivered on her own, then passed out, records show. When she awoke, her newborn – whom she named Kiera – was not breathing. Despite her attempts at CPR, the baby did not survive.

The loss, however, was only the beginning of Carpenter’s nightmare.

Police soon after arrested Carpenter, 33. The San Diego district attorney is moving forward with charges of murder “with malice” and child endangerment and has cited her decision to have an “unattended delivery” as well as her alleged drug use. Prosecutors have continued to pursue the case despite the county medical examiner saying the manner of death was an “accident”; medical experts testifying that the state’s cause-of-death claims were not backed by scientific evidence; and the passage of a new California law explicitly prohibiting the criminalization of pregnancy loss.

If convicted, Carpenter could face a life sentence.




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... -san-diego
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#766

Post by raison de arizona »

“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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#767

Post by lunaluz »

I just ran across this today from a Twitter post,
https://dallasexpress.com/national/tram ... king-case/
Here is a summery of the filings:
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/calif ... 957/866933

I'm not sure what to think about this, if true it is a bombshell, Clarence Thomas has quite a Sugar daddy.
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#768

Post by RTH10260 »

Family sues Airbnb after 19-month-old dies of fentanyl toxicity during Florida vacation

Marlene Lenthang
Wed, April 12, 2023 at 11:05 PM GMT+2

The family of a 19-month-old who died after being exposed to fentanyl, allegedly at an Airbnb property in Florida, is suing the vacation rental company over the toddler's death.

Enora Lavenir died Aug. 7, 2021, while her family was staying at a rental in Wellington, Florida, during a visit from France, the family said in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County Court.

The toddler died of acute fentanyl toxicity and the manner was ruled as accidental by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office.

However, it's not clear how the child ingested the fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, or where it came from.

The lawsuit alleges that while the Airbnb listing advertised the unit as a "peaceful place to stay," it had a history of being used as a party house. Days before the French family arrived, according to the complaint, someone threw a party where drugs were consumed.

Enora was exposed to fentanyl residue left in the rental, according to the suit, which accuses Airbnb, the rental property's owner, the property manager and a prior guest of negligence in the child's death.




https://www.yahoo.com/news/family-sues- ... 15118.html
(original: NBC News)
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#769

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/fl ... smsnnews11
Florida's fight over 'baby boxes' is part of a bigger culture war

Safe Haven Baby Boxes and A Safe Haven for Newborns are two charities with similar names and the same goal: providing distressed mothers with a safe place to surrender their unwanted newborns instead of dumping them in trash cans or along roadsides.

The bill recently passed the Florida House unanimously, but there is a long-shot effort to block it in the Senate, where it might be considered this week. Opponents call the boxes costly, unnecessary and potentially dangerous for the babies, mothers, firefighters and hospital workers. Each side accuses the other of being financially driven.

The fight is getting extra attention because Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida's GOP-dominated Legislature are expected to soon ban abortions performed more than six weeks after conception, lowering the state's current limit of 15 weeks.

Similar baby-box bills have been approved recently by lawmakers in Kansas, Montana and Mississippi and sent to those states' governors for approval. West Virginia's governor recently signed such a bill. The boxes were already allowed in nine states, mostly in the Midwest and South, with the largest numbers in Indiana, Arkansas and Kentucky, respectively. About 145 boxes have been installed since the first in 2016, with 25 newborns surrendered through one, Safe Haven Baby Boxes says.

Just one baby has been left in Florida's only box, installed two years ago at a central Florida firehouse without state authorization. The boxes open from outside the building, allowing the parent to place the baby in a bassinet as a bag containing instructions and maternal medical advice drops out. The door locks when it is reclosed and the agency is notified electronically. Safe Haven Baby Boxes says the average response time is two minutes.

“Giving women an option of [total] anonymity is just that, an option. Why would [opponents] want to take that away from women?” said the group's founder, firefighter Monica Kelsey, who was abandoned as a newborn and is an outspoken abortion opponent. She accused A Safe Haven for Newborns of fearing a loss of grants if the boxes are installed, something the group denies.

Republican Rep. Jennifer Canady, the bill’s lead sponsor, declined an interview request. She said in a statement that her proposed law would be “an important next step to provide options to save lives and protect life at every stage.”

Joel Gordon, a spokesman for A Safe Haven for Newborns and deputy chief at a suburban Fort Lauderdale fire department, suggested that Kelsey possibly profits from the boxes. She denies that. Her group gets mixed reviews from organizations that monitor charities.

Gordon also contended that the bill's proponents have opposed all amendments that he says would make the boxes safer and the program more workable. A Safe Haven trains fire departments and hospitals on how to implement the current law.

“It is not an objection to giving the mother as many potentials as possible to help rescue and save these babies. It’s the box itself, and the way the box is administered, that gives us concern," Gordon said.

Senate Democratic leader Lauren Book, who heads the bill’s opposition, added: “We can do better than putting children in boxes. The safe haven law we have on the books currently is working.”

In 2000, Florida became one of the first states to allow babies to be anonymously surrendered for adoption at hospitals and firehouses. Under it, parents can hand over newborns up to 7 days old, no questions asked, assuming there is no evidence of neglect or abuse. Since its enactment, 370 newborns have been legally surrendered, Gordon said.

The new bill would allow, but not require, fire departments and hospitals to acquire the boxes, which would be leased from Kelsey's group. They cost about $16,000 to install and there is a $300 annual maintenance and inspection fee, paid to Kelsey's charity. Sometimes the installation and fees are paid by donors, she said.

“Was that baby [in central Florida] not worth the fight we have put up to keep that box?” she said. 'I think it was."
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
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#770

Post by Dave from down under »

Andreas Flaten of Fayetteville, Ga., gave his boss two weeks’ notice that he was quitting A-OK Walker Luxury Autoworks in Peachtree City due to the company’s “toxic work environment.” On his last day he dropped off his uniforms — washed. But the owner didn’t pay him then, and didn’t pay him in January as promised, Flaten said. After months he told Walker he was going to call a lawyer over his missing $915, and very quickly the money was dropped off — a pile of pennies in Flaten’s driveway. They had oil dumped over them to make them hard to cash in, and a note on top reading “F–k you.”

More at link below

https://thisistrue.com/weenie/?awt_a=6C ... P0ZUNyAPkr
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#771

Post by Slim Cognito »

Sounds like the toxic work environment claim was on point.
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#772

Post by Maybenaut »

Dave from down under wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:42 am Andreas Flaten of Fayetteville, Ga., gave his boss two weeks’ notice that he was quitting A-OK Walker Luxury Autoworks in Peachtree City due to the company’s “toxic work environment.” On his last day he dropped off his uniforms — washed. But the owner didn’t pay him then, and didn’t pay him in January as promised, Flaten said. After months he told Walker he was going to call a lawyer over his missing $915, and very quickly the money was dropped off — a pile of pennies in Flaten’s driveway. They had oil dumped over them to make them hard to cash in, and a note on top reading “F–k you.”

More at link below

https://thisistrue.com/weenie/?awt_a=6C ... P0ZUNyAPkr
Too bad Georgia doesn’t have waiting time penalties like they do in California.

My granddaughter worked at a well-known national retailer on the east coast. She moved with her family to California, and applied to work for the same chain. When she got her first paycheck it was about $100 less than she was expecting. It turned out they never updated her info in the computer to reflect California’s higher minimum wage. She quit that job after two weeks for reasons having nothing to do with this dispute, and kept asking when they were going to give her the rest of what she was owed.

Anyhoo, my bestie is an employment lawyer in California so I asked her whether granddaughter had any recourse that would be worth the time and effort. She was like, oh, yes, California has waiting time penalties, and there’s an online process that she can do herself through the State.

The company ended up paying her almost $3000 over a $100 late payment.

As I understand it, it’s a nearly strict liability standard with harsh penalties, designed to discourage employers from withholding pay. The only defenses appear to be that the person wasn’t an employee, or didn’t earn the income. If the person was an employee and did earn the income, the employer has to pay it in full, on time, no exceptions.
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#773

Post by Frater I*I »

Dave from down under wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:42 am Andreas Flaten of Fayetteville, Ga., gave his boss two weeks’ notice that he was quitting A-OK Walker Luxury Autoworks in Peachtree City due to the company’s “toxic work environment.” On his last day he dropped off his uniforms — washed. But the owner didn’t pay him then, and didn’t pay him in January as promised, Flaten said. After months he told Walker he was going to call a lawyer over his missing $915, and very quickly the money was dropped off — a pile of pennies in Flaten’s driveway. They had oil dumped over them to make them hard to cash in, and a note on top reading “F–k you.”

More at link below

https://thisistrue.com/weenie/?awt_a=6C ... P0ZUNyAPkr
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#774

Post by humblescribe »

Maybenaut wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 10:12 am
Dave from down under wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:42 am Andreas Flaten of Fayetteville, Ga., gave his boss two weeks’ notice that he was quitting A-OK Walker Luxury Autoworks in Peachtree City due to the company’s “toxic work environment.” On his last day he dropped off his uniforms — washed. But the owner didn’t pay him then, and didn’t pay him in January as promised, Flaten said. After months he told Walker he was going to call a lawyer over his missing $915, and very quickly the money was dropped off — a pile of pennies in Flaten’s driveway. They had oil dumped over them to make them hard to cash in, and a note on top reading “F–k you.”

More at link below

https://thisistrue.com/weenie/?awt_a=6C ... P0ZUNyAPkr
Too bad Georgia doesn’t have waiting time penalties like they do in California.

My granddaughter worked at a well-known national retailer on the east coast. She moved with her family to California, and applied to work for the same chain. When she got her first paycheck it was about $100 less than she was expecting. It turned out they never updated her info in the computer to reflect California’s higher minimum wage. She quit that job after two weeks for reasons having nothing to do with this dispute, and kept asking when they were going to give her the rest of what she was owed.

Anyhoo, my bestie is an employment lawyer in California so I asked her whether granddaughter had any recourse that would be worth the time and effort. She was like, oh, yes, California has waiting time penalties, and there’s an online process that she can do herself through the State.

The company ended up paying her almost $3000 over a $100 late payment.

As I understand it, it’s a nearly strict liability standard with harsh penalties, designed to discourage employers from withholding pay. The only defenses appear to be that the person wasn’t an employee, or didn’t earn the income. If the person was an employee and did earn the income, the employer has to pay it in full, on time, no exceptions.
I am not a lawyer, obviously, but this is so true. When I was a controller I had to make it clear to management/operations and the payroll department that we could not pussyfoot around when an employee quits or is fired. If an employee quits, the employer has 72 hours (exclusive of weekends and holidays) to offer up the final paycheck. If an employee is fired, the employee must walk out with all money owed through the date of termination, including accrued but unpaid compensated absences per company policy.

Of course, mistakes are made, and I do not suggest that we need to fix a payroll issue immediately for a $2.80 shortage that can be added to the next payroll cycle. (I think my rule was $25 or more had to be corrected immediately--no waiting.) But I would have resolved your granddaughter's situation as soon as I found out whether she was terminated or not. But it is notoriously difficult for the accounting department to do what is right if operations sweeps it under the rug.

Edited to add the quaint legal concept of escheat. If final paychecks remained uncashed after twelve months, we forwarded the funds to the State Treasurer under the unclaimed property laws. You would be surprised at the business owners who think that if the employee does not cash his check, that he forfeits the money and it returns to the business. :nope:
Off Topic
While on the subject of escheat, I strongly suggest to each and every one of you to peruse the unclaimed property websites of the various states that you have lived in over your lives. Sometimes you will find some money that belong to you or a dear relative, living or deceased. The paperwork might not be worth the hassle of an escheated savings account from 1968 that totaled $1.82, but once in a while you will see that there are a hundred dollars or more of your property that you forgot about.
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https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/npr-new ... rue-threat
The Supreme Court ponders when a threat is really a 'true threat'

The Supreme Court on Wednesday revisits a question the court has never answered: When is a threat a "true threat?" What does the prosecution have to prove? Does it have to show that the defendant intended to frighten his target, or is it enough to show that his words would have that effect on a reasonable person?

The case involves Coles Whalen, a singer-songwriter from Colorado, and Billy Counterman, a man convicted and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for "stalking" Whalen and making "true threats" against her.

How the messages escalated
Counterman's messages to Whalen began in 2010 and heated up to a full boil in 2014, when police estimate he sent over a thousand messages to the singer — messages that ranged from affectionate to angry and aggressive, and gave the impression he was watching her.

"He was clearly mentally unstable," Whalen said in an interview with NPR. "He believed that we were in a romantic relationship that lasted a number of years. He indicated that he was seeing me in person without me knowing it. And I was terrified."

At one point, Counterman inquired about her mother after Whalen had just paid her mom a visit. At another, he wrote, "Die. Don't need you," and in another message he wrote, "I'm currently unsupervised. I know, it freaks me out too."

Whalen repeatedly blocked him from her Facebook account, but he would create new accounts, even contacting her bandmates about her. She became so scared that he would emerge from a crowd, potentially lunging at her on stage, that she stopped publicizing her appearances, varied her routes, hired a body guard on one occasion and bought a pepper spray gun that she keeps with her to this day.

Whalen's anxiety escalated further when she learned that Counterman had served two jail terms for far more explicitly violent threats against his ex-wife and family. But even after he was arrested, her fear persisted. Her first panic attack came in Dallas, when she was performing in front of about 300 people.

"I thought I might be having a heart attack ... and I had to leave the stage, which I've never done in all my years performing," Whalen said. "When I went backstage, I mean, I just sobbed for an hour. I felt so horrible. I thought, maybe this isn't worth it. Maybe I shouldn't continue."
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