Bar Exam-like Anxiety

[privateatty]

jagghagg said:

Verdict of Woman Spanked at Work Overturned
Lawyers: No discrimination because spankings given to men and women
The Associated Press
updated 11:12 a.m. CT, Thurs., Jan. 17, 2008

FRESNO, Calif. - An appeals court overturned a $1.5 million verdict awarded to a woman who was spanked in front of coworkers in what her employer called a camaraderie-building exercise.

A jury in 2006 had ruled that Janet Orlando had suffered sexual harassment and sexual battery when she was paddled at home security company Alarm One Inc. The jury punished the company with a $1 million punitive damage award. But on Monday, a three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeal overturned that verdict, ruling that the jury had been given improper instructions. In particular, the jury wasn't instructed that one vital element of proving that sexual harassment occurred is showing the action was directed at a woman because of her gender.

Lawyers for Alarm One, an Anaheim-based, 300-employee company, said that the spankings were not discriminatory because they were given to both male and female workers and that Orlando and others willingly took part.

Orlando's attorney, Nicholas "Butch" Wagner, vowed to take the case to trial again. "We may get more this time," Wagner said. But K. Poncho Baker, the attorney who defended the company at trial in 2006, said that because the company has since gone into bankruptcy and its insurance was exhausted battling Orlando's claim and settling with three other co-workers, there maybe little left to recover. "Good luck retrying this one," Baker said.

Orlando quit the company in 2004, less than a year after she was hired at the Fresno office, saying she was humiliated during the company's team-building practices. Employees were paddled with rival companies' yard signs as part of a contest that pitted sales teams against one another. The winners poked fun at the losers, throwing pies at them, feeding them baby food, making them wear diapers and swatting their buttocks.

The company has since abandoned the practice.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The mind boggles on how to respond to this. You're the Judge-dealing with Poncho and Butch. Would it be a slip to call them by their first names? And the plaintiff? Would you opt for a physical demonstration of the spanking to make your point? And let's not forget the the defense that won the day--that this was not sexually discriminatory? Wouldn't Butch be sensitive to this defense? And why focus on the spanking? Why not the diapers? Why not call a regressive therapy expert? And why not allege that you were allergic to the pies? And where are the damages? Did she lose time from work for refusing to be spanked? She did it willingly! I could go on and on...But I can see where jagghagg would have paid to defend this one.

Kudos to shadow for being honestly wistful about the spanking.

[Pixie]

Privateattny, when I read the message about Shadow not being spanked at work, I thought I noted a bit of yearning in his tone. Glad I'm not the only one who noticed it! Got to watch those Marines. Paris Island does strange things to the psyche. Pix.

[podar]

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

[privateatty]

pixie said:

Privateattny, when I read the message about Shadow not being spanked at work, I thought I noted a bit of yearning in his tone. Glad I'm not the only one who noticed it! Got to watch those Marines. Paris Island does strange things to the psyche. Pix.

I trust that your are speaking from trusted hearsay rather than direct knowledge.

[Pixie]

"I trust that your are speaking from trusted hearsay rather than direct knowledge."

Privateatty, not going to even touch that one! Pix.

[jagghagg]

Ok, ok - enough on the spanking thing.
Let me post something to take us away from that.
A little Zen Sarcasm.
(What ? You don't think the 'hagg has a metaphysical side ? Au contraire, mon amiee.)
[Personally, I like #9.]

Zen Sarcasm

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.

2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.

3. It's always darkest before dawn So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.

6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

8 Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes!

9. If at first you don't succeed, sky diving is not for you.

10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

12. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

13. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.

14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

17. Duct tape is like 'The Force.' It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.

19. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.

20. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.

22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative at the same time.

[privateatty]

jagghagg said:

Ok, ok - enough on the spanking thing.
Let me post something to take us away from that.
A little Zen Sarcasm.
(What ? You don't think the 'hagg has a metaphysical side ? Au contraire, mon amiee.)
[Personally, I like #9.]

Zen Sarcasm

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.

2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.

3. It's always darkest before dawn So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.

6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

8 Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes!

9. If at first you don't succeed, sky diving is not for you.

10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

12. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

13. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.

14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

17. Duct tape is like 'The Force.' It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.

19. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.

20. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.

22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative at the same time.

Number 6 is what we are all doing. Whether we admit it or not. However our mileages vary on our knowledge (consciously or subconsciously) regarding the depth of the water...

Good post, jh.

[jagghagg]

Angry Employee Deletes All of Company's Data
Thursday , January 24, 2008

Call it a tale of revenge gone wrong. When Marie Lupe Cooley, 41, of Jacksonville, Fla., saw a help-wanted ad in the newspaper for a position that looked suspiciously like her current job - and with her boss's phone number listed - she assumed she was about to be fired.

So, police say, she went to the architectural office where she works late Sunday night and erased 7 years' worth of drawings and blueprints, estimated to be worth $2.5 million.

"She decided to mess up everything for everybody," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson told reporters. "She just sabotaged the entire business, thinking she was going to get axed."

It didn't take Steven Hutchins, owner of the architectural firm that bears his name, much time to figure out who'd done it - Cooley was the only other person who had full access to the files.

Police arrested Cooley Monday evening and charged her with causing greater than $1,000 damage to computer files, a felony. She was bailed out the following afternoon.

Hutchins told one TV station he'd managed to recover all the files using an expensive data-recovery service. As for the job, Cooley originally wasn't in danger of losing it. The ad was for Hutchins' wife's company.

The firm told FOXNews.com that Cooley no longer is employed there.

(No kidding....'hagg)

[workdrone]

jagghagg said:

Call it a tale of revenge gone wrong.

Wow. Stupid is as stupid does. This person definitely has no common sense if she thought she wasn't going to get slammed for doing something like that. Well, guess she'll have some time to think about it in jail after she gets convicted and sentenced.

Thanks for this interesting article. Definitely gave me a good laugh! ;D

[privateatty]

The Sicilians have a saying: "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

And workdrone, I don't think there was much thought here. Which leads us back to the wisdom of the Sicilians...

[workdrone]

privateatty said:

Which leads us back to the wisdom of the Sicilians...

Yup. The Sicilians are wise indeed (on top of having some killer pizza). Hm, now I'm getting hungry. Maybe I can convince my significant other that tonight should be pizza night. ;D

[privateatty]

Parma ham and assagio cheese with black olives? Moretti beer? I'm coming over...