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10th January 2020, 06:36 PM | #81 |
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Originally Posted by Newsday
This might have been an OK thing in the 1970s and 80s and perhaps even in the 1990s.... its not OK now, and whether or not you personally agree with the way society has changed, it has and you have to accept that there will be consequences for this kind of thing. |
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10th January 2020, 06:41 PM | #82 |
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This was a Civil Trial, the judge awarded the damages
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/u...uit-award.html |
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10th January 2020, 07:24 PM | #83 |
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10th January 2020, 07:29 PM | #84 |
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We commonly read about juries that award enormous amounts of money. Then the judge drastically cuts the amount.
I'm curious about the psychology or laws behind this. Why do juries give away mega-jackpots and then judges just chop it way down? I'm also curious if there is some record of the greatest chop-down. Something like the jury awarding $10 million and then the judge reducing it to $1,000. |
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10th January 2020, 08:10 PM | #85 |
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You're missing the point (and since you cherry picked what I posted, snipping out the explainer, I can only assume that you are missing it intentionally).
This might be a trivial case per se, but is it likely an indicator of deeper problems in the culture of that school district. Hyperbole much! |
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10th January 2020, 08:13 PM | #86 |
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The most famous example is that of Stella Liebeck who sued McDonald's in 1994 for serving her coffee that was too hot and was awarded $2.86M (later cut back to $160,000).
This lead to the publication of a list of similar frivolous lawsuits known as the "Stella Awards". However, an investigation by Snopes.com found that all of the cases listed were fabrications. It appears that most frivolous lawsuits are either thrown out or judged in favour of the defendant. The main issue with frivolous lawsuits is the cost of defending them and this has lead some states to implement a variety of tort reform laws. |
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10th January 2020, 08:14 PM | #87 |
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Yeah, but this is one of the cases that was decided in front of a Judge rather than a Jury, hence why I said that "most" and not "all" of them were.
You will also note that the Judge awarded damages to the Plaintiffs and not to some random non-party, which was the initial issue. |
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10th January 2020, 08:15 PM | #88 |
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10th January 2020, 08:20 PM | #89 |
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See, here's the problem with that attitude (and I'm guessing you're probably white)
White people haven't had to endure generations of being cast as inferior, being oppressed, being enslaved, being discriminated against, being denied their civil rights, being at a continual disadvantage in Society as a whole. Just because your white privilege and the preferred treatment your race has received historically makes you immune from racial insult, it doesn't necessarily follow that other races should also be immune. |
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10th January 2020, 08:23 PM | #90 |
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Just for reference, the suing of McDonalds for the spilled coffee was not actually a frivolous lawsuit. At the time McDonalds was serving coffee at a temperature above the Industry standard, and had been warned multiple times that it was capable of causing serve burns if spilled. There have been numerous threads discussing this case on this forum including this one here from 2009.
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10th January 2020, 08:24 PM | #91 |
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10th January 2020, 08:28 PM | #92 |
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10th January 2020, 08:33 PM | #93 |
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10th January 2020, 08:37 PM | #94 |
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10th January 2020, 08:40 PM | #95 |
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I'm not sure that it's really that common, and I suspect that when you hear about it, it is because it's unusual enough to make news headlines. The most common reason for cutting a Jury award is where punitive damages are considered excessive, which is considered about 4:1 of compensatory damages. Most often jury awards are reduced on Appeal rather than by the presiding Judge.
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10th January 2020, 08:41 PM | #96 |
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10th January 2020, 08:42 PM | #97 |
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10th January 2020, 08:49 PM | #98 |
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10th January 2020, 08:49 PM | #99 |
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I can see where they were trying to make the Joke that Human are primates and so part of the same family as other great apes, and yeah, they might have done so with many other students all whom were white and it was never an issue. However that is because white people haven't historically been referred to as monkeys in a derogatory way. By putting four black students in the image, rather then a mixture of black and white, or only white, then the image plays into the stereotype and racial slur. It's like the difference between a picture of a white man standing in front of a tree with a noose hanging from it with the words "hang 'em high", and a picture of a black man standing in front of a tree with a noose hanging from it with the same words, or a picture of a man cooking with the words, his place is in the kitchen, compared to a picture of a woman with the same words.
It's a case of the connotations of the image and words, and these are different for white students and black students, and the teachers should have known this, and avoided them at all costs,. They didn't and now it's going to cost the school district and it's insurer a lot of money as punishment. |
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10th January 2020, 08:51 PM | #100 |
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The big thing that comes out of this for me if this was as some say an innocent mistake.
The US must have some of the dimmest, vacant teachers in the western world. |
10th January 2020, 09:11 PM | #101 |
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10th January 2020, 09:15 PM | #102 |
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Yes, and when the EXACT same picture and pose and words have been applied to black students, it IS a racial insult. That is how the world works now - whether you like it or not. There is a long and disgraceful history of racists covertly using seemingly innocent phraseology as vitriolic speech, the use of common words giving them a form of plausible deniability. Context is everything. If you were to hang a banana in a tree in this country, worldly as most New Zealanders are, MOST people would have utterly no idea of the significance. Do the same thing in the USA, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't know it. Call someone a "pikey" in America, most would be clueless as to the implications, but call them that in the UK, and you're likely to cop punch on the nose. |
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10th January 2020, 09:16 PM | #103 |
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Why don’t you try it anyway? I’m certain you are a fine, non-racist citizen (actually I’m not certain, but for sake of argument) and you will be able to explain that because you are not racist, nobody should take offence.
Fair point about funeral insurance though. Hospital insurance should hopefully suffice. |
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10th January 2020, 09:17 PM | #104 |
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In the Newsday article:
“The four boys say, for now, they have been encouraged by the administration not to return to the science class and that they should expect to receive a grade of "incomplete" for the class.” What? The kids get are ostracized from the class, are not given an alternative class, and are to be given incompletes?? The school as a whole appears incompetent and deserves whatever comes to them! |
10th January 2020, 09:42 PM | #105 |
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10th January 2020, 09:51 PM | #106 |
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10th January 2020, 09:57 PM | #107 |
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10th January 2020, 10:00 PM | #108 |
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Here is your link https://abc7ny.com/5827320/
Quote:
So treating white students like this is ok, but if done on black ones this is racist? I would suggest that the photo is in poor taste and the colour of the students' skin is not relevant. If it is relevant then black students have special privileges. One reason why four black students and not some white students were in the group could be because they were all friends. Interesting thought. Teacher setting up the photo saying "you cannot be in it, I need to put this white student in it. I do not want to be accused of racism." I would suggest that that would be racism. Also remember that so far NO ONE has been sued over this. They may never be, let alone a substantial award given. There is one way to make a case that this is discrimination, even though all students are treated the same way and that is indirect discrimination. See this link for more information https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/la...iscrimination/. |
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10th January 2020, 10:04 PM | #109 |
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10th January 2020, 10:05 PM | #110 |
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"So treating white students like this is ok, but if done on black ones this is racist?"
My god man. I think you have it.....finally Edit: When that specific reference is made |
10th January 2020, 10:05 PM | #111 |
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10th January 2020, 10:07 PM | #112 |
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10th January 2020, 10:13 PM | #113 |
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10th January 2020, 10:15 PM | #114 |
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10th January 2020, 10:17 PM | #115 |
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10th January 2020, 10:18 PM | #116 |
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10th January 2020, 10:20 PM | #117 |
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10th January 2020, 10:27 PM | #118 |
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I wonder how the other students at that school now relate to these four boys. There would probably be a mixture of support and hostility. This teacher seems very popular there with lots of supporters. The four might be treated harshly by other students because they are essentially ousting this teacher and also suing the school for huge money.
It could get worse than it is now. |
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10th January 2020, 10:32 PM | #119 |
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10th January 2020, 10:34 PM | #120 |
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