Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to pay $495,000 to employee who accused the General Manager of pulling her hair. Really!

This settlement seems to be insane! What a weird story! This, and other examples like it will certainly lead to more ridiculous lawsuits in the future!

Were there any witnesses to this alleged hair pulling? Did it happen in private or in public?

Was Ms. Mondestin a DEI hire?

Or was there something else going on that was covered up? Did the employee threaten to go public with something?

Was this amount paid because she is a black woman? A form of reparation payment?

Caveat: I am not familiar with the details of this case.

"The MBTA will pay close to half a million dollars to an employee who said General Manager Phil Eng pulled her hair during a work-related event in 2024.

The T will pay $495,000 in supplemental wages, damages and legal fees to MBTA Chief Communication Officer Gabrielle Mondestin, according to the settlement released Friday. Mondestin will resign from her role on Sept. 18, after the T requested she stay on until then "to assist in transitioning her duties and responsibilities." ..."

MBTA to pay $495,000 to employee who accused GM Phillip Eng of pulling her hair (behind paywall)

MBTA worker whose hair GM Eng pulled gets $495,000 in settlement

MBTA names Gabrielle Mondestin as Chief Communications Officer (March 2023) 

Gabrielle Mondestin has been named as MBTA's first chief communications officer.

New York state sues chemical companies over PFAS pollution. Really!

Another frivolous lawsuit by Dimocratic Party member and New York state attorney general Letitia James!

New York state sues chemical companies over PFAS pollution | Business | Chemistry World "Lawsuit alleges 3M, Chemours, DuPont and others knowingly sold polluting products, and seeks damages and cleanup cost payments"

New York state attorney general Letitia James

New York Judge Says There Is No Tort of ‘Misgendering’

Hopefully, this will be the end of such obviously frivolous lawsuits with respect to human fads and manias!

Preferred pronouns! Laughable! I want to be called hesheit (pronounced heshit)! Just kidding! Caution: satire!

"At the Volokh Conspiracy, Senior Fellow Eugene Volokh writes about a decision where a judge in Manhattan ruled that repeatedly misgendering a person, in this case calling someone “him” who had asked to be called “them,” does not mean the misgender-er is liable for damages.

The misgendered party asked the judge to order the misgender-er to use the preferred pronoun and sought damages for each “instance of deliberate misgendering that has occurred and continued to occur.” The judge disagreed. “There is . . . no showing of any actual ‘misgendering’ or any legally cognizable injury arising from it,” Judge Gerald Lebovits wrote. “New York recognizes no tort of ‘misgendering.’”"

Trump Returns to China; Lonely Liberals on the Supreme Court

Jury Says Bill Cosby (age 88) Drugged and Raped a Woman in 1972, Awards Her $59 Million

Such verdicts over 50 years after the alleged rape took place are insane and injust!

This is a dangerous attack on the legal principle of statute of limitations! This is a serious perversion of justice!

Did any of the accusers come out to report the rape at the time (1972)?

Caveat: I am not familiar with the details of the case.

"After a nearly two-week trial in Santa Monica, jurors found Cosby, 88, liable for the sexual battery and assault of Donna Motsinger. They awarded her $17.5 million in past damages and $1.75 million for future damages, including “mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress.”

Then in a second phase of the trial Monday afternoon, they awarded an additional $40 million in punitive damages. ...

Deliberations lasted about two days.

The decision came nearly five years after Cosby was freed from prison in Pennsylvania when the state Supreme Court threw out a criminal conviction based on similar allegations. ..."

Jury Says Bill Cosby Drugged and Raped a Woman in 1972, Awards Her $59 Million "A civil jury in California found Monday that Bill Cosby was liable for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 1972 and awarded her $59.25 million."

Jury Rules Social Media Liable for Teen's long-term Addiction. Really!

I hope this ridiculous verdict will not stand! The rest of the world will have a good laugh again about American jurisprudence!

What about the parents of this child?

"Jury Rules Social Media Liable for Teen's Addiction

A Los Angeles jury ruled Wednesday that Meta and YouTube must pay a combined $6 million in damages to a 20-year-old woman who said the platforms hooked her as a child through design features like infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithmically timed notifications.

The plaintiff, known as K.G.M., testified she began using YouTube at 6 and Instagram at 9, eventually spending 16 hours in a single day on Instagram, spiraling into depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia.

Jurors targeted platform design itself as a defective product, a legal theory one tech policy professor compared to the tobacco lawsuits. 

More than 1,500 similar suits against Meta, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok are pending in California courts alone."

The Flyover

Should investors foot the bill to settle AI startups' lawsuits?

Food for thought! Good question!

"OpenAI and Anthropic are believed to be answering this question with a resounding "YES." The Financial Times is reporting that "OpenAI and Anthropic are considering using investor funds to settle potential claims from multibillion-dollar lawsuits" because insurers are reluctant to provide comprehensive coverage for AI-related risks.

The FT reports OpenAI has secured up to $300 million in coverage for emerging AI risks through Aon, but that may not be enough, given that the company is facing mounting legal challenges, including copyright infringement and wrongful death lawsuits. 

OpenAI is reportedly considering the "self-insured" route and dipping into investor funds to cover claims.

Anthropic, meanwhile, is on the hook for $1.5 billion (yes, billion with a B) to settle a class-action suit. Anthropic has $30 billion in its coffers and is reportedly using its own funds to make the payout.

Using investor funds to pay claims like these is a slippery slope. The practice could ultimately hinder the progress of AI innovation. Investors want to be part of something new, something innovative when they back startups. They don't want to help pay legal bills."

AI Impact

Early and long-time, former female Meta employee sues for sexual harassment, gender discrimination. Really!

Seems to be another phony Me Too event! Could this be a frivolous or even politically motivated lawsuit? Or is her mental health the issue?

So this woman worked 15 years at this company and sues the company after being laid off!

Men watch out in the battle of the sexes! The matriarchat is coming! 😊

"... Kelly Stonelake, who spent 15 years at the company and rose to the rank of director, alleges in the lawsuit she faced a cycle of gender-based discrimination and harassment that persisted from shortly after her hiring in 2009 to when she was laid off in January 2024. ...

By the time she was laid off, Stonelake states in the suit she was on extended medical leave for post-traumatic stress disorder. ..."

Early Meta employee sues for sexual harassment, gender discrimination   | TechCrunch