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Welcome to the nexus of ethics, psychology, morality, technology, health care, and philosophy
Showing posts with label Civil Suit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Civil Suit. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Tavis Smiley Ordered To Pay PBS $1.5 Million For Violating Network's 'Morality' Clause

Vanessa Romo
npr.org
Originally published 4 March 20

Here is an excerpt:

Throughout the three-week civil trial, jurors heard from six women who testified that Smiley subjected subordinates to unwanted sexual advances. "One woman who accused Smiley of sexual harassment left the show and received a $325,000 settlement," Variety reported.

The win for PBS may prove to be significant for other companies facing workplace suits stemming from sexual-misconduct allegations, who are seeking to break ties with accused individuals.

"In the midst of the #MeToo movement, he violated our morals clause... You can't have a consensual relationship between a manager and a subordinate because of the power dynamic. It's never consensual because that manager has power over all aspects of that person's employment," the network's lead attorney, Grace Speights, said in court.

Smiley's dismissal was one of many in the wake of the #MeToo movement which first gained global attention in 2017, after dozens of women accused movie producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Years later, a jury has convicted Weinstein of rape, Bill Cosby is behind bars for sexual assault, and popular hosts including Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose — who was fired by PBS in 2017 — have been removed from the airwaves amid accusations of misconduct.

The info is here.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Lawsuit Aims to Hold 2 Contractors Accountable for C.I.A. Torture

By Sheri Fink and James Risen
The New York Times
Originally posted on November 27, 2016

Here is an excerpt:

Dr. Mitchell was first publicly identified as one of the architects of the C.I.A.’s “enhanced interrogation” program nearly a decade ago, and has given some news media interviews, but is now providing a more detailed account of his involvement. His book, “Enhanced Interrogation: Inside the Minds and Motives of the Islamic Terrorists Trying to Destroy America” (Crown Forum), was written with Bill Harlow, a former C.I.A. spokesman. It was reviewed by the agency before release. (The New York Times obtained a copy of the book before its publication date.)

In the book, Dr. Mitchell alleges that harsh interrogation techniques he devised and carried out, based on those he used as an Air Force trainer in survival schools to prepare airmen if they became prisoners of war, protected the detainees from even worse abuse by the C.I.A.

Dr. Mitchell wrote that he and Dr. Jessen sequestered prisoners in closed boxes, forced them to hold painful positions for hours and prevented them from sleeping for days. He also takes credit for suggesting and implementing waterboarding — covering a detainee’s face with a cloth and pouring water over it to simulate the sensation of drowning — among other now-banned techniques. “Although they were unpleasant, their use protected detainees from being subjected to unproven and perhaps harsher techniques made up on the fly that could have been much worse,” he wrote. C.I.A. officers, he added, “had already decided to get rough.”

The article is here.

Editor's note: If you think torture works, please read: Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, by Shane O'Mara.