Comments and Commentaries from Bob Dorigo Jones

Photo: Wayne Tilcock/Davis Enterprise

A former University of California police officer who made international news two years ago by pepper-spraying a group of student protestors as they sat before him has just been awarded $38,000 after suing the university for workers’ compensation.

John Pike was a lieutenant on the UC Davis police force and was trying to break up a student protest in November, 2011.  Even though the students were sitting on the ground at the time of the incident, Pike walked up to them and sprayed them in the eyes from about a foot away. The students had been warned several times to leave the area, but even the university agreed after doing a follow-up investigation that using the pepper spray was wrong.

The officer was suspended and eventually fired.  Twenty-one students who had been sprayed sued the university and, in a settlement, each received $30,000. Yes, that means the officer who was fired for his misconduct will receive $8,000 more than each of the students he wrongly pepper-sprayed!  Only in America.

Of course, the students’ lawyers also received a handsome payout — an additional $250,000 that they split between themselves. If you’re wondering if each of the lawyers walked away with more money than the students or Pike…well, you’ll have to keep wondering. None of the published reports we could find break down the lawyers’ fees.  However, as we have seen time and time again, it would not be unusual for the lawyers to make more money than the people they represented.  Again, only in America!

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According to a report on FOX News, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has filed a lawsuit against a residential complex in Arizona that was built specifically to house the hearing impaired claiming that the complex discriminates against non-hearing impaired people.

As if that isn’t crazy enough, HUD originally helped fund the project after a federal study performed in 2005 found a great need for affordable housing for the hearing-impaired in the United States.  The complex, called Apache ASL Trails, is at full capacity and has a waiting list.  ASL stands for American Sign Language.

Opposition to the lawsuit is widespread and bi-partisan:

“I think it’s about the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a while,” said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who attempted to negotiate the impasse. “There are a lot of stories of out-of-control regulators, but this just seems to be going to the extreme.”

And Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat whose congressional district includes the housing complex says,

“What I know is the reality of my constituents who live at Apache ASL Trails. They love their community. They want to stay there. They’re grateful to have a community that welcomes them and their various ability levels.”

The Arizona Republic has reported that the 75-unit complex was built with about $2.6 million in HUD grant and stimulus funding. It was developed by the Arizona Deaf Senior Citizens Coalition and Cardinal Capital Management.  According to AZCentral.com:

“Records show that HUD was aware of the project’s purpose when it authorized grant funds in February 2008.”

Government officials in Arizona point out that the federal government has great discretion on how it interprets discrimination laws and that this lawsuit should have never been filed.  AZCentral.com reports that the Arizona Department of Housing Director Michael Trailor says he wants HUD to “change its interpretation of its non-discrimination law, agree it approved funding for the project in 2008, and that the complex is not discriminating, as evidenced by the mix of disabled and non-disabled tenants.”

So far, the management company and the Arizona Housing Department have had to spend $450,000 in legal fees in defense of the lawsuit.

Obviously, discrimination is a bad thing.  But what’s next? Will nursery schools be sued if they don’t accept senior citizens as students?  It will be a travesty if any more taxpayer money is wasted on this lawsuit.

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A union representing professors at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law recently filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit against the school over pay raises of $666 that were given to some of the professors.

The professors, who prior to being granted the pay raises had organized a collective bargaining unit at the college, say the dean picked that figure to retaliate against them for unionizing the faculty.  According to a blog for law professors that brought this to our attention, one of the faculty union organizers alleged in a memo distributed to the administration that:

[The $666 figure] is a universally understood symbol of the Antichrist or Devil — one of our culture’s most violent religious images. Implicitly, but unmistakably and obviously intentionally, [the Dean] used his powers to set faculty salaries as an occasion to brand his perceived opponents as the Antichrist.

The law school denies the charge and says the amount of the raise was simply the result of mathematical division.  Other faculty members received raises of $5,000, $3,000 or $0.

Certainly, the number 666 has an extremely negative connotation to millions of people because of its longtime association with the devil, but in our recent segment of “Let’s Be Fair,” we point out that the number isn’t always a bad omen.  Many people don’t know this, but a little computer company once priced its first product, the Apple I, at $666, and they’ve done pretty well since then.

Maybe the professors who were given raises of $666 will instead be divinely inspired to begin teaching their students to discourage litigation and use the courts only as a last resort.  You never know…miracles do happen!

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Since we begin this week by honoring America’s veterans, I’m taking a hiatus from talking about how lawsuit abuse is robbing Americans of freedoms we’ve enjoyed for generations to promote a great initiative aimed at helping those who have risked their lives protecting our freedoms from foreign enemies.

The Center for America, which sponsors this blog, is coordinating a national campaign called American Jobs for America’s Heroes to help unemployed National Guard members, veterans and spouses find skilled jobs in the private sector.  It’s an extremely important effort, and we need to do all we can to spread the word about it.

When you have a moment, please visit the Center For America website to learn more about this initiative.  Whether you are a job provider, a member of a trade association, or a friend or family member of someone who has served in the military, there is something you can do to connect a hero who is now in the job market with a potential employer.

In our “Let’s Be Fair” commentary this week, we also noted that a federal tax credit that rewards employers who hire veterans will expire at the end of this year.  If you would like to learn more about this tax incentive and how to take advantage of it before it ends, check out CFA’s free publication, “2013 Federal Tax Benefits for Hiring and Employing Veterans, National Guard Members and Reservists” here.

In addition to the CFA, the American Jobs for America’s Heroes alliance includes the National Guard, Corporate America Supports You (CASY) and the Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (MSCCN).  They have formed partnerships with hundreds of corporations across America resulting in the largest private sector job bank in the nation dedicated to military personnel. More than 3.5 million military personnel have benefited from CASY and MSCCN’s direct Applicant – Recruiter Connect Placement Program, job bank, job counseling and employment-readiness training, and other services. Phillips 66 is the lead national corporate sponsor of American Jobs for America’s Heroes.

Hiring a veteran does more than just honor their service, it strengthens America’s employers.  No one understands the importance of loyalty, commitment and initiative like a veteran.  So, if you’re an employer who is now hiring, make a special effort to hire someone who’s served in the military.  If you’re not an employer, help us spread the word!

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