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Starbucks said in a written statement that, "Our thorough investigation proved Mr. Washington's allegations to be completely unsubstantiated and without merit. We strongly believe we would have prevailed had this case gone further. However, we made a fiscally sound business decision to avoid further costs of litigation. Our hope is that this issue will be resolved soon so we, and Mr. Washington, can move on."

This is just outrageous. The plaintiff gamed Starbucks and they knuckled under. When are companies going to start standing up to this crap?

1 posted on 07/06/2009 5:53:52 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: Drew68

2 posted on 07/06/2009 5:56:37 PM PDT by library user
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To: Drew68
"I think they got out extremely cheap as it was," he said. "The only reason I settled was because of issues with my former lawyer."

What a dick.

3 posted on 07/06/2009 5:57:56 PM PDT by library user
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To: Drew68

>..”alleges in the July 2008 lawsuit that a white co-worker made racist comments..”

WHOA! That’s racist. Where’s my affirmative action lawyer? If you call him African-American in the piece, why don’t you call the other party Caucasian-American?


4 posted on 07/06/2009 5:58:26 PM PDT by max americana
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To: Drew68

Victor Washington of Shoreline, who is African-American .

Automatic in this day,since he ain’t just a regular American.


5 posted on 07/06/2009 5:58:46 PM PDT by silentreignofheroes (If I had any further to go,I'd be there.)
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To: Drew68

That dude would have gotten his umbrella back with a huge, ragged hole cut in it with a pair of rusty shears. Ditto for his shoelaces. Of course, that probably isn’t as satisfying as $120k in large bills.


6 posted on 07/06/2009 5:59:25 PM PDT by domenad (In all things, in all ways, at all times, let honor guide me.)
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To: Drew68

Its not unusual, it would cost Starbucks more than that to go to court. Sleazeballs have been doing this for years.


8 posted on 07/06/2009 6:00:54 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Drew68

It probably wasn’t racial to begin with. Just more con jobs.


10 posted on 07/06/2009 6:02:13 PM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
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To: Drew68

It’s probably not so outrageous. Companies the size and shape of Starbucks face hundreds, sometimes thousands, of race and gender discrimination complaints from customers and employees year. They ONLY settle those complaints when there is good evidence of bad facts. A (stupid) manager telling a black employee to tie his shoes, and a (careless) HR rep failing to follow up on per the manual are just the thing that prices out to low six figures.

(Starbucks’ “written statement” absolving itself of responsibility and proclaiming certain victory was one of the things it paid for in the settlement agreement...)


11 posted on 07/06/2009 6:02:26 PM PDT by only1percent
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To: Drew68

whoa, things like this just infuriate me. That damn race card, used again and again. The problem is, it still works in our overtly nauseatingly politically correct society. Race cards are thrown when people want something for nothing; they don’t want to work for it, they know they don’t deserve it, so instead of walking away, they just cry “racism”, and there is this sense of entitlement. it is the ultimate symbol of laziness. Not only that, but crying false race cards all the time minimize situations where true racism occurs. and that is the saddest part of all, that we can’t fight racism because of all these false accusations.

You know how Holder accused Americans of being “cowards” in discussion of race? What a bunch of crap. It’s almost as if you can’t say “hello” to a minority without being accused of racism.

that’s the world we live in. This is the world brought to you by Sharpton, the NAACP.

Oh, and this is how we elected a president sole based on his race.


15 posted on 07/06/2009 6:08:47 PM PDT by DecentAmerican
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To: Drew68
When are companies going to start standing up to this crap?

When their lawyers quit telling them, "You can't afford me to go to court. Gotta go--it's my tee time".

17 posted on 07/06/2009 6:11:05 PM PDT by randog (Tap into America!)
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To: Drew68

www.thecolorofcrime.com


18 posted on 07/06/2009 6:14:03 PM PDT by wac3rd (80 Carter/Obama 08)
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To: Drew68; All
It *isses me off when major corporations knuckle under to this type of legal terrorism. They figure it's less costly to pay out than to fight these battles. They are wrong. This capitulation will only result in more lawsuits in the future. This is how the shakedown industry works.

Jessie Jackson wrote the book on how to shake down a US corporation.

The media is also complicit in the way they report these stories. Anyone remember the early publicity in the Duke Lacrosse Case? Anyone not familiar with how the con works would have swore the guys were guilty. It's the WAY the media reports the story. I knew it was a fraud in about 20 milliseconds.
22 posted on 07/06/2009 6:23:27 PM PDT by truthguy (Good intentions are not enough!)
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To: Drew68
Starbucks agreed in April to pay a former lead network engineer in Seattle $120,000 plus a mediator's fee

Somebody should've mediated in a gag provision.

24 posted on 07/06/2009 6:26:00 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: Drew68
There are accountants and lawyers who argue that it's always best to pay a little now than a lot later.

Frequently they are wrong, particularly when there's a chance that copy-cats might pop-up.

At the moment I think I recall standing in line behind a minority gentleman and in front of a minority lady and the "boy" behind the counter said "fetch me a cup".

It was quite distressing. And the manager stood there and did nothing ~

26 posted on 07/06/2009 6:28:07 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Drew68
I almost forgot. I'm going to fire off a letter to Starbucks and tell them how dissapointed I am in them. I'm also going to tell them that from now on I will be a customer of Peet's Coffee (a local competitor).

I suggest everyone here do the same. Let them know that they will lose your business to the local competitor. They will lose a lot more than $120,000. They will lose a lot more than what it would have cost them to fight this case.

Oh by the way we need a "loser pays" provision in our tort laws. People will think twice about filing a ludicrous lawsuit like this if they have to pay. This won't happen as long as Dems control the State Legislatures. Vote them out.
27 posted on 07/06/2009 6:29:22 PM PDT by truthguy (Good intentions are not enough!)
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To: Drew68
Washington's former lawyer, Joyce Thompson of Frank Freed Subit & Thomas in Seattle, did not return phone calls. She and attorney Jillian Cutler have asked the court to tell Starbucks to cancel its outstanding check to Washington and cut two separate checks -- one for their fees and costs of $31,684 and a second check to Washington for the balance of $88,316.

There's not enough information in the story to tell what's going on between Washington and his attorneys, but I will make an educated guess: Starbucks probably made the first check payable to Washington and the lawyers jointly, and Washington intercepted it and tried to cash it in order to keep from paying his attorney fees.

A few years ago, I thwarted just such an attempt by a guy who sued and later settled with a bank client of mine. Plaintiff showed up at my office unexpectly and demanded his check. I was suspicious, and called opposing counsel, who informed me that he hadn't paid his bill.

34 posted on 07/06/2009 6:57:09 PM PDT by Huntress (Who the hell are you to tell me what's in my best interests?)
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To: Drew68

I once worked with a Hispanic from the Dominican Republic who threatened to file a discrimination lawsuit against my company. Instead of paying, the company unleased their lawyers on him and discovered that several members of his family had discrimination suits in the courts and that this was the third discrimation suit he had filed in 3 years. When confronted by these facts he agreed to sign a waiver clearing the company of any wrongdoing and in return the company would let him keep his job and not sue him.


39 posted on 07/06/2009 7:19:26 PM PDT by Larry381 ("in the final instance civilization is always saved by a platoon of soldiers" Oswald Spengler)
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To: Drew68

This happened to me in the 80s. I ran a company that videotaped weddings. I booked a black wedding and used a black guy to tape it. He fit in better than I would. She didn’t like his work and sued me for her money back. I brought the finished video to show to the court that we complied and fulfilled the contract. The white court magistrate wouldn’t look at the video and just gave her, appearing with her little son born before the wedding, her money back.


40 posted on 07/06/2009 7:20:19 PM PDT by George from New England (escaped CT 2006; now living north of Tampa Bay)
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To: Drew68

Victor Washington of Shoreline, who is African-American and worked for Starbucks from September 2006 until May 2008, alleges in the July 2008 lawsuit that a white co-worker made racist comments to him such as repeatedly telling him to “fetch” the co-worker’s umbrella and tie his shoes for him. In the lawsuit,

What ever happen to telling the co-worker to “f-off”? The coworker was not the boss and should have picked up their own unbrella and tie his shoes. Oh if it was me, I would have tied the shoes alright and he/she would never would have had blood flow again.


44 posted on 07/06/2009 8:21:36 PM PDT by napscoordinator
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To: Drew68

Good thing nobody asked him for Black Coffee.


47 posted on 07/06/2009 11:23:04 PM PDT by MaxMax (America's population is 304-Million. Obama must punish America for the other 4.7 Billion)
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