Posted on 02/06/2024 7:44:35 AM PST by ChicagoConservative27
An Oklahoma man was awarded $25 million in damages after a jury concluded that the state’s largest newspaper intentionally harmed him when it wrongfully identified him as the high school sports announcer who hurled racist remarks at players.
Scott Sapulpa was one of two announcers commentating on a March 2021 girls’ playoff game between Midwest City High School and Norman High School that made national headlines when the Norman team took a knee and the other commentator, Matt Rowan, went on a racist tirade against the girls.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Tourettes is my fall- back every time I cuss.
He won against a news outlet. Don’t complain. Take the W.
“I don’t think he should have gotten damages.”
I agree with the $5 million in damages but not the $20 million punitive.
He lost his job and most of his business clients not to mention the suffering by his family.
In Oklahoma…that’s not really a shock.
Baloney. It was either of two possible names. How long does it take to resolve that question? This is journalistic malpractice. Make the fake news pay.
It was libel, not a mistake. They could have waited until confirming someone's identity before dragging their name through the dirt.
Paging the family of Mr. Richard Jewell...
The punitive damages are awarded against defendants who refuse to stop their behavior. "News" outlets in particular refuse to clean up their act.
Arguably the punitive damages should be high enough to put the newspaper out of business and have every owner and employee suffer the same losses as the victim.
20 years ago, I would not disagree.
But now…nothing is ever erased on the internet. In addition, a lot of “news reporting” is simply cutting and pasting from another source. So, even though the original source corrected the story, the viral aspect of this probably did not.
In the end, good luck collecting any settlement from a media company. I imagine they have insurance against this stuff. But, they will get together and come up with a price the lawyers like…and the guy will get a small fraction after all of the costs.
Too bad its the tax payer that gets screwed in the end, not the dude that was racist.
While I am not defending this guy….low blood sugar can make you behave poorly. That’s why it is important to know the feeling and have something around that can bring you back to normal.
But…racist mindsets are not created from low blood sugar. The guy is a moron for saying that stuff in front of a live mic.
Truly a miracle.
The damage is done. Just like a man tied to a false accusation.
Maybe first to publish should hurt.
Gannett is a big evil rich corporation and they deserve to be gotten even with. I would have given him exponentially more.
“Diabetes makes you say racist things?”
Been around my oldest buddy a few times when he started slipping into a diabetic coma, he was saying weird $hit.
‘If you don’t read the newspapers, you’re uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you’re misinformed”
Mark Twain
Get killed in an airline crash — $10 million per death. Plenty of precedent.
Libeled for 3 hours in a newspaper before correction issued — $25 million, and it doesn’t kill you.
Injustice. That’s why lawfare is such an attractive option to Democrats.
good movie!!! ( GGGR i mean)
My guess is the trial court judge will cut this jury verdict to 9 million. 6 million to the client and 3 million to his lawyers.
This is right. Another insane Jury and an idiot court.
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