Ohio's public records law has a provision fining municipalities that improperly dispose of official documents. And a bunch of "citizen activists" there have realized that a lot of towns dispose of a lot of records improperly.
"Bloody 'ell!" That ejaculation is likely issuing forth from the lips of celebrity restaurateur Gordon Ramsay—as well as "Come on," and "You donkey!"—as he contemplates the ongoing sexism-related labor dispute that has shut down the fancy NYC restaurant bearing his name since last weekend. "Fuck me!" he is also likely saying. "This is a real Kitchen Nightmare!" he is adding, in all likelihood. "What is this, a real life Hell's Kitchen?" he is wondering aloud, we also believe.
BP went after three companies yesterday with lawsuits for "misconduct" (ha!) and for tarnishing its good name over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year, most notably Halliburton. Yesterday's filing blasts Halliburton for "improper conduct, errors and omissions, including fraud and concealment," and it is thought the company is seeking some $42 billion in damages. But don't worry, Halliburton is used to this sort of thing. They'll probably be just fine.
The Taco Bell lawsuit that caused a nation to stare down at the half-eaten Gorditas in their hands and question the true nature of the oily, meat-like substance that filled them has been withdrawn.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss asked a federal appeals court to revive their case against Facebook. In the course of doing so, their attorney admitted the twins already have tons of Facebook cash. But money, you see, isn't the point!
In your cooling Tuesday media column: Nancy Grace gets sued, traffic stats for the post-paywall NYTimes.com, Hearst meets Mark Burnett, trade magazines roll up and die, and more Nocturnalist for all.
Ever since The Huffington Post sold itself off to AOL for an enormous pile of treasure, the legions of people who've been happily blogging for HuffPo for free for all these years have been asking themselves: Hey, shouldn't we get a piece of that pie? Now, they are demanding it.
In your serene Wednesday media column: Jay Severin gets canned, a blogger sues over working conditions, Pinch defends his paywall, Hearst is full of catty status-seekers, and Rachel Maddow will make you a martyr.
Last week, Facebook found itself at the center of a firestorm over a page set up calling for a third Palestinian intifada. The page was 'liked' by more than 350,000 users and condemned by the Israeli government and the Anti-Defamation league. Ultimately Facebook pulled it down because it said administrators and members were participating in ""direct calls for violence" in violation of its policies.
The recently fired chief operating officer of fashion label Marc Jacobs International has sued his boss for, among other things, making employees look at gay porn and perform pole dances. If true, these allegations could rock the staid, buttoned-down world of fashion.
Former American Apparel employee Irene Morales sent sexy texts and pictures to Dov Charney that undermine her accusations of sexual harassment. Turns out the other woman who recently filed a harassment suit against Charney, Kimbra Lo, sent some "flirty" emails and texts of her own which Charney's legal team says absolves the notoriously sleazy CEO, according to the Post. Meanwhile, some people have been setting up blogs dedicated to posting compromising images of both women, including this image from a photoshoot with Dov.
Earlier this month, notoriously pervy American Apparel CEO Dov Charney was sued for a quarter of a billion dollars by a former employee named Irene Morales. Her accusations of sexual harassment fit with Charney's longstanding reputation for bad behavior in the workplace. But judging by emails and text messages we've obtained, there may very well be another side to the story.
