freefromeditors: "Job pledge" suit filed by former Times-Picayune staffers

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

"Job pledge" suit filed by former Times-Picayune staffers

Most of us lived by the pledge, but in reality, knew that it probably wasn't worth the paper it was printed on, but apparently several former Times-Picayune staffers are suing to see if it was worth something.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...: the story talks about the changes in NOLA, which came after Advance broke the pledge in Michigan. Is it possible for Michigan employees to have a similar lawsuit?; 18 December, 2013 13:21
Jim of L-Town said...: Good question, but one I don't have the answer to. I'm sure anyone could file a suit, but then winning it might be another story.; 18 December, 2013 15:47
Anonymous said...: Not to be a buzzkill but my guess is the statute of limitations has lapsed on such a suit, at least by former FJ employees. I'm no attorney and I do hope I'm wrong. As an ex-staffer myself, I was once under the magical spell of the jobs pledge. I would say this: If the statute of limitations is not an issue, a lawsuit challenging the jobs pledge false promise seems like a winner and I wonder why no one at the FJ -- at least to my knowledge -- has tested it in the courts. Management broke a contract. Period. Now, what are the damages?; 19 December, 2013 09:08
Anonymous said...: Hey Anon 09:08, I agree such a suit should be a slam dunk if the statute of limitations isn't an issue. But I seem to recall another snag: All of the FJ employees who accepted a buy-out, grudgingly or not, surely waived their rights to sue over the broken lifetime jobs pledge. If anyone didn't accept the buy-out offer or severance package, I suppose they might have a case if they were forced out. Anyone who somehow survived the cuts wouldn't have a case because they were not harmed, and if they left later it was too late to sue because the pledge already had been revoked. If there are any such survivors, they might still have a case, again, unless the filing deadline has lapsed.; 20 December, 2013 14:41
Anonymous said...: My buy out included promising not to make disparaging remarks with the threat of losing my pension when it comes. I'm still afraid of liking or posting comments on FB for fear of something happening to my pension. Is anyone else that afraid? How can we find out about the statute of limitations? And what exactly would the statute be?; 21 December, 2013 22:22
Anonymous said...: The statute of limitations varies by civil or criminal law. In some cases it may be 1 year, in others three years or even up to 12 years, maybe even more. I am not an attorney but I suggest you simply check with one. I bet you can get a free answer to your question in a telephone consultation. I suggest calling an attorney who specializes in civil litigation. Due to GM and its buyouts and contracts, my guess is there are loads of attorneys knowledgeable about all this in the Flint/Genesee County area. If you're going to call, better do so immediately, or at least after the holidays. If you get an answer or especially if you decide to sue, please post updates here anonymously. By the way, I can't believe your buy-out didn't bar you from suing over the revoked jobs pledge. If such a clause is in the fine print somewhere, that'll make suing much tougher sledding. An attorney can help review the buy-out lingo, too. Hope this helps!; 22 December, 2013 12:05
Anonymous said...: Hi Anon 22:22, too bad you still must live in fear of exercising your free speech rights and too bad a newspaper/media company is suppressing them for lo these many years. That said, let me introduce you to the anonymous world of proxies, which hide your online tracks. I use TOR. It's free. Fine it here: https://www.torproject.org/index.html.en; 22 December, 2013 12:10
Jim of L-Town said...: I don't usually post comments with commercial links. The above was specific enough about the previous comments that I'm allowing it, but do your own research on Tor before using. I found an interesting article about Tor here: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/10/08/what-is-tor-and-why-does-it-matter/#!qvtIq; 23 December, 2013 07:11
Anonymous said...: Thanks for allowing the TOR link, Jim. I assure you that, in posting it, I have no affiliation with TOR and, again, it is free software. I was just trying to be helpful. I suppose I could've left out the link and just mentioned the software by name and let folks google it. Anyway, you allowed the link in this case, so all is good. As an alternative to TOR, folks can simply google lists or proxies and plug one into their browser. This will allow them to surf and post anonymously. But, I agree with you, do your research first to ensure you are indeed surfing anonymously.; 23 December, 2013 09:19