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 Ben Stein gaffs again
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the_ignored
SFN Addict

2562 Posts

Posted - 01/12/2012 :  20:58:26  Show Profile Send the_ignored a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Stein is once again playing the victim card only this time it doesn't look like it's going to work.

According to the complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Kyocera approached Stein in December 2010 to inquire as to his availability to appear in TV advertisements for Kyocera printers. Stein agreed and they began negotiating a contract. Three months later, before the contract was executed, Kyocera learned that Ben Stein is an idiot who denies the reality of global climate change. So they changed their mind and withdrew the offer, because they didn't want to be represented by an idiot.


Also, according to Stein, he has a right to the $300,000 under the Constitution, which guarantees him freedom of religion. See, Stein believes that global warming isn't real because "God, and not man, control[s] the weather." When Kyocera declined to pay Stein $300,000 to represent the corporation in part because it doesn't want to be associated with that belief, it violated Stein's constitutional right to $300,000. He also accuses Kyocera of violating his "freedom of speech" and "political freedom." Stein has no political freedom, because Kyocera robbed him of the freedom when it refused to pay him $300,000.

Uh, suing a foreign company because they're allegedly not abiding under the American constitution?

Right...

Anyway, that's how Ben Stein became an effective spokesman for the Republican values of hard work, free enterprise, and individual accountability: By speaking out against environmental fascism and by suing people for not giving him money.



HT to PZ Myers

>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.

What brought that on? this. Original posting here.

Another example of this guy's lunacy here.

Edited by - the_ignored on 01/12/2012 20:59:09

Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie

USA
4826 Posts

Posted - 01/13/2012 :  07:26:05   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Valiant Dancer's Homepage Send Valiant Dancer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by the_ignored

Stein is once again playing the victim card only this time it doesn't look like it's going to work.

According to the complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Kyocera approached Stein in December 2010 to inquire as to his availability to appear in TV advertisements for Kyocera printers. Stein agreed and they began negotiating a contract. Three months later, before the contract was executed, Kyocera learned that Ben Stein is an idiot who denies the reality of global climate change. So they changed their mind and withdrew the offer, because they didn't want to be represented by an idiot.


Also, according to Stein, he has a right to the $300,000 under the Constitution, which guarantees him freedom of religion. See, Stein believes that global warming isn't real because "God, and not man, control[s] the weather." When Kyocera declined to pay Stein $300,000 to represent the corporation in part because it doesn't want to be associated with that belief, it violated Stein's constitutional right to $300,000. He also accuses Kyocera of violating his "freedom of speech" and "political freedom." Stein has no political freedom, because Kyocera robbed him of the freedom when it refused to pay him $300,000.

Uh, suing a foreign company because they're allegedly not abiding under the American constitution?

Right...

Anyway, that's how Ben Stein became an effective spokesman for the Republican values of hard work, free enterprise, and individual accountability: By speaking out against environmental fascism and by suing people for not giving him money.



HT to PZ Myers


It's worse than that.

The Constitution just gives you recourse against a government agency or body for the first amendment. A private company is not encumbered this way.

A private corporation (non-municipal or governmental) may terminate contracts at will as long as they do not breach their end of it, the other party can sue, but they will lose.

Stein should know this.

Foreign or not, the Constitution does not apply in the case of private contracts. He was supposed to be a contracted entity. (Therefore EEOC doesn't apply either)

He may be due some compensation for breach of contract, but cannot prevail on a suit based on the EEOC or Amendment 1 of the US Constitution.

The wording is clear and the case law is clear.

The government cannot discriminate against a religion nor aid a preferred religion.

Amendment 1 specifically says Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, interfere with the free practice of religion, or infringe on the people's right to free speech.

Amendment 14 transfers those strictures unto other governmental units of federal, state, and local through the equal protection under the law verbiage.

Tinker v. Des Moines and other case law has connected the dots.

Unless Stein can prove that Kyocera is a US governmental agency (fat chance there), his suit will spectacuraly fail and to the point where he may be ordered to pay Kyocera's legal fees.

Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils

Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 01/13/2012 :  08:12:24   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
To be fair, Stein alleges that a contract was established, and so Kyocera is in breach of it, and they breached the contract due to illegal religious discrimination (see the Civil Rights Act: no non-church employer may discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion). Stein is going to have to prove the first part, though, before the second argument (the one with the ridiculous implication that AGW denial is a protected religious creed - like the Virgin Birth - instead of just nutty anti-science) need be addressed.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie

USA
4826 Posts

Posted - 01/13/2012 :  09:29:07   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Valiant Dancer's Homepage Send Valiant Dancer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Dave W.

To be fair, Stein alleges that a contract was established, and so Kyocera is in breach of it, and they breached the contract due to illegal religious discrimination (see the Civil Rights Act: no non-church employer may discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion). Stein is going to have to prove the first part, though, before the second argument (the one with the ridiculous implication that AGW denial is a protected religious creed - like the Virgin Birth - instead of just nutty anti-science) need be addressed.


But he would be considered a consultant in this matter. He would not have the protection under the EEOC.

Breach of contract, yes.

He would have to prove that he was an applicant for employment or employee as defined by the EEOC. They were using him as a paid consultant to appear in a few commercials and were not going to retain him further as a spokesperson. This is typically a contractual consultant because he would not be offered any benefits and be responsible for his own FICA (both parts). Effectively, Stein is an employee of himself and cannot seek relief under the EEOC and by extension the Civil Rights Act.

Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils

Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 01/14/2012 :  07:39:51   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Huh. I didn't realize that contract workers aren't employed.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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sailingsoul
SFN Addict

2830 Posts

Posted - 01/14/2012 :  13:59:16   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send sailingsoul a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Dave W.

Huh. I didn't realize that contract workers aren't employed.
There are two categories, Independent Contractor (Self-Employed) or Employee, according to the IRS. There are some interesting points about the difference between what makes a "contractor" vs "employee" in the US, at least. It is common for employers to claim that their employees are contract workers when they are in fact employees according to IRS rules. People (workers) have more rights and protections than contractors who are self employed. People can by choice deprive themselves a bathroom break but employers can not, for example. Other rules like, contractors provide their won tools and set their own working schedule and there are others.

There are only two types of religious people, the deceivers and the deceived. SS
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podcat
Skeptic Friend

435 Posts

Posted - 01/15/2012 :  20:26:15   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send podcat a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I guess the question is once a contract is made, can it be broken because a party believes in something you don't agree with? Maybe Stein will prove "breach of contract" before a rational judge, but "intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress"?

“In a modern...society, everybody has the absolute right to believe whatever they damn well please, but they don't have the same right to be taken seriously”.

-Barry Williams, co-founder, Australian Skeptics
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