NASCAR: Faster than a Speeding Lawsuit!
Well, that didn’t take long.
No sooner than a NASCAR led Flying Squad (A Navy term, sorry.) arrive on scene at Kentucky Speedway two NNS officials have been yanked from the jobs and placed on administrative leave.
It’s not known the identities of the two but Joe Balash and Mike Dolan the two highest in pay grade named are still on site so we know they aren’t those that were axed.
At this point, admittedly a very early point, NASCAR hasn’t found any evidence Mauricia Grant, the fired employee, where Grant complained to her supervisors or other NASCAR employees about the way she was treated during her tenure as a NASCAR inspector.
That pretty much falls inline with my early, very early impressions, she’s a victim of a couple knuckle-draggers and not any systematic discrimination, but the revelations didn’t stop her shyster from weighing in on the news.
Grant’s lawyer, Benedict P. Morelli of Morelli Ratner PC, called NASCAR’s action “unbelievable and astonishing” but said it was too little too late for his client.
“It seems to me that maybe they should close the barn door before the horse runs out, instead of after the horse runs out,” Morelli told AP. “This is what you do when you are in a defensive posture. They should have known this was going on.”
“All this does is prove that she was telling the truth,” Morelli said. “It’s proof positive that it was going on, and it’s too little too late.”
Whatever guy, what did you expect, for them to sit back and let you and the 40 lawyers you have on staff rake them over the coals? All it proves is two of her allegations may be true, she listed 24 by name and a litany of others that were named by title or position only.
As a sidenote, that it may speak to the size of the judgment they are seeking. The law firm of Morelli & Ratner that is representing Grant is mighty proud of their record as most firms should be.
Under a listing of “results” they list no cases won, or tried for that matter, for workplace discrimination. Is that a possible reason for such a large dollar amount asked in this case, is it an attempt to gain some street cred in these type cases?
That’s pure speculation on my part and in the end it matters little, what does matter is the final outcome and that is a couple years and millions spent in retainer fees from now.
Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Kentucky Speedway, Sports, Motorsports, Auto Racing, Nationwide Series, Morelli Ratner PC, Full Throttle
There is absolutely no way that NASCAR wants this case to go to trial.
Whether this is the fault of a few knuckle-draggers or not, NASCAR is highly vulnerable legally and even more vulnerable in the court of public opinion if the ugly details come spilling out in public testimony. And it should be apparent by NASCAR’s action today that at least some of the allegations are true.
NASCAR needs to pay up to make this case go away. She won’t get anywhere in the ballpark of what the suit asks for. These cases routinely settle for a few million.
And then NASCAR needs to fire everyone involved.
I won’t go that far yet Doug although admit that may be the best further down the road.
Until there’s some word on what the two were suspended for I make no judgment. They may be gone for some admin type BS and not related to what was said or done to her.
Why would their suspensions be tied to the case if there was no merit to it? NASCAR would have loudly annnounced it otherwise as well as who the parties are. The suspensions have to be the first step to an out of court settlement. And if NASCAR can man up to their mistake and pay the fine, they will in the long run be better off for it.
The smoke is rapidly turning into a fire that may erupt into a major conflagration.
This case will continue to be tried in the court of public opinion. That will be to the advantage of Ms. Grant, the plantiff. My orginal take was that the attorneys for the plantiff should keep her face off the news and away from ‘Oprah’ type hype. I now believe that is exactly what the attorneys seek.
NA$CAR will have plenty of egg on their collective faces regardless of the proof of all the charges. Their best hope is to offer a settlement ASAP. Make it go away.
George, obviously since you’ve commented two of the names have been released.
At least they have if the anon report can be believed. And I continue to believe it all fits with my hypothesis.
Just a couple of idjits and a whole bunch of piling on. IF, and that’s a BIG if, that’s the case and she and her shysters are guilty of the dog pile that needs to be discovered as well.
Settling too early leaves the impression the entire litany of charges are true.
This actually fits right into NASCAR’s hands and their ‘we were not aware of these things’ position. Now that this has been made public, and some offenders have stated that ‘well, she never said there was a problem’, or deny they said those things. Now NASCAR can say, ‘well, once we knew about it, we took action’.
the whole case for NASCAR like in most HR violations is that the ‘reporting’ procedure was not followed.
Just a guess, but I do think these things happens, but was not reported in a timely manner. NASCAR wins this one in court, but loses in the mainstream public eye.