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From: mcglk@scott.stat.washington.edu (Ken McGlothlen)
Newsgroups: misc.legal,news.admin
Subject: Re: Lawsuits (and countersuits)
Summary: You've got to be kidding.
Keywords: lawsuit, countersuit, silly, brain-damage
Message-ID: <941@entropy.ms.washington.edu>
Date: 19 Jul 88 21:39:43 GMT
References: <12230@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <12260@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: news@entropy.ms.washington.edu
Reply-To: mcglk@scott.biostat.washington.edu (Ken McGlothlen)
Organization: UW Statistics, Seattle
Lines: 69

In some silly article, era1987@violet.berkeley.edu (Mark Ethan Smith) writes:
+----------
| In article <12230@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> skyler@violet.berkeley.edu () writes:
| +----------
| |  [...suits can be countersued, look up "caprice"...]
| +----------
|
| [...oh, a lot you know, Skyler...]
|
| +----------
| | The laws cited require proof of _discrimination_ in _employment or hiring_.
| +----------
|
| Discrimination in employment andhiring are two special cases of
| discrimination, but not the only cases.
+----------

Yes, that's true, "--Mark"--but those two special cases are the only ones
you are able to sue on.  One point for Skyler.

This lawsuit is truly groundless.  "--Mark" can waste time and money on a
network threatening to sue people all "--Mark" wants, and there will
undoubtedly be some lawyers that will tell "--Mark" that "--Mark" might
have a case.  Sadly, I doubt "--Mark" would win, and "--Mark" would probably
end up looking more foolish than "--Mark" currently does.

I'd hate to have to resort to using "s/he/it" (pronounce it as you like)
whenever I was addressing someone.  Most people don't have this sort of
monomania, and personally, I don't see how the pronoun "she" is in any way
discriminatory, derogatory, or diminuitive.  The fact that you do saddens
me (I trust Trish [Skyler] would in no way be offended if I were to refer
to . . . well, how *do* you want to be addressed, Trish?). . . .

+----------
| [discussion of ethnic slurs]
|
| When an organization agrees not to discriminate they usually
| publish a statement of nondiscrimination.  It says that they do not
| discriminate on the basis of certain factors, or that they do not
| discriminate against anyone on the basis of such factors.  If they only
| stipulated that they would refrain from discriminating against
| employees and students, their policy would not fulfil EEO/AA
| requirements.  The requirement to receive federal subsidies or meet
| EEO/AA laws is not to discriminate.  Period.  
|
| I suspect that certain sites, particularly the ones with a
| reputation for taking their finances very seriously, are not going to
| risk their federal subsidies on somebody's insistence that harassing
| people on the basis of sex or race is just fun.
+----------

There are some major portions missing of "--Mark"'s train of logic here.  How
are these people "discriminating" against "--Mark" by referring to "--Mark" 
as "she"?

Seems to me that "--Mark" would do better by using USENET only as a read-
only service.  If "--Mark" had something to add to a discussion, "--Mark"
could use private mail, and reduce the pronouns to the set {you, me}.  As
it is, "--Mark" is just asking to be referred to by indirect sex-based
pronouns.

It's sad, in a way--"--Mark" otherwise seems articulate enough.  But I
find myself vaguely offended that there is someone out there that views
the use of "she" and "her" as discriminatory--perfectly proper pronouns,
being used perfectly properly.

				--Ken McGlothlen
				  mcglk@scott.biostat.washington.edu
				  mcglk@max.acs.washington.edu
				  mcglk@max.bitnet