Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Re: [BDSM-LegalIssues] Re: Arrested, ALL charges dismissed, career ruined WAS: You did,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!

I've been watching all the jumping up and down and chest beating from
people like SH, Jay Wiseman, and Cardenas, and I just can't understand
why they think it's okay to insist that a business owner take that kind
of chance.

I used to own a company that did business with the government, and you
have no idea how much insurance the government wants you to carry for
various things. Every time I got a government contract, the first thing
I did was to change (and initial all the changes) about the amount of
liability insurance I was carrying for various things (I carried typical
insurance for the business I was in, but not enough to satisfy the
government requirements.) No one ever complained, and I got a lot of
government work, but potential liability is one thing that they drum
into you when you are taking business law in college. (Yes, I did go to
college, and I studied business law in general for business course work,
and for a couple of my past professions, in particular.)

I am not an attorney, and I certainly don't teach business law, but none
of this chest beating has given me any insight into how you people can
expect any business owner or manager (including corporations which are
responsible to their stockholders) to accept this kind of liability. In
a perfect world, things might possibly be different. But we're not
living in a perfect world.

Companies carry liability insurance. It's a cost of doing business.
And now you've heard about potential problems from an insurance
professional who certainly would know what she's talking about.

How can you insist that employers should be forced to take these kinds
of risks?

Domina

Alexandra Forte wrote:
>
>
> i'm normally just a lurker here, too...but this one has finally pulled
> me out of the shadows as well :)
>
> Domina said:
>
> >So, say a bellman who works for you, is arrested for rape. Now, if you
> >keep him in his position, YOU are liable if he happens to attack a guest
> >or one of his co-workers.
>
> i've been following this discussion with some interest as it's
> evolved... and i must be honest...while i definitely have great personal
> sympathy for people who are fired from their jobs because of an arrest/
> conviction (especially in the realm of personal/sexual politics)...and i
> sincerely hope i (or any of my friends/family) NEVER find myself/
> themselves in that situation...my initial thoughts about this thread
> haven't really changed all that much....despite all the banter back and
> forth here...because the above statement is EXACTLY what popped into my
> mind the instant the whole discussion began...since--in the US...whether
> you like it or not...or think it's right or wrong--this whole debate
> hinges on 'liability' far more than on 'right' or 'wrong'....
>
> let me state up front that i'm not a lawyer...but i have a background in
> insurance...and most liability underwriters would fall into a faint on
> the floor and have convulsions if they knew that one of their business
> insureds kept an employee on the property after an arrest like that...in
> fact...if the business owner *knew* about the arrest...didn't remove the
> problem employee from the premises...AND didn't have a conversation with
> their insurance agent about it (where the insurance agent would jump up
> and down over and over, saying "get rid of them....immediately!")...and
> then this same employee did something bad to a customer or another
> employee...then...not only would the court likely hold the employer
> partly responsible...their insurance company would likely do everything
> they could to leave them high and dry, too...and refuse to pay
> ANYTHING ...despite years of good relationships and prompt payment of
> premiums from their insured...
>
> that doesn't even begin to cover the number of lawyers who would be
> lining up at that customer/other employee's door...absolutely salivating
> at the financial prospects of a civil suit against the business...AND
> the business owner...so it would be a financially-crippling one-two
> punch for most businesses to open themselves up to that sort of
> liability (despite what the individual business owner/manager may think
> personally about the rightness or wrongness of the
> situation)...especially when you're talking about smaller businesses
> with limited resources...
>
> so tie every bit of this directly back to the litigious nature of
> American society...where everyone can sue everyone for just about
> everything....and succeed...because that's what drives business
> practices in this country far more than the laws do...or "right and
> wrong" does...
>
> --
> Lane alexandra {MS}
>
> "I like you like muppets like fisting."
> -- Mike McGee, Def Poetry
>
>

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posted by Annja Sue at 9:48 PM

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