Erin Andrews Settles Multi-Million Dollar Internet Privacy Lawsuit

Earlier this year, Erin Andrews won a $55 million dollar privacy lawsuit against those whose actions and/or negligence resulted in a naked video of her being uploaded onto the Internet for eternity.  During her trial, the jury found that the hotel where she was video taped naked to be liable for approximately $26 million of the $55 million dollars in damages awarded.

According to The Tennessean, the hotel that was held to be negligent in protecting Ms. Andrew's privacy has settled its portion of the lawsuit.  While terms of the settlement are confidential, it wouldn't surprise me if Ms. Andrews settlement was between $15-$20 million dollars.  The settlement was reached before the judge was about to rule on whether the hotel could be on the hook for the entire $55 million dollars.

We may never know the exact settlement amount.  However, the bottom line is that Ms. Andrews will be naked on the Internet forever.  While Ms. Andrews has successfully persevered despite these circumstances, no amount of money will be able to permanently remove her online naked images and make things right.

Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.



    

ESPN Fires Curt Schilling Over Facebook Post

ESPN fired Curt Schilling, a former major league baseball star after he made an offensive Facebook post.  This was not the first time that Schilling's social media behavior had gotten him in trouble; however, this post was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.  It showed a photo of a man that appeared to be dressed as a woman and stated, "LET HIM IN" TO THE RESTROOM WITH YOUR DAUGHTER OR ELSE YOUR'RE A NARROW MINDED, JUDGMENTAL, UNLOVING, RACIST BIGOT WHO NEEDS TO DIE!!!

Last year, Schilling was suspended from ESPN for an offensive Tweet that compared some Muslims with Nazis.  In that case, Schilling deleted the post and quickly apologized. However, during this social media crisis instead of apologizing for the post quickly he doubled down and defended it on his blog.  

Schilling has the right to voice his opinions. However, under his agreement with ESPN there is most likely a morals clause and under ESPN's social media policy it most likely enables it to fire him for making those opinions public on social media.  Most jobs in the U.S. are at-will meaning that employees may be fired for any reason or no reason at all that doesn't violate public policy (i.e. discrimination-age, race, gender, religion etc...) 

Schilling's reputation has taken a tremendous hit.  It is highly questionable whether he will be given another opportunity by a large media company to be a sports commentator.  It wasn't just one offensive social media post that did him in.  Schilling's cumulative comments online and offline and how he responded to them made it easy for ESPN to fire him.  

Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.

Thailand Wants Foreigners To Register Their Social Media Accounts

According to The Washington Post, Thailand wants foreigners who move to the country to register their social media account information with the government.  A Thailand government spokesman has stated that the request is not mandatory; however, the form that ex-patriots must complete does not indicate that this information is optional.

This new request is not surprising since governments around the world are increasingly monitoring and tracking the digital habits of those within their boarders and around the world. The question is which country will follow in Thailand's foot steps?

 Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.