New Reddit Anti-Bullying Policy

Sam Seder

Reddit is updating its policies on harassment and bullying. They will be taking a more active role to protect individuals while hoping to maintain their hands-free approach to moderation and community building, writes the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Site administrators wrote on Friday that they are changing their practices “to prohibit attacks and harassment of individuals through Reddit…”

They defined harassment as: “Systematic and/or continued actions to torment or demean someone in a way that would make a reasonable person (1) conclude that Reddit is not a safe platform to express their ideas or participate in the conversation, or (2) fear for their safety or the safety of those around them.”

Administrators praised the social media network’s growth since its launch 10 years ago and also addressed a growth in harassment directed at individuals, writs the CBC.

They addressed specifically the posting of people’s private information, or links to people’s private information, without their consent (known as doxing).

Majority Report discusses it.

(Updated article)

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/05/14/reddit-is-finally-introducing-an-anti-harassment-policy/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/reddit-targets-bullying-sexism-and-doxing-with-new-anti-harassment-policy-1.3075928

Is Cosby In Too Deep?

Secular Talk

Bill Cosby “almost” responded to the rape allegations against him in a new interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America (GMA),” writes The Huffington Post.

He was joined for his interview by the leaders of a group that brings awareness to the state of underfunded schools in rural Alabama, writes The Hollywood Reporter.

The interview seemed designed to discuss his work with the organization, but GMA aired only the portions of the interview that involved questions about the sexual-assault allegations. More of the interview is set to air on ABC’s Nightline, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Cosby said he’s baffled by the situation, and the interview with Good Morning America aired with little promotion on Friday.

When ABC asked him about allegations that he drugged and raped many women, Cosby didn’t directly address the questions, writes The Huffington Post.

(Updated article)

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bill-cosby-responds-rape-allegations-795870

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/15/bill-cosby-gma-interview_n_7290686.html

New Lawsuit Against McDonald’s

According to sources, a group of minority fast food workers accused McDonald’s Corp. of violating their civil rights in a new lawsuit between the Fight For 15 movement and the Oak Brook, Ill.-based multinational.

Backed by the Service Employees International Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, ten workers filed a federal complaint in Virginia today against McDonald’s and one of its 2,500 independent owner-operators, a franchisee company called Soweva.

Were people fired for being black?

The workers, nine of whom are black, say Soweva managers told them they needed to “get the ghetto out of the store” and fired them after hiring a string of white employees in 2014. McDonald’s corporate headquarters failed to correct the alleged discrimination and should be held liable as well, the complaint said.

The complaint, which also alleges instances of sexual harassment, seeks damages under Title VII of 1964’s Civil Rights Act.

It comes at a time when McDonald’s is facing increased exposure to labor complaints and lawsuits. By naming McDonald’s Corp.in the complaint, these legal actions challenge the legitimacy of McDonald’s’ contractual agreement with franchisees, which stipulates that McDonald’s Corp. can’t be held liable for any labor law violations committed in their restaurants.

Blake Farenthold Sued By Former Communications Director

Randolph Blake Farenthold is a congressman who has been the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 27th congressional district since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.

According to the Washington Post, he was an attorney and owned a computer consulting and web design firm before being elected in 2010. Now he’s in Congress, where he chairs the subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service. He won re-election for second time this year, defeating Democratic challenger Wesley Reed — a feat made easier by GOP redistricting that made his seat safer for Republicans.

Farenthold sponsored six bills in 2013, according to his last report card from Govtrack.com, which tallies congressional stats. He attracted only four co-sponsors for them, putting him in last place (out of 435) in that category. But he did have perfect attendance.

Farenthold is being sued by a former staffer Lauren Greene over sexual harassment. Greene, Farenthold’s former communications director, claimed in a complaint filed last week that the congressman made inappropriate, sexually related comments to her.

TYT video.

Couple Wins $1M Suit Against Major Bank Over Loan Collection Call Harassment

According to Yahoo, Bank of America is being forced to hand over more than $1 million to a Florida couple after the bank flooded them with hundreds of loan collection calls for years.

In a complaint filed in July, attorneys for Nelson and Joyce Coniglio said that the couple had been on the receiving end of “patterns of outrageous, abusive and harassing conduct” by a subsidiary of Bank of America that included 700 calls in four years, after the bank said the couple fell behind on mortgage loan payments in 2009.

The Coniglios also received “threatening collection letters asserting false and misleading information,” the complaint said.

The couple sent multiple letters from legal representation asking the bank to stop, but the calls — sometimes up to five a day — continued.

In the end, a Florida judge awarded the couple $1,051,000 — approximately $1,500 for every call — in addition to court costs and attorney fees.

“This judgment against Bank of America is an epic win for consumers across the country,” Billy Howard, an attorney for the Coniglios told ABC News. “It’s time to fight back against these ‘robo-bullies’.”

The Coniglios’ case was not the first time Bank of America has faced accusations of intense harassment by phone.

In September 2013, the bank paid a record $32 million to settle a class action lawsuit with a reported 7.7 million customers who claimed they were harassed by such “robocalls.” In that case, Bank of America said it denied the allegations but settled to avoid further legal costs.

“We would be out at dinner and they would ring my mother’s cellphone,” son Jason Coniglio told the Tampa Bay Times, “then they would call my dad’s cellphone and then when we got back to the house, there would be another message on the answering machine.”

At their wits end, the couple sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act.

“‘Once a debt collector is told to stop calling, whether it be in writing or verbally, it doesn’t make a difference,” said David Mitchell, one of the family’s attorneys.

“Every call after that is considered a willful violation of the (law.)”

Bank of America ended up missing a deadline to oppose the lawsuit, and the Coniglios won by default in October.

Last week the judge dismissed the bank’s attempt to set aside the default judgment and awarded the couple $1,051,000 – approximately $1,500 for every call – in addition to court costs and attorney fees.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2870944/Couple-wins-1-million-lawsuit-against-Bank-America-harassment-receiving-700-robocalls-4-years.html#ixzz3LhfpWYi3