The Inbox, Summer Doldrums, And, Ahem, Nominations For Blawg 100 Close Very Soon ‎Edition

Yes, yes, we’ve asked you before to nominate us to the you-know-what, but we swear this is the very last time because nominations for that prestigious list close today.  We only ask because for lawyers who blog, this list is like the Academy Awards, and the Emmys, and the Grammies, and the Country Music Awards, all rolled into one.  And at Suits by Suits we are, in fact, ready for our close-up, Mr. DeMille (take the afternoon off if you know what movie that’s from).  Thanks if you’ve already nominated us. 

We’re not all about awards around here, though.  We’re hard at work.  While the streets around our Suits by Suits Global Headquarters are notoriously quiet while most folks are at the beach and Congress has left town, we’ve been scouring the planet looking for interesting stories to bring to your attention.  We have much to do – the CEO of Amazon is not yet paying $250 million for our work, unlike the venerable blog-printed-on-dead-tree just up the street.  Perhaps it’s because they have horoscopes and we don’t. 

In any event, here are some more items to add to that stack of must-read beach books:  

• The Picture Is Not Clear: We noted in June that Japanese camera company Olympus had settled a whistleblower suit brought by its former CEO.  But two other Olympus employees are continuing their suits against the company, alleging they were ostracized and pressured to quit for blowing the whistle; one claims Olympus has not restored him to his job even though the Japanese Supreme Court has ordered it to do so – more on those cases here. 
• You Say Cult, I Say Foundation: An employee of the Foundation for Critical Thinking, which seeks to promote “essential change in education and society through the cultivation of fairminded critical thinking,” is being sued by a former employee, who calls the group “cultlike” and says he was fired for refusing to have sex with his boss – who purportedly sent him pornographic pictures of herself, along with lurid messages, via the foundation’s e-mail service (note: that’s not a good management practice). 
• Old Dominion Fits Into New SOX: In what appears to be the first Sarbanes-Oxley claim to go to trial in Virginia, a jury awarded plaintiff Andrea Jones $950,000 from video-game company SouthPeak Interactive and two of its executives; the verdict form is here; and the court’s March 2013 opinion denying the defendants’ motions to dismiss is here. 
• Bartleby The Scrivener, Please Call Your Lawyer: Discrimination claims against law firms are up 140 percent, according to the EEOC – more on this story here.
• Geez, It’s A Blog Post, Not “This Town”: The editor of DCist, one of the “other” blogs that exist here in the Nation’s Capital, was fired for moonlighting – or moonblogging? – by writing a piece for Buzzfeed about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ acquisition of the Washington Post.  Key issue: the editor-in-chief “says he has a work contract but that as far as he can recall, it makes no mention of freelance rules.”
• And Tell Us The Recipe For The Deep-Fried Butter: Paula Deen’s lawyer will have to testify in the ongoing racial discrimination suit – which we’ve covered here and here –  against the Southern restaurateur and former TV chef.  A federal judge has affirmed a magistrate’s ruling that Deen’s lawyer can testify about factual issues relating to plaintiff Lisa Jackson’s complaint.  

• Discrimination
• The Inbox
• Whistleblowers