Labels: America Gone Mad, Anthony Weiner, sex, Sexual Harassment, shamelessness

Labels: Herman Cain, presidential election, Sexual Harassment

The impeachment case against Thomas is not based on personal or political disagreement over his views, decisions, opinions and rulings on the bench, his penchant for pornographic material, or for sexual harassment. It is based on clear legal and constitutional grounds, precedents, and Congressional mandates. Article III, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly states that a Supreme Court Justice that "lacks good behavior" can be impeached. This is not an ambiguous, subjective term. It has been interpreted by the courts to equate to the same level of seriousness as the 'high crimes and misdemeanors" clause that unequivocally mandates that the House of Representatives initiate impeachment proceedings against any public official, or federal judge in violation of that provision.

The Constitutional precept is the first legal ground for impeachment proceedings against Thomas. The second is Title 18 of the U.S. Code. It states that any official of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the government of the United States who knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact , makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry can be impeached. In other words lying to Congress is not only an impeachable offense. It's also illegal.

It's also clearly established that a public official whether the president, presidential appointees, or judges can be punished for giving false information and that's any false information of any nature to the House or Senate.

[snip]

Thomas was asked directly by Utah senator Orin Hatch during his confirmation hearings about Anita Hill's allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct and whether he used sexually suggestive language. Thomas answered: "I deny each and every single allegation against me today that suggested in any way that I had conversations of a sexual nature or about pornographic material with Anita Hill, that I ever attempted to date her, that I ever had any personal sexual interest in her, or that I in any way ever harassed her. "

Thomas was emphatic, "If I used that kind of grotesque language with one person, it would seem to me that there would be traces of it throughout the employees who worked closely with me, or the other individuals who heard bits and pieces of it or various levels of it." This was stated under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Thomas's sworn testimony was clearly contradicted even then in public statements by witnesses. The witnesses were not called to testify. The one witness that contradicted Thomas's sworn testimony, Angela Wright, did testify. She worked with Thomas at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and was emphatic that Thomas sexually harassed her and used explicit and graphic sexual language. Her story was corroborated by a former EEOC speechwriter who told investigators about Thomas' penchant for improper sexual talk. Letters to the committee from other women who worked with Thomas confirmed that he was a serial sexual harasser and had a penchant for sexually perverse talk. The Senate panel had other sources to corroborate the Hill-Wright charge that Thomas engaged in sexual harassment and obsessive interest in sexual smut. These sources were ignored too.

Two decades later Thomas's apparent perjured testimony to Congress is now squarely back on the legal table. Lillian McEwen put it there. Her legal credentials are impressive. She is a former assistant U.S. attorney and Senate Judiciary Committee counsel. She also dated Thomas. In interviews, she again confirmed that Hill and the other women's allegations that Thomas engaged in sexual harassment, was addicted to pornography, and talked incessantly and graphically about it and women were truthful.

Labels: assholes, Clarence Thomas, Sexual Harassment, wussy-ass Democrats

This is the way Debbie Lorenzana tells it: Her bosses told her they couldn't concentrate on their work because her appearance was too distracting. They ordered her to stop wearing turtlenecks. She was also forbidden to wear pencil skirts, three-inch heels, or fitted business suits. Lorenzana, a 33-year-old single mom, pointed out female colleagues whose clothing was far more revealing than hers: "They said their body shapes were different from mine, and I drew too much attention," she says.

As Lorenzana's lawsuit puts it, her bosses told her that "as a result of the shape of her figure, such clothes were purportedly 'too distracting' for her male colleagues and supervisors to bear."

"Men are kind of drawn to her," says Tanisha Ritter, a friend and former colleague who also works as a banker and praises Lorenzana's work habits. "I've seen men turn into complete idiots around her. But it's not her fault that they act this way, and it shouldn't be her problem."

Because Citibank made Lorenzana sign a mandatory-arbitration clause as a condition of her employment, the case will never end up before a jury or judge. An arbitrator will decide. Citibank officials won't comment on the suit.

Her attorney, Jack Tuckner, who calls himself a "sex-positive" women's-rights lawyer, is the first one to say his client is a babe. But so what? For him, it all boils down to self-control. "It's like saying," Tuckner argues, "that we can't think anymore 'cause our penises are standing up—and we cannot think about you except in a sexual manner—and we can't look at you without wanting to have sexual intercourse with you. And it's up to you, gorgeous woman, to lessen your appeal so that we can focus!"

This isn't your typical sexual-harassment lawsuit, if there is such a thing. For one thing, such suits often claim that women are coerced into looking more sexy or are subjected to being pawed. Lorenzana claims that her bosses basically told her she was just too attractive. And when she raised hell and refused to do anything about it—as if there was anything she really could do about it—she lost her job.

[snip]

Citibank does have a dress-code policy, which says clothing must not be provocative, but does not go into specifics, and managers have wide discretion. But Lorenzana points out that, unlike her, some of the tellers dressed in miniskirts and low-cut blouses. "And when they bend down," Lorenzana says, "anyone can see what God gave them!"

Then the managers gave her a list of clothing items she would not be allowed to wear: turtlenecks, pencil skirts, and fitted suits. And three-inch heels. "As a result of her tall stature, coupled with her curvaceous figure," her suit says, Lorenzana was told "she should not wear classic high-heeled business shoes, as this purportedly drew attention to her body in a manner that was upsetting to her easily distracted male managers."

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," Lorenzana recalls. "I said, 'You gotta be kidding me!' I was like, 'Too distracting? For who? For you? My clients don't seem to have any problem.' "

The managers instructed her to wear looser clothing. Lorenzana refused. "I don't have the money to buy a new wardrobe," she says, referring to her work outfits. "I shop where everyone else shops—at Zara!" Lorenzana recalls leaving the meeting feeling humiliated. Other female employees "were able to wear such clothing because they were short, overweight, and they didn't draw much attention," she later wrote in a letter describing the meeting to Human Resources, "but since I was five-foot-six, 125 pounds, with a figure, it wasn't 'appropriate.' " She was also furious. "Are you saying that just because I look this way genetically, that this should be a curse for me?"

Labels: personal musings, Sexual Harassment

Fired Knicks VP puts Rangers' sex book in play

She's going one on one with the Knicks, but Anucha Browne Sanders may know something about a little black book that could have New York Rangers executives skating on thin ice.

The fired Knicks honcho claims she told her Madison Square Garden bosses in 2005 that members of the Rangers' front office were keeping a Kama Sutra wish list they would like to try out on members of the team's on-ice cheerleading troupe, her lawyer says.

"Ms. Browne Sanders received information from her staff . . . that there had been some book being maintained by some Rangers executives," lawyer Kevin Mintzer told Judge Gerald Lynch.

Mintzer said the book "reflected sexual positions and things like that that they were interested in keeping track of versus what they wanted from what skater."

He added that Browne Sanders "was aware from one of her staff members that supposedly the book existed."

That kind of recordkeeping could boost the chances of a second sex harassment case in which a former Ranger cheerleader is facing off against Madison Square Garden brass.

In that suit, Courtney Prince, former captain of the Rangers City Skaters, claims she was fired after complaining to her bosses about X-rated come-ons by members of the team's public relations staff.

The Garden has denied her allegations; a spokesman declined to comment yesterday.

The revelation came during a break Wednesday in Browne Sanders' testimony in the bruising $10 million sex harassment trial pitting the team's former marketing director against coach Isiah Thomas and Garden Chairman James Dolan.

Garden lawyers immediately objected to airing the Rangers' dirty laundry at the Knicks trial.

"The Rangers situation has nothing to do with Ms. Browne Sanders," Garden lawyer Ronald Green said. "It's a different team."

Lynch barred Browne Sanders from detailing the salacious allegation.

She was allowed to tell jurors about the indifferent reaction she got when she brought the information to Garden President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Mills.

"One of my employees, Petra Pope, brought something to my attention with regard to the sexual harassment claims by Courtney Prince at the Rangers, so I wanted to make Steve aware of it," Browne Sanders testified Wednesday in Manhattan Federal Court. "He [Mills] just shook his head."

Browne Sanders claims she got similar reactions when she came to Mills with complaints that Thomas referred to her as a "bitch" and a "ho" and that star guard Stephon Marbury lobbed similar profanities about her behind her back.

Mills' duties included oversight of the Rangers.

Prince's claims are slated to be aired before jurors in the same courthouse early next year.

Last year, she told the Daily News she had to arrange for skaters to "have drinks with the bosses and guests" at bars near the Garden as part of their job.

The bosses repeatedly asked, "Who's loose?" and "Which is the wild one?" Prince said, adding that one even told her "whom he wanted to perform oral sex on" and "who to have sex with from behind."

Garden lawyers have attacked Prince's allegations by saying she tried to impose her sexually obsessed behavior on members of the Rangers skate team.

They say she coached fellow skaters to pad their bras and use explicit terms to describe their anatomy and encouraged them to appear more "f---able."

Pope is central to another of Browne Sanders' damaging claims against Thomas, the Hall of Famer and two-time NBA champ. Browne Sanders told lawyers in a pretrial deposition that Thomas asked Pope to flirt with referees before a 2004 Nets game.

"What she told me was that Isiah asked her to go into the referees' locker room and make them happy," Browne Sanders said. "I asked her to tell me what that meant, and she said, 'Well, he wanted me to flirt with the referees.' "

Thomas claimed he asked Pope, a longtime friend from his days playing with the Detroit Pistons, to check in on the referees after he took over the team in 2003 because Garden management had treated them poorly in the past.

Browne Sanders takes the witness stand again Monday, when Thomas' lawyers will cross-examine her. Both sides say there will not be a settlement.

Labels: Browne Saunders, Isiah Thomas, New York Knicks, Sexual Harassment