Gossip Without Prejudice

On July 21st, Uber filed a massive federal racketeering lawsuit against two Los Angeles law firms and a Los Angeles doctor for allegedly working together to create a scheme that repeatedly defrauded the company. Uber is alleging that the defendant attorneys conspired with medical providers to send victims for unnecessary or unrelated medical treatment in a kickback scheme designed to generate fraudulent injury claims. Uber said that fraud like this inflates the cost of ridesharing for all users, while one of the defendant law firms, Downtown LA Law, said that Uber is more interested in ignoring a system where their drivers are left without adequate medical support after work injuries. This is Uber’s third RICO filing this year. Support our work, find our links, and join our community!sources:heredefined Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act Organized Crime Control Act defines wide ranging group of perpetrators claimsracketeering suitpushing taxi industry regulators grantedRICO suit accused Uber is claimingdiscreditGWP is a Hemmat Interactive, Inc. production.

The gaming industry, if you were not aware, is about big budgets, high stress, and working developers hard to meet consumer demands. When you get C-suite executives butting heads between collaborating companies, there’s sure to be some kind of fallout — and the fallout between video game developer Unknown Worlds and their game publisher Krafton is one of the strangest and most public in recent memory within the gaming world. Skip to 14.25 to skip the cold openSupport our work, find our links, and join our community!Sources:Krafton Unknown Worlds Entertainmentacquired over 6 million copies accordinglawsuit announcesEarly Access a failureteaser trailer  announcesSteve Papoustisstatementannounces broke the newstold trade publication Eurogamer  unprecedented move for a game publisherown inaction on progressingRedditCourt of Chancery of DelawareGWP is a Hemmat Interactive, Inc. production.

On July 10, Texas state senator Angela Paxton announced via her X account that she was seeking a divorce from her husband of 38 years, the Texas state attorney general Ken Paxton. Angela cited “biblical grounds” as the reason for their separation, which would appear to contradict the fundamentalist Christian beliefs that the Paxtons are known for. However, it’s not the first time they’ve brought the language of scripture into their public announcements, whether it’s during their electoral campaigns or Ken Paxton’s numerous political scandals which include securities fraud, bribery and abuse of power. The divorce could spell trouble for Ken, who is vying to unseat John Cornyn in the US Senate in 2026.   Support our work, find our links, and join our community!Sources:Collin County Courtannounced citedwhich include US Senate fifth chapter of Matthew wrotesaidTexas Newsroomrecords were sealedshe creditsmarried in 1986 Ken’s campaign eventsdecided to joinSenate Bill 860allowing individualstold CBS News TexasSenate Bill 13born JD running for the Republican nominationran for his district’s state senate seatparty endorsementHouston named Sam Houstonthe day off workblock rulespacked his own officenew interpretationsupport for clerksdefend state sodomy laws he sued the NCAA NCAA has already acquiescedhuge proponent sue challenged Obama’s Clean Power Plansiding with ExxonMobil successfully helped defend Abbott v. Perezelection related crimesTexas v. Pennsylvaniaspoke at the pro-Trump rally three felony counts of securities fraudsoliciting investors pretrial diversionpublished an open letter citing illegal retaliationsuedfalse claims asked the Appropriations subcommittee investigating stated debilitating intoxication more loyal to Republicans than Democratsnanimously agreed20 articles of impeachmentdeclined to recuse herselfacquitted of all charges statingUS Senate seat GWP is a Hemmat Interactive, Inc. production.  

The case of Lochner v. New York is widely considered a landmark in Supreme Court history, one which kicked off an era of aggressive adherence to business interest protections and wealth accumulation during the Gilded Age of the robberbaron. This case kicked off the so-called Lochner or Lochnerian Era, which lasted about 30 years until the political atmosphere of the Great Depression prompted the court to reverse its stance on labor protections in West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, a detour that SCOTUS has stuck with in all proceeding rulings to this day — but the truth of the modern labor law landscape is not as black and white. Support our work, find our links, and join our community!Sources:Lochner v. New YorkWest Coast Hotel v. ParrishThe JungleBakeshop Act of 1895Tenement buildingsBritannicawith many working over 100 hours a weekLabor activists stumped Opponents of laws like the Bakehouse Actalmost $1,900Lochner’s teamargued Due process was, historicallysubstantive due processSubstantive due processmade only three brief pointsSCOTUS sided with Lochnerrecognized this freedomHolden v. Hardya rallying cry for the Progressive movementprofessor of law at the University of Chicagodescribes this period Adkins v. Children’s Hospital of D.C.ruled in favor of the hospitalalso arguedMuller v. OregonColumbia Undergraduate Law ReviewWest Coast Hotel Company v. Parrisha plan to expand and pack the courthotel maid in Washingtonthe court ruledOyezeconomic due process, that business owners were protected by the Fourteenth AmendmentEqual Protection Rights under the Fourteenth AmendmentHariharan in the Columbia Undergraduate Law Reviewdisregard the imbalance of bargaining powerlaid out in the Economic Policy Institute as detailed here by the Illinois Law ReviewEpic Systems v. LewisWal-Mart Stores Inc v. DukesGross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc.Vance v. Ball State UniversityJanus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31GWP is a Hemmat Interactive, Inc. production.

Seattle’s Office of Inspector General has released a long-awaited trove of documents undergirding the investigation that led Mayor Bruce Harrell to fire then-Seattle police chief Adrian Diaz for dishonesty in December of 2024. Today, let's dive into the history of SPD leadership in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests in 2020 to present times. Spoiler: heaps of lawsuits, corruption, and fakes jobs for your mistress – and a huge mess for city hall to clean up. We talk a little bit about the plight of SPD beat cops, and the measures city governments take to hold their employees accountable. Support our work, find our links, and join our community!Sources:wrongful termination lawsuit against the City of Seattle and Mayor Bruce HarrellOIG investigationTompkins' $3 million complaintinitial misconduct investigationsupporting documentsDiaz filed a complaint Diaz was terminated on December 17, 2024Image Source: KUOWSeptember 2020SPD was also jugglingDiaz met Tompkins as a news anchor in the Seattle areaTompkins' hiring causing a huge commotion across the departmentOver 20 SPD officers spoke to KUOW anonymously Seattle's policy on supervisor-employee relationships statesmayor’s office did not initially believe the rumors were enough cause to investigate Diaz Diaz continued to accuse his top commanders of leaking rumorsclearly abused his power beyond creating a hush culturemore lawsuits came out from several female SPD officersOn May 29, 2024Diaz then went on 770 KTTH and boldly stated that he was a gay manDiaz denied the love letter handwriting analysisDiaz filed a lawsuit on October 11deputy mayor Tim BurgessTompkins eventually resignedfired Diaz on December 17, 2024November 20, 2024Harrel cite Diaz's affair as reason for dismissalInspector general published their reportletter embedded in news articlescheduled to enter mediation talksallegedly refused to prematurely fireJaahnavi KandulaSPD officer Kevin Dave on January 23, 2023Auderer describes Kandula’s liferoutine footage review by an SPD employeewould not press criminal charges against Kevin Daveone OPA spokesperson with CNNfired Auderer and shared her reasoningAuderer filed a $20 million complaint against the City of SeattleThe Causes of Action: Diaz outlines the following in his lawsuitSeattle Accountability OrdinanceSeattle Municipal Code Chapter 3.29RCW 49.60.210Silenced No More Actmunicipal codeInspector General Lisa JudgePRAdefamation per seWage Rebate ActSeattle’s Wage Theft OrdinanceGWP is a Hemmat Interactive, Inc. production.