I am no fan of Sotomayor… (see this and this). In fact, I am deeply worried that she will sail through her Senate confirmations and we will end up with another lifetime of bad judicial decisions, at least on her part.
At the same time, I find it disconcerting that educated bloggers pretending to be the gatekeepers of intellectual discourse on the internet cannot recognize the truth right in front of them. Mirengoff, Powerline, writes:
But what of Ricci’s “troubled” history of litigating employment claims. It consists of a suit claiming disability discrimination when one fire department decided not to hire him (Ricci is dyslexic); an administrative complaint claiming that his discharge by that same fire department was in retaliation for accusing the department of safety violations; and the reverse discrimination suit against the New Haven fire department that Sotomayor mishandled…
To be sure, meritless lawsuits are nothing to applaud. But Ricci’s race discrimination claim proved to be meritorious. His disability discrimination claim apparently settled when the fire department in question agreed to hire him. This outcome suggests that this suit also had merit and certainly was not frivolous. Ricci did not prevail on his administrative claim of retaliation, but the department apparently was fined for safety violations he blew the whistle on.
Regardless of their results, Ricci has filed two lawsuits already, plus another “administrative complaint.” It does not matter if all 3 situations had merit. He still has a clear history of “litigating employment claims.”
Now, what I want to know is why was Ricci so desperate to continue working for “that same” fire department if it didn’t want him, in the first place, and, secondly, kept violating safety regulations. The FD may have fired him for his contentious behavior more than anything else.
Moreover, both his lawsuits were over “discrimination” – first, disability; next, reverse racial. It seems that Ricci is prone to discrimination. Or, maybe he’s just “seeking special treatment” all the time and when he doesn’t get it, he sues. What is the probability that a dyslexic man suffers reverse racial discrimination? 1 in a million?
Asking to be considered for hire notwithstanding a disability is not the same thing as seeking special treatment.
But, suing if not considered does seem to be asking for special treatment. Why is he so adamant on forcing the FD to consider him and then hire him? (Repetitious?)
Mirengoff writes:
But if he testifies truthfully about the facts relating to the reverse discrimination case he and his colleagues filed, one hopes that the Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee will have the decency, or at least the political savvy, not to attack him for asserting his rights in other contexts.
Filing lawsuits is just one way of asserting your rights. Doing it over and over again goes beyond the assertion of rights. It becomes a personal M.O. of using the courts to force your will.
Ricci clearly has a litigious history. I would even call it troubling.
[Update: I realized that the header read "Detractors" rather "Supporters." Mirengoff is the detractor.]
