LOS ANGELES — A US sheriff’s deputy who endured an anti-Semitic rant from Mel Gibson for arresting the star won the right to a trial Thursday, over his treatment by bosses after the notorious incident.
A judge ruled that James Mee could take his lawsuit to trial on the grounds of religious discrimination and hostile work environment, which he claims were behind repeated disciplinary action he has suffered since the 2006 arrest.
Gibson has struggled to resurrect his career ever since the incident, in which he launched a foul-mouthed anti-Jewish tirade at Mee after being stopped for drunk driving in Malibu, north of Los Angeles.
Mee, who is Jewish, filed the suit in September 2010, claiming that he was overlooked for six to seven other posts after complaining to his bosses that the Oscar-winning star received preferential treatment from deputies.
He also alleges that his bosses ordered him to remove parts of his report about Gibson’s arrest, “effectively participating in covering up the anti-Semitic posture of Mr Gibson,” said his lawyers.
Los Angeles Superior Court judge Barbara Scheper ruled that he could proceed to trial on religious and hostile work environment grounds, but dismissed his claim for retaliation, citing lack of evidence.
“We’re pleased we’re moving forward, although we’re disappointed about the retaliation ruling,” Mee’s lawyer Yael Trock said after the hearing into the lawsuit filed against the Los Angeles County.
The judge set a date of February 14 for the trial, although she voiced doubts about whether Mee was treated differently within the Sheriff’s Department because he is Jewish.
A stronger argument would be that Gibson was given preferential treatment because he is a celebrity, she said, adding: “People are offended all the time in the workplace.”
But she called Gibson’s remarks a “horrible anti-Semitic tirade” and said she hoped people of all faiths would be offended by them.
Gibson notably said that Jews were responsible for all the wars in the world during the July 2006 arrest, but later apologized for the “despicable” comments which he blamed on alcoholism.
Can you say PAY DAY. The arresting Jewish Officer used circumstances to his advantage regarding the arrest and his own bias towards Mr. Gibson stemming back to being offended by Gibsons movie "PASSION OF THE CHRIST" which depicts jews as traitor's to their own bible at the time and even then looking for the pay day.
ReplyDeleteThis is no different with the officer looking to score big and playing the racist card. As a Jew he should be ashamed and hope his agenda is revealed for exactly what it is.
I think Mel should countersue the ignorant officer too. He definitly is using this as his own personal agenda as stated. It wasn't bad enough that the officer was baiting Gibson at the time of arrest to get a reaction which made the last 6 years of Gibson's life a mess. He has to keep going for the payday and that was obviously his intent all along. Its quite apparent that the officer is in the wrong profession if he found offense with any comments made during the arrest. How many people that he has pulled over before, told him where to go and called him names with a racial sler did the officer decide to pull this bone head deal on? Probably non seeing most people are not as high profile and obvioulsy have any money for a major law suit. Guess the publicity too helps that dumb ass cop too. What a pussy,,, its your bloody job you jerk,,, next time you profile a black person and pull them over for crack dealing and get a verbal thrashing,,,lets see you try to pull the same shit on them and try to sue. The Cop is the worst bad guy here and its obviously money motivated for sure. Hope Mel sues you back and takes all your money and assets.
ReplyDeleteThe deputy's legal action is opportunistic, and parasitic. His intention reveals his true nature, which exposes his pathetic "money-grubbing" character. Cheer! eq.
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