In another thread, I asked a question on whether a situation was suable. Despite what people thought, it was not a, “I’m retired, bitches!!” post but an honest question brought on when my friends felt I could get million when I thought I may parlay my experience into a free bag of broccoli. Looks like I was right.
But this one is really gnawing at me. I posted it in the other thread, but I thought the Dopey laywers that answered my first question may not come back and answer my self-hijack. I know the solution is probably not to sue the County of LA back to the stone age, but in this day and age with everyone going to court over everything, it is hard for an average citizen for me to know what is court-worthy and what is not (I blame CourtTV). Assuming I have no case to sue the agency, what are my options when somebody in a governmental agency violates the law. I already talked to the supervisor and was rudely rebuffed. Is the worker personally liable? (I know as a teacher, I can be personally sued for what I do in my professional capacity. That’s why I carry malpractice insurance). Are there official complaint procedures I need to take beyond talking to a supervisor.
Here is the original quote. Please read it before you assume I’m a money-grubbing whore.
Uhh, i think you’ll need to provide more details. I read your other thread, as well as the quote in this. If you wanted to sue someone, I think the only liable party would have to be the government agency for releasing documents without the necessary permission.
Other than that, you can’t sue for an apology. What sense would that make? Some (most?) things are best left out of a court, and just handled one on one. Common sense usually isn’t hard to instill in these situations. Who would want to spend time and money in some frivolous lawsuit? For what gain?
IANAL, so I can’t/won’t/shouldn’t give any advice, except that I feel the thread title should be “Son of Should I Sue?” or “Should I Sue? 2: Electric Boogaloo.”
All kidding aside, my WAG based on your (slightly vague) description of the problem sounds like the kind of thing that wouldn’t be out of place in a court, but you have to weigh the pros and cons for you and your family, and not just sue on principle. Of course, one would hope there’s a better way to deal with this, such as going higher up the food chain in the agency, maybe. shrugs But all that’s just a completely uninformed opinion, I really just wanted to make my little joke.
Saint Cad, just what is it that drives you to think “lawsuit” in these situations? I fail to see your rationale for wanting to sue, other than the concept that you were somehow “wronged.”
Newsflash: Suing people isn’t about righting wrongs. It’s about remedying damages, or, in certain very limited cases, preventing them from occurring before they happen. (OK, before everyone starts piling onto this very simplistic over-simplification of the situation, yes, yes, I know it’s overly-simplistic. It is, however, relatively accurate. We’re talking big picture here; if need be we can get down to nitty-gritty details when we see there is some point. K?)
Part I can blame on society. Any little stupid thing goes wrong in someones life and you hear about it on TV going to court . . . and winning. (I think I’ll go get a McDonald’s coffee)
Part II is personal experience. Once I was nipped on the leg by a dog. I was told that I should have gotten a name, number, ID, etc. I figured, “Meh. No big deal.” Later I found the dog had torn my pants and I was “damaged” and could have sue for a new pair of pants. Since then, I’ve never assumed I as a non-lawyer knew what I could sue for or not.
Part III is professional experience. I am a teacher. Not only that, I am a special ed teacher. I have heard soooooooo many threats by parents about suing. And guess what, in a lot of cases they have cause. Anyone familiar with the Chandra Smith decree? If nothing else, studying educational law will confirm to a non-lawyer that grounds for suing someone make no freaking sense sometimes.
Part IV is the truth. I did not consider suing Bird’s Eye over cattepillar & brocolli cassarole. It was a friend that suggested it and rather than running off to an attorney and making an ass of myself, I consulted the brains at SD to confirm what I already thought - ask for a replacement bag because it’s the best deal I’m going to get.
Part V is the definition of damages. An county agency released confidential detail about me and my daughter to my wife’s ex-husband while investigating HIM on abusing their child. I was completely out of the loop on this. Was I damaged by this? What is damage? Suppost the IRS calls your co-worker and and gives him your SSN and tells him you were audited three years ago? Were you damaged? Does it make a difference if the co-worker does anything with the info? What if he steals your identity 6 years from now? Is THAT grounds for suing the IRS for giving out your SSN? I don’t know!
IAAL, though not yours, and anytime I hear “It’s the principle of the thing,” bunches of red flags go up for me. Principle is so amorphous, and lawsuits are concrete – they cost money and emotional capital and are a PITA for everyone involved. IMO, if you can’t do better than outrage over principle, you should not sue.
Closely related is the belief that if you don’t know how/if you were damaged, you weren’t.