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The rattlesnake "may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. ... She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. ... she never wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her."

-- An American Guesser [1775]

Don't Tread on Me Gadsden American Flag

"The true story of Santa Monica College under the current administration and the current Board of Trustees is a cautionary tale for the future of publicly funded institutions of higher education."
-- CSEA Accreditation Self Study Addendum [2004]

"Des Manttari is a tenacious defender of the rights of Santa Monica College students to be safe on campus, to their right to know..." -- Jeff Higley, Activist

Through his companies, Jim Keeshen Productions and Studio Animatics, SMC Professor James Keeshen recruited both students and faculty to the AET vocational program for his own bidding as cheap slave labor while outsourcing animation work to Korea for his Day of the Dead animated short film. Read more...

SHOCKING COURT RECORDS

"The Complaint contains allegations of misappropriation of student funds and property, illegal fees, abuse of process, and various unconstitutional activities by Defendants with the goal of suppressing dissent and avoiding auditing and oversight by non-conspirators. The Defendants have a history of such activities. The findings of the PERB were that the Santa Monica Community College District, which would include all defendants in this case, were found to have violated state statutes regarding expenditure of funds and activities undertaken to intimidate and suppress the faculty's opposition to the administration."

"Defendants have obtained this control through racketeering activities, including but not limited to: (a) The extortion of property, such as restricted accounts for the defendants' personal use. (b) Robbery or the conversion of Student funds. (c) Bribery of student officials. (d) As well as multiple violations of the Hobbs Act (18 U.S.C. § 1951) that include (i) exerting outside pressure through undue influence and coercision so as to control business decisions, and (ii), the taking of the Student bookstore and other commerce. Defendants' acts of racketeering activity have been unceasing for over fifteen (15) years."

-- Associated Students of Santa Monica College, et. al. vs. Santa Monica Community College District Board of Trustees, KCRW, Herb Roney, Dorothy Ehrhart-Morrison, Illona Katz, Piedad Robertson, Thomas Donner, Robert Sammis, Charlie Yen, Robert Adams, Cheryl Miller, Mark Romano, Eileen Miller, Mark Kessler, Charles Bays, et. al.

? Protected By Wpoison

 

    

Thursday, September 21, 2006

 

arrow   Santa Monica College Lawsuits

 

Cost of LitigationExactly how many lawsuits do Santa Monica College (SMC) and Santa Monica Community College District (SMCCD) entangle themselves in? I took a little field trip down to the Los Angeles Superior Court in downtown L.A. today and did some research. I counted a whopping 58 lawsuits in all. Some are still pending while others have either been dismissed or settled. Most involve Santa Monica College as a defendant, but some had SMC as the plaintiff. Two lawsuits were from the Santa Monica College Faculty Association.

 

What do people sue SMC for? Cases ranged from typical slip and falls to civil rights violations, compliance with the California Public Records Act, breach of contract, labor disputes, auto accidents, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, defamation, wrongful termination, and general personal injury. You name it and SMC has probably been sued for it. Unfortunately, these lawsuits cost the college considerable time and money to litigate. The District not only has its own attorneys at hand, but it retains an army of outside law firms at its beck and call. These law firms typically range from $160 to $250 an hour, plus expenses. Two law firms that repeatedly showed their faces as SMC's legal pit bulls were Harrington, Foxx, Dubrow and Canter and Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo.

 

Law and Disorder Perhaps SMC and the District should examine its risk management and negotiation strategies and develop ways to prevent lawsuits rather than exasperating them. Our student tuition and tax dollars could be better spent on improving our student services and paying our faculty rather than draining the college financially and the plaintiffs emotionally. In April 2006, SMC Faculty Association President Lantz Simpson wrote a fantastic article entitled "How SMC Is Run Like WAL-MART." I highly urge anyone interested in the fate of SMC to read this now. If you're interested in doing more research on SMC's litigation, I made a handy Adobe PDF file of all the cases with the dates filed as well as the parties and attorneys. You can view it HERE.

 

-- Des Manttari,

Editor-in-Chief,

Phoenix Genesis

 

(c) 2006: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP

 

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