Teenager loses dad his 80 grand settlement by posting on Facebook

[al66pine]

.... The school settled the suit, imo admitting that the father was discriminated by this school ....

BBM SBM

Repeating & snipping from my post 74:
-Mr S & school reached agreemt for $ to his attys, $$ to him, ...
Pretty sure (IMO) one cl in doc said ~ School admits no liability for age discrim re MrS or other allegations made in his petition/complaint.
-Mr S & school signed it.

Without reading the entire settlement agreement, nobody knows what it actually says.
I respect your opinion re whether school admitted age-discrim, just disagree w it.

JM2cts and I could be wrong. :seeya:

 

[al66pine]

Settlement agreements get breached all the time as long as there is a paper trail, there is a chance someone will see it besides the attorneys and are more than willing to accidentally leave a paper in the copy machine.

http://www.americanbar.org/publicat...ttlement_agreements_is_virtual_necessity.html

Legalmania,
Your linked article was a good read and I appreciate your sharing.
Totally agreeing w part of your post, that SetAg's get breached all the time.

Drafting effective confidentialty clauses, snipped from link:

"

1. Make it clear that both the agreement and its terms are strictly confidential;
2. Clarify that the underlying dispute (if a public complaint has not been filed) and negotiations about resolution/settlement of the claim are confidential;
3. Specifically identify the few exclusions under law (enforcement of the agreement, information to attorneys and accountants, or disclosure after lawful process);
4. Specify that breach of the confidentiality clause will be deemed a material breach;
5. Note that in the event of a breach, the breaching party will pay a liquidated damages amount; and
6. Include specific language directed to any other questions regarding resolution of the lawsuit, such as: “Notwithstanding the foregoing, if any party is asked to publicly comment on the settlement, the following statement (or words to that effect) may be made and shall not constitute a violation of this agreement: The parties to the lawsuit decided that it would be in everybody’s interest to resolve their disputes amicably and focus their attention on (other/business) matters.” BBM

Hard to imagine MrS telling teen dau:
About the lawsuit, the school and I decided that it would be in everybody’s interest to resolve our disputes amicably.
But good principle for other situations.

JM2cts and I could be wrong. :seeya:

 

[cluciano63]

How does this charming teen claim to know about the fact that the trip to Europe was on, thanks to the settlement, if not from daddy?

 

[KristiDFW]

How does this charming teen claim to know about the fact that the trip to Europe was on, thanks to the settlement, if not from daddy?

Maybe it was already discussed prior to the settlement that if it came out good, hello Europe.

IMO $80k for lost wages is not all that great. Why would he accept that if he actually felt wronged? After lawyer fees, there wouldn't be much left. Maybe a nice family vacation to Europe though.

 

[cluciano63]

Maybe it was already discussed prior to the settlement that if it came out good, hello Europe.

IMO $80k for lost wages is not all that great. Why would he accept that if he actually felt wronged? After lawyer fees, there wouldn't be much left. Maybe a nice family vacation to Europe though.

Right, but how did she know it came out "good"?

 

[KristiDFW]

Right, but how did she know it came out "good"?

Either he told her. Or as soon as he got home or hung up the phone or whatever you do when you get this news he hollered, "we're going to Europe! "?
From what I have read, the dad hasn't actually denied not telling her. Or did I miss that?

 

[Kimster]

When my kids were minors, I was held accountable for all of their actions. One time my son messed with a sprinkler head at the school and I was informed that it was my expense. (Thankfully the maintenance man repaired it quickly).

The burden is on Dad for entrusting his teen with information that came at such a high price.

This is my personal opinion and not necessarily the opinion of Websleuths LLC. Feel free to respectfully disagree.

 

[al66pine]

Either he told her. Or as soon as he got home or hung up the phone or whatever you do when you get this news he hollered, "we're going to Europe! "?
From what I have read, the dad hasn't actually denied not telling her. Or did I miss that?

He told her. Not just my opinion.
It's what app ct opn stated, Snay's testimony confirmed the breach of the SetAg terms.*
Reading the app ct opinion might help clear the issue for you.

http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/Opinions/3D13-1952.rh.pdf
* On page 7 of opinion,
"Based on the clear and unambiguous language of the parties’ agreement and
Snay’s testimony confirming his breach of its terms,
we reverse the order entered below granting the Snays’ motion to enforce the agreement..."

BBM​

 

[cluciano63]

If he told her...then the agreement should be void, IMO.

 

[al66pine]

Maybe it was already discussed prior to the settlement that if it came out good, hello Europe.

IMO $80k for lost wages is not all that great. Why would he accept that if he actually felt wronged? After lawyer fees, there wouldn't be much left. Maybe a nice family vacation to Europe though.

BBM

Per agreement, school pays (~$60,000 IIRC) atty fee to his attys, plus $80,000 to MrS,
so it was not $80,000 less atty fees to MrS.
Per excerpts from App Ct opn below*, school tendered paymt of Snay's attys fees only to his attys back in Nov 2011,

---------------------------------------------------
* Snipping from App Ct opinion = http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/Opinions/3D13-1952.rh.pdf
pages 3-4
"... On November 15, 2011, Gulliver sent a letter to Snay’s counsel, stating that
it was tendering the attorney’s fees portion of the parties’ agreement
but was not going to tender Snay’s portion
because he had breached the confidentiality
provision.3 That letter included a Joint Stipulation for Dismissal which
reconfirmed in part that “the parties have settled this action,”
and Snay signed off on it and returned it to Gulliver.
The action was dismissed with a reservation of
jurisdiction for enforcement of the settlement agreement.
On June 9, 2012, Snay filed his motion to enforce the settlement agreement...."

 

[legalmania]

Legalmania,
Your linked article was a good read and I appreciate your sharing.
Totally agreeing w part of your post, that SetAg's get breached all the time.

Drafting effective confidentialty clauses, snipped from link:

"

1. Make it clear that both the agreement and its terms are strictly confidential;
2. Clarify that the underlying dispute (if a public complaint has not been filed) and negotiations about resolution/settlement of the claim are confidential;
3. Specifically identify the few exclusions under law (enforcement of the agreement, information to attorneys and accountants, or disclosure after lawful process);
4. Specify that breach of the confidentiality clause will be deemed a material breach;
5. Note that in the event of a breach, the breaching party will pay a liquidated damages amount; and
6. Include specific language directed to any other questions regarding resolution of the lawsuit, such as: “Notwithstanding the foregoing, if any party is asked to publicly comment on the settlement, the following statement (or words to that effect) may be made and shall not constitute a violation of this agreement: The parties to the lawsuit decided that it would be in everybody’s interest to resolve their disputes amicably and focus their attention on (other/business) matters.” BBM

Hard to imagine MrS telling teen dau:
About the lawsuit, the school and I decided that it would be in everybody’s interest to resolve our disputes amicably.
But good principle for other situations.

JM2cts and I could be wrong. :seeya:

Glad you were able to get something out of it. There is a whole lot of sharing going on in your local courthouse. No matter how secure you think your attorney is being, your attorney only does about 1/5 of the work. Many hands are touching those files.

 

[legalmania]

Lawsuits are settled all the time because they are cheaper to settle than to litigate. Settling implies NO guilt by the defendant and "innocent parties" frequently settle for an amount that is less than the cost of fighting.

It's my suspicion that the plaintiff didn't have a very strong case, or he would have held out for more money (80K is not very much in terms of years of lost salary for a head master of a private school) and wouldn't have signed a NDA which was so stringent.

He was only awarded 10k in back pay. I think just the opposite that the defendants didn't have a strong case because I have fought with the school board and they will spend more to protect the schools image than lose in court. They through in a clause that IMO should be questioned extensively.

 

[al66pine]

.... There is a whole lot of sharing going on in your local courthouse. No matter how secure you think your attorney is being, your attorney only does about 1/5 of the work. Many hands are touching those files.

SBM

A lot of sharing? Agree totally.
A friend employed at a county courthouse says there's a lot to hear there. In offices, hallways, elevators, stairways, restrooms, parking lots.
Cross-talk among judges & staff, prosecutors & staff, priv prac attys, paralegals & staff, witnesses.
And other offices to cross-pollenate with, like county recorder employees, assessor & staff, county collector & staff, county appraiser staff,
sheriff & deputies, other LE.
Oh yeah, gen public stopping by too.

Didn't Ben Franklin say, three can keep a secret as long as two are dead.

 

[legalmania]

SBM

A lot of sharing? Agree totally.
A friend employed at a county courthouse says there's a lot to hear there. In offices, hallways, elevators, stairways, restrooms, parking lots.
Cross-talk among judges & staff, prosecutors & staff, priv prac attys, paralegals & staff, witnesses.
And other offices to cross-pollenate with, like county recorder employees, assessor & staff, county collector & staff, county appraiser staff,
sheriff & deputies, other LE.
Oh yeah, gen public stopping by too.

Didn't Ben Franklin say, three can keep a secret as long as two are dead.

Oh ya when I worked in Broward County we would share all kinds of information. I could walk into the record room and stay there for hours and no one would question what I was doing. I would find other peoples information in the wrong file, I can imagine now with the information highway that even more is being shared. What I'm wondering is does the daughter really have 1200 friends?