Times sports columnist T
Times sports columnist T
Simers, who contended the newspaper discriminated against him and forced him out of his $234,000 a year job after he suffered a mini stroke in March 2013. Dodgers ex manager Tommy Lasorda.
Simers, 65, sued the newspaper in October 2013, alleging top editors fired cheap ray-ban sunglasses him as a columnist and subjected him to discrimination because of his age and a disability.
The Times called his claims baseless and contended that Simers quit in September 2013 after being disciplined for failing to fully disclose to his editors an outside business relationship with a television producer. The newspaper's ethics guidelines require full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.
The Los Angeles Superior Court jury of eight women and four men deliberated for two days. Foreman Orie McLemore said afterward that the panel could not reconcile Simers' history of positive performance reviews with The Times' response to the ethics violation, which involved taking away his column but keeping him on staff as a reporter. Register, Riverside Press Enterprise Andrew Khouri and Stuart Pfeifer
The opening salvo in a potential war for the Orange County Register was launched in Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday, with an attorney for the owner of the Los Angeles Times calling for an "open sale process" for the rival, struggling wholesale jordan shoes newspaper.
The move could set up a contest for Register wholesale nhl jerseys owner Freedom.
The opening salvo in a potential war for the Orange County Register was launched in Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday, with an attorney for the owner of the Los Angeles Times calling for an "open sale process" for the rival, struggling newspaper.
The move could set up a contest for Register owner Freedom.
(Andrew Khouri and Stuart Pfeifer)
"It seemed that they didn't deal with Mr. Simers in a proper manner," McLemore said. "How can you take someone who's been doing that well and then all of a sudden he's not up to par? I have got to feel there's something there."
Simers declined to comment on the verdict. The Times plans to appeal.
"We believe the allegations Mr. Simers made against the Los Angeles Times are unfounded, and we are filing an appeal," said Hillary Manning, a spokeswoman for The Times. "Our editors acted to protect the integrity of the newspaper and to uphold fundamental principles of journalistic ethics. We will continue to work through the legal system to resolve this matter."
See the most read stories this hour >>Read the story
Simers, who joined The Times in 1990 and became a columnist 10 years later, initially sought $18 million in damages, but later revised his damages demand to $12.3 million.
Jurors awarded him $330,000 for past lost wages, $1.8 million for future economic damages and $5 million for past and future emotional pain and suffering. The panel declined to award punitive damages.
In his lawsuit and at trial, Simers alleged that his troubles at The Times began only after he suffered what was first diagnosed as a transient ischemic attack, or mini stroke, in March 2013 while covering baseball spring training in Arizona. He later was diagnosed with complex migraine syndrome.
After his health problems surfaced, Simers contended, his work drew increased scrutiny and criticism by Times Editor Davan Maharaj and Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin.
In May 2013, then sports editor Mike James told Simers his three weekly columns would be reduced to two in an effort to improve their quality, citing several recent ones that were "poorly written or reflected poorly" on the newspaper.
"Simers was shocked, troubled and surprised because he had never been criticized for the very essence of his column style before his mini stroke in March of 2013, and he believed his health was the real reason these alleged issues were suddenly coming to light," his trial brief stated.
Times editors and their lawyers said Simers never complained of discrimination, because none occurred.
"The evidence in this case shows he was investigated and disciplined for what he did. not his age, not his disability," Times attorney Emilio Gonzalez told jurors during closing arguments.
That evidence included emails between Simers and his editors that appeared to contradict his claim they were using his illness against him.
"We need another 20 years of columns out of you before you hang it up, so take whatever time you need to feel better," he wrote.
The key issue in Simers' case, according to The Times, was that he failed to wholesale mlb jerseys fully disclose his relationship with a television producer who'd made a short video featuring the columnist, his daughter and NBA star Dwight Howard.
Instead, Simers told sports editor James that a "friend" was shooting the video, which he wanted to link to The Times' website to accompany his column, the newspaper's lawsuit states.
Tollin was quoted as saying the video, which was posted to The Times' website briefly and then widely viewed elsewhere, was made to "create buzz" for the TV project.
Simers, who contended the newspaper discriminated against him and forced him out of his $234,000 a year job after he suffered a mini stroke in March 2013. Dodgers ex manager Tommy Lasorda.
Simers, 65, sued the newspaper in October 2013, alleging top editors fired cheap ray-ban sunglasses him as a columnist and subjected him to discrimination because of his age and a disability.
The Times called his claims baseless and contended that Simers quit in September 2013 after being disciplined for failing to fully disclose to his editors an outside business relationship with a television producer. The newspaper's ethics guidelines require full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.
The Los Angeles Superior Court jury of eight women and four men deliberated for two days. Foreman Orie McLemore said afterward that the panel could not reconcile Simers' history of positive performance reviews with The Times' response to the ethics violation, which involved taking away his column but keeping him on staff as a reporter. Register, Riverside Press Enterprise Andrew Khouri and Stuart Pfeifer
The opening salvo in a potential war for the Orange County Register was launched in Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday, with an attorney for the owner of the Los Angeles Times calling for an "open sale process" for the rival, struggling wholesale jordan shoes newspaper.
The move could set up a contest for Register wholesale nhl jerseys owner Freedom.
The opening salvo in a potential war for the Orange County Register was launched in Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday, with an attorney for the owner of the Los Angeles Times calling for an "open sale process" for the rival, struggling newspaper.
The move could set up a contest for Register owner Freedom.
(Andrew Khouri and Stuart Pfeifer)
"It seemed that they didn't deal with Mr. Simers in a proper manner," McLemore said. "How can you take someone who's been doing that well and then all of a sudden he's not up to par? I have got to feel there's something there."
Simers declined to comment on the verdict. The Times plans to appeal.
"We believe the allegations Mr. Simers made against the Los Angeles Times are unfounded, and we are filing an appeal," said Hillary Manning, a spokeswoman for The Times. "Our editors acted to protect the integrity of the newspaper and to uphold fundamental principles of journalistic ethics. We will continue to work through the legal system to resolve this matter."
See the most read stories this hour >>Read the story
Simers, who joined The Times in 1990 and became a columnist 10 years later, initially sought $18 million in damages, but later revised his damages demand to $12.3 million.
Jurors awarded him $330,000 for past lost wages, $1.8 million for future economic damages and $5 million for past and future emotional pain and suffering. The panel declined to award punitive damages.
In his lawsuit and at trial, Simers alleged that his troubles at The Times began only after he suffered what was first diagnosed as a transient ischemic attack, or mini stroke, in March 2013 while covering baseball spring training in Arizona. He later was diagnosed with complex migraine syndrome.
After his health problems surfaced, Simers contended, his work drew increased scrutiny and criticism by Times Editor Davan Maharaj and Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin.
In May 2013, then sports editor Mike James told Simers his three weekly columns would be reduced to two in an effort to improve their quality, citing several recent ones that were "poorly written or reflected poorly" on the newspaper.
"Simers was shocked, troubled and surprised because he had never been criticized for the very essence of his column style before his mini stroke in March of 2013, and he believed his health was the real reason these alleged issues were suddenly coming to light," his trial brief stated.
Times editors and their lawyers said Simers never complained of discrimination, because none occurred.
"The evidence in this case shows he was investigated and disciplined for what he did. not his age, not his disability," Times attorney Emilio Gonzalez told jurors during closing arguments.
That evidence included emails between Simers and his editors that appeared to contradict his claim they were using his illness against him.
"We need another 20 years of columns out of you before you hang it up, so take whatever time you need to feel better," he wrote.
The key issue in Simers' case, according to The Times, was that he failed to wholesale mlb jerseys fully disclose his relationship with a television producer who'd made a short video featuring the columnist, his daughter and NBA star Dwight Howard.
Instead, Simers told sports editor James that a "friend" was shooting the video, which he wanted to link to The Times' website to accompany his column, the newspaper's lawsuit states.
Tollin was quoted as saying the video, which was posted to The Times' website briefly and then widely viewed elsewhere, was made to "create buzz" for the TV project.