Jenny Nguyen’s Legal Blog

Texas Labor Code defines “Bona fide occupational qualification” to mean a qualification:         
(A)  reasonably related to the satisfactory performance of the duties of a job;  and
(B)  for which a factual basis exists for the belief that no person of an excluded group would be able to satisfactorily perform the duties of the job with safety or efficiency.

The general purposes of chapter 21 of Texas Labor Code are to:       
(1)  provide for the execution of the policies of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its subsequent amendments (42 U.S.C. Section 2000e et seq.);
(2)  identify and create an authority that meets the criteria under 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e-5(c) and 29 U.S.C. Section 633;
(3)  provide for the execution of the policies embodied in Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and its subsequent amendments (42 U.S.C. Section 12101 et seq.);
(4)  secure for persons in this state, including persons with disabilities, freedom from discrimination in certain employment transactions, in order to protect their personal dignity;
(5)  make available to the state the full productive capacities of persons in this state;
(6)  avoid domestic strife and unrest in this state;                         
(7)  preserve the public safety, health, and general welfare;  and         
(8)  promote the interests, rights, and privileges of persons in this state.

I love this country.  It seems as though every time I need to blog and cannot come up with an idea, someone always comes through, big time.  This week’s savior is Robert Paxton, the former President of a community college in Fort Dodge, Iowa.  I say former because Mr. Paxton is no longer employed.

Once again, the camera has taken another victim.  Paxton is shown in a photograph where the imbibing of alcohol was involved.  He was on a boat with a bunch of young women, “allegedly” holding a mini keg in one hand and “allegedly” holding one young woman’s nose with the other while she is sucking down the frosty contents of the keg. 

Even though the women were considerably younger than he is, I don’t see what the big deal is. The article did not specify if any of them were minors, so if they weren’t, I don’t see it as being that big of a problem. 

So he likes partying with young women.  He wouldn’t be the first man to like that.  What I don’t agree with is his original statement that the keg was broken and not dispensing beer.  Come on now, Robert.  If the keg was broken, you wouldn’t have the grin on your face.  That is clearly a functioning keg.

I feel bad for the guy, but not too bad.  He is getting a severance package of about $400,000, which should keep him within his allowance for mini kegs and young women for at least a couple of months.    

I had to wait a little while before I could let this one loose.  I wanted to make sure the guy was ok.  About a week ago, I saw something amazing.  As Tropical Storm Fay lashed the Florida coast, a kite-surfer was videotaped going on the ride of his life, literally.

Kevin Kearney decided that it would be a good idea to go kite-surfing during the storm.  He was caught on video by a local TV station being hurled into the air across the beach and into a building on the other side of the road.  While he looked like Superman flying across the beach, he was no Man of Steel.  He sustained multiple serious injuries including brain swelling (which is ironic, in and of itself) and broken bones.  He has no recollection of the injury.

He later went on television to talk about his ordeal.  When he was asked if he would give up kite-surfing during hurricanes or tropical storms, his answer was that he would go, over and over again.  The only thing he would do differently would be to let go of the rope sooner.  Wow!  Even the reporter interviewing him did not know how to respond.  I heard crickets chirping.  It sounds like he really learned his lesson.  While letting go of the rope would have probably helped his cause, I don’t think he sees the big picture.

Now, there are few things wrong with this scenario.  There are reasons why they evacuate areas during tropical storms and hurricanes.  They are dangerous.  The only people who are ever out in these things are surfers, kite-surfers and weather correspondents who drew the short straw.  From what I can tell, most of the weather people aren’t ever very happy to be there.  Don’t people understand that there are consequences for doing things like this?  If you go to the zoo and climb into the bear pit, chances are the bear is going to eat you.  If you stick a fork in an electric socket, you are likely going to end up like the lizard from my earlier blog.  If you go kite-surfing during a tropical storm, chances are you are going to be catapulted across the sky and smash into the side of a building.  It is called cause and effect. 

As the Spanish-born American philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” 

It never ceases to amaze me how much we seem to punish excellence and reward mediocrity.  Today’s latest installment involves a 9-year old baseball pitcher in Connecticut who is being disqualified because he is too good. 

It seems as though league officials feel that Jericho Scott, baseball phenom, is so fast and accurate, that he is scaring the other kids.  Cue the parental bickering.  I heard something similarly ridiculous recently when certain schools changed their P.E. policy whereby kids would not be chosen for teams by other kids, but randomly, as to not hurt the kids’ feelings.  If Little Timmy is picked last for dodgeball, oh well, he must really be bad at dodgeball.  But, you know, he may be the captain of the Math Gymnastics Club and can shed his judgment on another kid’s ability in a different arena.  No one complains when you take a stupid kid off the Math Team, why keep Little Timmy on your dodgeball team?  The good news is, Little Timmy might be an exceptional physician one day because he sucked at dodgeball.  Who knows.

Here’s the deal.  Life is difficult.  There will be times when you are not as good as the other person and you will lose, badly.  Get over it.  While it stings, it is not permanent.

It is ok for them to lose.  It will not hurt their fragile little psyches.  When these kids grow up, if they haven’t tasted failure, then they haven’t truly tasted success.  They will be clueless as to how to deal with failure as adults.  The world is competitive.  You compete for jobs, spouses (just to clarify, not for other people’s spouses – for your own) and virtually everything else.  In my profession, I do not have the luxury of saying that opposing counsel is better than me  - foremost, because it’s not true ; ), then go to the judge and ask him/her if we can have a trial, but not declare a winner.  At no point are proceedings going to be held up because the other attorney is too good. Let this kid play.  Don’t punish him for being good at something.  That sends such a horrible message.  They should be writing stories about this kid because he is an excellent pitcher, not because he may scare the other kids and won’t be allowed to play.

And for those of you who doubt, this is considered a legal blog because every party involved with this baseball fiasco has contacted an attorney.