The law tolerates and encourages frivolous lawsuits.
Thomas Sowell
National Review Online
11/10/2011
The real scandal in the accusations against Herman Cain is the corruption of the law, the media, and politics.
Let’s start with the law. Some people may think the fact that the National Restaurant Association reportedly paid $45,000 to settle a claim made by one of its employees against Cain is incriminating.
Most of us are not going to part with $45,000 without some serious reason. But that is very different from the situation of an organization in the present legal climate…
…The real scandal goes far beyond the case of Herman Cain and his accusers. The real scandal is that the law allows people to impose heavy costs on others at little or no cost to themselves. That is a perfect setting for legalized extortion.
The fact that neither judges nor juries stick to the letter of the law means that people who have zero basis for a lawsuit, under the law as written, can still create enough uncertainty to extract money from people who cannot afford the risk of going to trial.
As for a $45,000 settlement, that is what an organization would pay to settle a nuisance lawsuit — if it’s lucky…
Read the complete article at NRO.
