Judge Apologizes, Pays $100k To Tom Siebel For Malicious Lawsuit
from the you-don't-see-that-every-day dept
Now here's something you don't often see. As part of a settlement, a California judge has publicly apologized and paid Tom Siebel $100,000 to settle a twelve-year battle over charges of sexual discrimination filed against Siebel by this judge back when she was an attorney. Siebel, who founded the software company which bore his name until it was sold to Oracle, was sued in 1996 for wrongful termination and sexual discrimination in the firing of a sales exec who was represented by this judge (before she was a judge). However, there was little evidence to support the claims, and all were thrown out (other than a claim that Siebel had failed to pay some past due bonuses). After the case ended, Siebel then sued the attorneys for malicious prosecution -- and this agreement is the settlement. Siebel, who doesn't need the money, says he'll donate it to Stanford to be used in a program on legal ethics.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: apologies, malicious prosecution, tom siebel
Companies: siebel
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Just because there's the name "tech" in the title does not limit us to purely tech focused stories. Since the beginning, it has always covered technology, business and legal issues.
This was an interesting legal issue because a sitting judge had to pay up for a malicious lawsuit against a tech company. I found that interesting, and thus wrote about it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
The post goes to "Ethics in Action" which intersects tech at many levels. How tech evolves is often valved via the courts and the ballooning "Lawyersphere". Here's a case where a determined, wrongfully sued (and albeit well funded) plaintiff took the system to the mat and MADE it say it was sorry. Mike is clearly interested in ethics and I appreciate his posting these stories.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Appropriateness
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Tech DIRT
If you're going to create a blog about the technology of dirt don't you think you should make some posts that are on-topic?
It's not like there isn't any breaking news:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/29/healthscience/dirt.php
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
I look at TechDirt as a source of news about the world of technology, which was not the focus of this article. It's just a sexual harassment lawsuit involving somebody who just happens to be a big name in software. It doesn't appear that the article involves technology at all. I just felt like this post was a bit of a stretch from the usual content of the site. Again, it is your site to do with as you please, and I appreciate the fact that you listened to my opinion and gave it an intelligent response (unlike some people here).
And to the person that threw profanity in my direction, let me just tell you that I never use that language on anyone. I feel like I can get my point across without resorting that. If you have an opinion of me, that's perfectly fine. Just please state your opinion in an intelligent matter, and treat others the way you yourself would want to be treated.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Coward
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
Got a solution for you. Don't like it? Don't read it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
legal ethics
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Where's the REST of the story...?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Where's the REST of the story...?
Because I didn't think it was important to the story, and anyone who wants to know can click the link to find out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Now About That "Judge"
[ link to this | view in thread ]