Monday, May 18, 2009

Donald Trump's Recent Lawsuit Oughta Be Fired...

May must be "corporate frivolous lawsuit month." If it's not, I've just declared it. First, Oprah got sued by Mutual Of Omaha for simply uttering a phrase (an "A ha moment") that Mutual claims is theirs. Now, Donald Trump has apparently sued a reporter for defamation. No, the reporter did not disparage The Donald's personal reputation, lifestyle, or even his hair. The claim: he defamed Trump for writing in an article that Trump was only a "millionaire" rather than a "BILLIONAIRE." Poor guy (pardon the pun).

Seems like the Donald was offended by this...so he sued on behalf of his business empire, claiming that this horrible and false sleight cost him business. Can someone with a grain of common sense please tell me why on earth this lawsuit has not been dismissed? If this were an ordinary citizen bringing this lawsuit, I imagine the Chamber of Commerce and all their tort reform allies would be cutting another commercial railing about yet another "frivolous lawsuit" filed by a parasitic plaintiff and their personal injury lawyer that is clogging our court system. After all, The StarChamber has recently spent millions on its annual "lawsuit abuse" PR campaign (ever notice that the first two letters of propaganda are "PR")?

So why is there no room on the StarChamber's "lawsuit abuse" campaign mantle for this dud of a lawsuit? Perhaps they decided to look the other way because of The Donald's business acumen and celebrity status. But they have no compunction about continuing to parade the McDonald's "hot coffee" case (which is over 15 years old) as the poster child for what's wrong with our legal system. So here's the lesson: if you have millions (or even billions), our legal system is yours to use and fool around with at your whim. But if your a common Jane or Joe who uses the same legal system, suddenly it's a system gone amuck and you're just looking to hold another defenseless business hostage and dupe a jury into returning a "runaway verdict."

This lawsuit oughta be fired.

2 comments:

Ares Vista said...

Donald Trump takes pride in his persona as a 'fighter'. However, he does not fight with honor. This ridiculous lawsuit is just a way to flex his ego, get more publicity, and stand on his elite status. People in America need to realize what is really important, and it's not money. It's people.

Brian said...

Ares:
Couldn't have said it better myself! In some ways I admire him and his business saavy entreprenurial spirit. But this is all about image and posturing and publicity and I think the nature of this lawsuit shines a spotlight on its "publicity stunt" angle.