Wednesday, December 30, 2020

It's War: Thomas Sues Shad

 The Mississippi Center for Justice  issued the following statement. 

Today, the Mississippi Center for Justice filed a lawsuit on behalf of University of Mississippi professor James M. Thomas against Mississippi State Auditor Shad White. The complaint raises a claim of defamation relating to White’s repeated contention that Dr. Thomas violated Mississippi’s no-strike law. It also seeks a declaratory judgment from the Court that Dr. Thomas did not violate that law. The suit was filed in Hinds County Circuit Court by attorneys Rob McDuff and Paloma Wu of MCJ. 

The complaint begins:

In an attack on James M. Thomas, a faculty member and teacher at the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State Auditor Shad White falsely accused Dr. Thomas of violating Mississippi’s law prohibiting certain public employee strikes and called on the University to terminate his employment as a result. The false statement was made by Mr. White in a letter to the Chancellor of the University, in a subsequent letter to Dr. Thomas himself, in at least one press release, and in a number of interviews and other public statements.  

This lawsuit is brought on behalf of Dr. Thomas. It seeks to hold Mr. White accountable under the law of defamation for this false statement. However, Dr. Thomas does not seek the payment of any taxpayer money. This defamation suit is brought against Mr. White in his individual capacity. If Mr. White is found to be liable for this false statement, the jury can decide whether he personally should pay any money. If the jury says he should pay one dollar, that is fine. If the jury orders payment of more money, that is fine too. But no taxpayer money will be paid to Dr. Thomas as a result of this lawsuit.

 

 

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can somebody cut through all the legal bullshit and state, in less than fifty words, how the ACLU figures state law does not prevail? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

This won’t be the last suit against Shad, and I believe it will be a drop in the bucket compared to what I think is coming. You keyboard commandos will defend him no doubt, but we’ll see.

Anonymous said...

The professor is a waste of good, breathable oxygen, but part of me hopes that sawed off runt using the OSA as his personal campaign platform gets a healthy dose of humble pie. Would love to see his narrow ass feeling some pressure.

Anonymous said...

but taxpayers will be paying for the defense of the suit-

Anonymous said...

Looks like that $2000 political grandstanding request is going to cost the state a lot more than $2000 once all Shad’s legal fees get picked up by the taxpayers. Isn’t that the opposite of your job? Hopefully he can learn from this and not run to the media every time he needs a stoke his ego.

Anonymous said...

That professor is a douche bag.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all you do for for America, JT.

What a leader looks like said...

Shad for Governor. Or even better, President! Go get em.

Anonymous said...

This is a diversion to take away the attention from the $90 million stolen from the welfare funds.

Anonymous said...

Commies and miscreants, thick as Fing thieves.

Anonymous said...

Go Shad Go!

Anonymous said...

#hydr #flagship #werunthisship

Anonymous said...

Simple answer is he can’t be sued in his individual capacity for this. It will get bounced shortly

Anonymous said...

JT the Gaslighter. Look at me, look at me!!

Anonymous said...

The professor is a worthless POS. And he will likely prevail. And the college board is a bunch of pansies for giving him tenure after this fiasco.

Anonymous said...

@4:33 - there will be no "legal fees". The AG's office will represent the State Auditor, and all those folks are full time employees of the state. They are going to get paid the same amount of money with or without this lawsuit. And there won't be the need to hire any more additional folks to handle it.

Nice try, but that dog won't hunt. Whether or not you agree with the Auditor in his pursuit of this claim is one thing, but arguing that it will 'cost the state' is not a case to be made.

Take it another step - what if he was going after a hundred thousand dollar inappropriate expenditure of funds. And the person who took them was suing. Should he drop the case because there would be legal fees involved in collecting the misspent dollars? What if it was only ten thousand? Where would you stop and say it would be ok for someone to steal state dollars because trying to collect it would be too expensive?

Anonymous said...

The commie professor needs to be tarred, feathered, and run out on a rail. He deserves the incivility he advocated for.

Anonymous said...

" Can somebody cut through all the legal bullshit and state, in less than fifty words,"

Pseudo instructor remains butt hurt.
He thinks this might help him.

That's it in eleven words.

Anonymous said...

I look at this professor and I look at the young ambitious State Auditor and I think of all the small potato crooks and low paid expense account scammers that Shad could be going after like he's punching his ticket for higher orfice and I wonder who will ever fix the general stater of corruption and thieving.

Anonymous said...

I seem to recall a mechanism where a state official can be sued in his/her individual capacity. I’ll try and find it....you legal scholars who frequent this site help me too. The Auditor’s accusations in this case and others, if proven untrue, can give rise to negligence as well. That’s the problem with Shad being such a media whore....it potentially exposes him. But, he does “document and prove everything”.

I’d expect bar complaints to be filed against him as well. At a minimum, he’s arguably violated his duty of professionalism and candor as an attorney. In this case and others it would seem.

Anonymous said...

Shad is bright and a hard worker.
Rob McDuff is a fine lawyer.
Rob appears to be correct that the statute was not technically violated because the work stoppage was not a complaint for better working conditions.
I am rusty on immunity but think Shad may be immune from liability while working as a state official.
The exception to immunity (in other words, "may be liable") has been when knowingly violating state law.
Again, I am rusty, but I think the question will be "can Rob prove Shad knew the law was inapplicable but spoke openly that the professor violated the law"
I suspect the Chancellor may rule for Rob and the Supreme Court will overturn the decision.
The twist of not seeking any recovery from state funds may be an attempt to leave Shad on a political island.
Despite Rob's excellent skills, my money is on Shad. But, I bet ya a donut Shad is more careful next time he bellows. The suit will distract Shad and give the first amendment a platform for attention.
/s/ Trying To Be Reasonable

Anonymous said...

@7:06
Opportunity cost. Or waste. Time spent working on this could be better spent somewhere else. Or a case will be neglected that could costs the state money. So maybe not additional legal costs but not the best value for our money.

Anonymous said...

"Dr."Thomas is another reason that although I have four degrees from Ole Miss, I am so unhappy with the extreme liberalism there.

Anonymous said...

7:06pm: you ever hear of opportunity costs? May not cost a dime but dang sure is distracting from real legal work.

Wardrobe Department said...

Like the ones worn by Rodney Dangerfield, this suit is a joke.

Anonymous said...

The professor's attorney is correct as a matter of law. There was no strike over "wages or benefits."

Also, Shad would have to cite Lane Kiffen and Mike Leach and their coaching staffs. All 3 entities engaged in a strike in support of Black Lives Matter.

BLM is not covered by the Mississippi statue.

The professor wins the case.

Anonymous said...

Why did we hire a PHD in “History”? What does it take to be one and what good are they? I suppose to be one, you have to read a history book and write a book report on that book and “BOOM”, you are now a doctor. From the looks of our lack of gifting by alums, we need to weed out trouble makers like this joke!!!!

Anonymous said...

Florida is vaccinating the elderly now, MS is way behind.

Anonymous said...

Shad let politics get in the way when he decided to waste resources on this piece of shit professor. No matter what you think about the numb-nut, it was not worth pursuing considering the amount of graft and corruption in state government that continues to go without investigation due to limited resources of the auditor’s office. The auditor should focus on big fish and save the state some real money. This was a bullshit move to fire up “Bubba.”

Anonymous said...

Everyone complains about corruption in government, but when someone tries to do something about it, he’s the problem. Amazing.

Anonymous said...

Colleges play the biggest con on the American public. They churn out bullshit degrees that leave most graduates in debt and working at Walmart. Learn a trade and work hard, avoid college. Unless you have a specific career in mind that requires a degree.

Anonymous said...

9:31- EXACTLY! Glad Shad is looking out for the tax payers. Keep up the good work Shad.

Anonymous said...

I’ll try and find it....you legal scholars who frequent this site help me too.

In other words you don't really know.

Anonymous said...

This is a BS professor with a BS degree spouting BS for pay! The guy who hired him should be fired too! Why does the state continue to pay for this stuff. Are there any
bright PHD's not orbiting Jupiter>

Thomas Gentry said...

Of the four cases McDuff reportedly has argued before SCOTUS, aside from the Curtis Flowers case,can anyone name the other three? Maybe the MSCW sex discrimination suit? On the Flowers case I am reminded of Thoreau's observation: There are times when the circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find the trout in the milk.

Anonymous said...

9:02- nice try. You seem to remember. You state he has violated his professionalism.

Frankly, you sound like Trump, and his lawyer Rudy. You make broad statements without anything to back them up. You claim your opinion as definitive, but with no evidence or facts

Just why was Shad wrong with his statements, other than your determination as you have declared from the bench?

Or should we just accept your anonymous proclamation as being absolute?

Anonymous said...

10:04 - obviously you have not spent any time in the MS AG's office. Not just the current AG, but in the past several.

Opportunity time lost? You must be kidding. There are plenty of attorneys and assistants there with time on their hands. No different than most every state agency - and the deadlines are always 'moveable'.

No - this will not actually cost additional money. And there will be no 'opportunity lost' costs either.

Anonymous said...

@11:06 Kiffen and Leach did not strike in support of BLM. They did cancel practice in order to march. So they were available to their team, and performed duties of their job.

Tenure, My Ass said...

Gentlemen; We're talking about rat shit here and there's elephant turds lying all around.

This little pecker-head, like Shrader at Millsaps, ought to be handed a Trailways ticket to (at least) Memphis. They're both annoyances, like gnats. Nothing more.

Anonymous said...

9:33 No Chancellor in Circuit Court

Anonymous said...

I just don’t see how Thomas gets around the Tort Claims Act. Unless he filed a proper Notice of Claim, and successfully navigated that obstacle course, I think this case will be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

Even if this case does make it into court, I don’t see how Thomas gets around Shad White’s governmental immunity for statements made in the scope of his employment.


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