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Switch to Forum Live View At Least In This Case Justice Is Done
2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 9:10AM #1
Tpaine
Tpaine
Posts: 8,189

It's nice to see that at least occasionally bigotry loses.


MOBILE, Ala (Reuters) - The owner of a large southwest Alabama car dealership derided as "Taliban Toyota" by a competitor has been awarded $7.5 million in damages after a jury trial for his slander claim.


Iranian-born Shawn Esfahani, owner of Eastern Shore Toyota in Daphne, Alabama, sought $28 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Bob Tyler Toyota, claiming employees at that Pensacola, Florida-based dealership falsely portrayed him as an Islamist militant to customers. Link

"When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, then may the country boast its constitution and its government." -- Thomas Paine: The Rights Of Man (1791)
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 10:39AM #2
Erey
Erey
Posts: 15,067

Oh, that is mean! 
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 10:44AM #3
TemplarS
TemplarS
Posts: 5,159

Good news- but also bad.


One would think a businessman would not use bigotry as a marketing tool if there was not a ready customer base who would respond. 


In any case, glad some courts are on top of things.


Also- there are levels of bigotry.  One wonders what would have happened if the guy hadn't accused other man of supporting terrorists but had simply said "hey, you should buy from a real American."


There are these two liquors stores by me (this is in NJ, not Alabama).  One is owned by Indians; the other has a big banner in the window reading "A Family Owned American Business".  Effective, maybe, but perfectly legal.


 
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 11:23AM #4
mountain_man
mountain_man
Posts: 34,109

This happened in Pensacola. The worst 6 months of my life were spent on a small Navy base in Pensacola. The place is the arm pit of Florida. It does not surprise me that someone from there would do something like this.

Dave - Just a Man in the Mountains.

I am a Humanist. I believe in a rational philosophy of life, informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by a desire to do good for its own sake and not by an expectation of a reward or fear of punishment in an afterlife.
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 12:20PM #5
IreneAdler
IreneAdler
Posts: 2,827

Yea!


Sounds like they will appeal though. I found this related article:


blog.al.com/live/2011/10/jury_awards_75_...


 


Says that the Toyota dealership failed to prove they suffered damages from the ugly statements.


 


Irene.


 
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 1:55PM #6
rabello
rabello
Posts: 17,160

I'm (pleasantly) surprised that the jury found in favor of the plaintiff.
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 2:17PM #7
BDboy
BDboy
Posts: 3,248

Nov 2, 2011 -- 1:55PM, rabello wrote:


I'm (pleasantly) surprised that the jury found in favor of the plaintiff.






 


>>>>>>>>> There are good and bad people in every communities. Alabama is no exception.
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 2:53PM #8
TemplarS
TemplarS
Posts: 5,159

Nov 2, 2011 -- 2:17PM, BDboy wrote:


Nov 2, 2011 -- 1:55PM, rabello wrote:


I'm (pleasantly) surprised that the jury found in favor of the plaintiff.






 


>>>>>>>>> There are good and bad people in every communities. Alabama is no exception.




More than that, there is some good in just about everybody.


When it comes to bigotry, personalizing it can make a big difference (should not have to , but that's the way it works).


No account of the trial was given,  but one can easily imagine Mr. Esfahani on the witness stand, the story of a naturalized American who fled Iranian tyranny, and has been here 30 years and worked hard to make a business for himself, presenting a very sympathetic victim.  No longer some faceless "Mooslim".
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 2:57PM #9
IreneAdler
IreneAdler
Posts: 2,827

Nov 2, 2011 -- 2:53PM, TemplarS wrote:


Nov 2, 2011 -- 2:17PM, BDboy wrote:


Nov 2, 2011 -- 1:55PM, rabello wrote:


I'm (pleasantly) surprised that the jury found in favor of the plaintiff.






 


>>>>>>>>> There are good and bad people in every communities. Alabama is no exception.




More than that, there is some good in just about everybody.


When it comes to bigotry, personalizing it can make a big difference (should not have to , but that's the way it works).


No account of the trial was given,  but one can easily imagine Mr. Esfahani on the witness stand, the story of a naturalized American who fled Iranian tyranny, and has been here 30 years and worked hard to make a business for himself, presenting a very sympathetic victim.  No longer some faceless "Mooslim".






I guess I missed the part about this man being Muslim. 


 


 


Irene.
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 02, 2011 - 3:20PM #10
TemplarS
TemplarS
Posts: 5,159

Good point, Irene, but I guess Mr. Bob Tyler thought he was...
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