Miller & Chevalier has announced that William P. Barry joined the firm as a member in the Litigation department.

In a news release, the firm said Barry advises clients on securities enforcement and white collar defense matters, with a particular emphasis on representing boards, senior executives, and companies in matters related to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-money laundering, accounting, and related issues.

The release continues:

Prior to joining Miller & Chevalier, Barry served as a partner at Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, counselling public companies, investors, investment and retail banks, and non-U.S. companies seeking investments from U.S. entities.

“I’m pleased to join a firm with experts in a variety of disciplines necessary to cross-border business in today’s marketplace, who advise and protect companies, boards, and individuals in critical junctures,” Barry said. “The goal is to serve your clients best when they need you the most, and I can’t think of a better place to do that than at a firm with nearly a century of tradition, history, and stability whose lawyers operate on the cutting edge of emerging market trends.”

“I’ve known Will personally and professionally for over 25 years,” said Mark Rochon, Chair of Miller & Chevalier’s Litigation practice. “I’ve always been impressed with his judgment, calm assessment of complicated issues, and ability to work well with everyone. He is a dynamic addition to Miller & Chevalier.”

Barry’s move comes on the heels of another key litigation addition, as civil and criminal attorney Preston L. Pugh joined the firm in April.

Barry’s influence expands far beyond his work in the Washington, DC area; he has advised clients with interests around the world, including Brazil, Canada, China, India, Russia, and Switzerland. He was selected by Benchmark Litigation as a National Star for White Collar Crime and Securities Litigation in 2017 and has been recommended by The Legal 500 United States in White Collar Criminal Defense four years running.

“We are very pleased to welcome Will to Miller & Chevalier,” said Anthony F. Shelley, Chair of the firm’s Executive Committee. “His securities enforcement and white collar experience will be a valuable asset to our growing Litigation department.”

A frequent author and speaker on corruption topics, Barry is a member of the American Bar Association’s International Anti-Money Laundering Committee and International Anti-Corruption Committee. He is also the chairman of Olney Boys & Girls Club (OBGC), a non-profit organization that currently serves close to 6,000 children and their families in Maryland. Over the course of its nearly 50-year history, OBGC has provided more than 45,000 children with safe after-school sports programs emphasizing both physical and emotional development.

Barry earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1991 and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1995.

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Two verdicts won by East Texas law firm Ward, Smith & Hill are among the list of top 100 verdicts from 2016 as compiled by The National Law Journal.

In one of the cases, firm founder Johnny Ward helped VirnetX win a $302 million patent verdict against Apple Inc. After one week of trial, the jury awarded the amount based on Apple’s infringement of four of VirnetX’s internet security patents. The $302 million verdict was the ninth largest verdict overall in the U.S., and fourth largest IP verdict in 2016.

And in the other case, name partner Wes Hill successfully convinced a jury that Apple Inc. willfully infringed on a patent owned by Cellular Communications Equipment resulting in an award of $22 million for past damages. The seven-day trial revealed how Apple knowingly infringed the patent in its iPhones and iPads.

Read about the verdicts.

The top lawyer at Fox News finds herself the subject of speculation about whether she may be following the company’s former president out the door in the wake of complaints of sexual harassment or racial discrimination at the network.

Financial Times reports that Dianne Brandi, executive vice president of legal and business affairs, is named in three lawsuits that the network is contesting.

In one of the suits, Andrea Tantaros, a Fox News host, filed a suit against the company and Brandi, alleging that Brandi failed to investigate allegations of misconduct. Fox News and Brandi have denied the allegations in all the suits.

The Washington Post reports that Brandi was one of the senior executives “who engaged in a concerted effort to silence Tantaros by threats, humiliation, and retaliation.”

Hollywood Reporter has a story saying that Brandi is particularly vulnerable if more heads roll at Fox News.

Read The Washington Post article.

Read the Financial Times article.

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Bloomberg is reporting that Kimberly-Clark Corp. sued its spinoff Halyard Health Inc., claiming it wrongfully refused to pick up the entire tab for a $454 million verdict against the companies over the safety of some of their surgical gowns.

The plaintiff claims Halyard agreed to indemnify Kimberly-Clark for all costs tied to a lawsuit that accused the companies of misleading consumers about the safety of their MicroCool surgical gowns.

In its suit, Kimberly-Clark claims that Halyard must pay its $350 million punitive-damages portion of the jury verdict in the class-action case, reports Jef Feeley.

Halyard Health, which makes surgical masks, gloves and pain-pump accessories, filed its own suit in California, claiming it’s not obligated to cover litigation costs.

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Sometimes a temporary restraining order, or TRO, can provide immediate relief from the court system when a party can show irreparable harm will be caused if someone is allowed to remain in control of assets that belong to the company, according to an article posted on the website of Mehendru P.C.

“It may be that a competitor has interfered with a business contract, an employee has stolen your trade secrets or breached a non-compete agreement, or a business partner has stolen from your company.  You have to go to court to protect the company though you’d rather not,” the post reads.

A judge can grant a TRO to stop an individual’s actions even without that person or his lawyer being in court. And a TRO provides immediate relief from the court system when a party can show irreparable harm will be caused if someone is allowed to remain in control of assets that belong to the company.

Read the article.

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Plano, Texas attorney Jason Van Dyke was all set to begin a new chapter of his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Victoria County. So he was startled to receive notice that the District Attorney’s office had rescinded its job offer with no explanation. Van Dyke speculates the reversal could be related to media coverage of a Twitter exchange he had involving a case he was working on in 2014. He has since filed suit seeking answers from Victoria County.

In a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing, Rhonda Reddick quotes Dallas labor and employment attorney Leiza Dolghih of Godwin Bowman & Martinez, who says this is a cautionary tale for both employers and job-seekers.

The post continues:

“Many employers these days Google prospective hires and look them up on social media for any evidence of red flags that indicate that the applicant may be violent, unethical, unstable or simply have bad judgment. These behind-the-scenes, informal background checks often result in rejection, or even withdrawal, of a job offer,” she says.

While a Texas employer may reject a prospective candidate for a myriad of reasons, including social media activity, a prospective employee cannot be rejected on the basis of race, gender, religion, age or other protective categories – information that can often be gleaned from social media. If a candidate can show that a job rejection was based on information protected under employment law, there could be basis for a claim of discrimination.

“However, in this case, if the employer discovered what they considered unsavory comments, or possible evidence of poor judgment or lack of self-control, after offering Mr. Van Dyke a job, the withdrawal of that offer based on the newly discovered information, would be acceptable,” says Ms. Dolghih. “While everyone has the right to speak their mind freely, that speech may result in rather harsh consequences in terms of employment.”

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The purpose of a settlement and release agreement is to fully and finally dispose of a disputed matter, explains Stacy L. La Scala, a neutral writing for JAMS.

“However, more and more often, a dispute cannot be fully resolved where non­parties to the dispute have contributed defense and indemnity amounts on behalf of one or more of the parties and have reserved the right to seek recovery of those amounts in subsequent litigation,” he cautions.

In the article, published on JDSupra.com, he writes:

In particular, where insurance carriers have actually provided a defense and/or indemnity in an action, those carriers in a number of jurisdictions have potential rights against their insureds, pursuant to reservation of rights for uncovered claims; potential rights against those entities who are principally responsible for the loss; and potential rights against contractually obligated indemnitors of their insureds. The carriers are typically not part of the action and are not signatories to the settlement agreement.

Read the article.

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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Tuesday that it is ordering U.S. Bank National Association to pay a civil penalty of $15 million for what it calls “bankruptcy filing violations” that occurred between 2009 and 2014, according to a HousingWire report.

The OCC claimed that U.S. Bank “engaged in filing practices in bankruptcy courts with respect to proofs of claim, payment change notices, and post-petition fees among others that did not comply with bankruptcy rules and constituted unsafe or unsound banking practices.”

HousingWire reporter Ben Lane adds that the OCC said that as a result of the bank’s bankruptcy practices, U.S. Bank “has made or will make approximately $29 million in remediation to approximately 22,000 account-holders.”

Read the HousingWire article.

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An expanded lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Fox News Channel of racial discrimination “that appears more akin to Plantation-style management than a modern-day work environment,” reports the Associated Press.

Eight former and current Fox employees joined an existing case involving three former Fox workers who have accused a since-fired Fox financial executive of bias. It also expands the case to include Dianne Brandi, Fox’s chief counsel.

Fox News has denied the allegations.

“One plaintiff, on-air personality Kelly Wright, who’s black, said he’d been effectively sidelined and asked to perform the role of a Jim Crow, an insulting slang term to refer to a black man, according to the lawsuit. Wright said [Bill] O’Reilly, who’s white, refused to show a piece Wright had prepared after racial protests in Ferguson, Missouri, because they showed blacks in too positive a light,” writes AP reporter David Bauder.

Read the AP article.

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DLA Piper announced that healthcare and life sciences compliance lawyer John Rah has joined the firm’s Litigation practice as a partner in Washington, DC.

In a news release, the firm said Rah advises pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, healthcare providers and suppliers and managed healthcare organizations on corporate compliance program development and operations designed to mitigate the risk of fraud and abuse. He counsels clients on investigations and informal inquiries by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG).

Rah’s work also includes conducting internal investigations for health care companies involving potential violations of relevant policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with the anti-kickback, Food Drug and Cosmetics Act . He also has been involved in negotiating and implementing Corporate Integrity Agreements (CIAs), Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs), and state consent decrees, and regularly interacts with the OIG and other relevant agencies in connection with these integrity agreements, the firm said.

“John is one of the nation’s leading compliance lawyers,” said Loren Brown, co-chair of DLA Piper’s global and US Litigation practices. “In particular, John is in a league of his own when it comes to counseling major life sciences and healthcare companies through significant regulatory and enforcement challenges. We are confident that our clients will value his advice and counsel, and that he will enhance our global platform immediately.”

“As our healthcare provider clients look to navigate through the complexities of federal regulations, particularly given the evolving regulatory landscape, the insights John gained through his work with the OIG will be extremely valuable,” said Jeff Lehrer, managing partner of DLA Piper’s Washington, DC, office. “John’s skillset will also complement our growing white collar enforcement team in Washington and our growing Litigation practice.”

Rah, who previously was a partner at Morgan Lewis, is the latest addition to the firm’s Litigation practice in Washington, DC, which recently added Matthew Graves, Raphael Larson and Louis Ramos. Other additions to the practice elsewhere in the US include Eric Christofferson (Boston), George Karavetsos (Miami), David Sager (Short Hills, New Jersey), and Thiru Vignarajah (Baltimore).

Rah received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and his B.A. from New York University.

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The new Association of Women Lawyers of the Eastern District of Texas (WLED) was established with the first general order of 2017 issued by Eastern District Chief Judge Ron Clark in recognition of “the large number of outstanding female lawyers who practice in the Eastern District and the contribution they have made and continue to make to the district.”

WLED, an affiliate of the Eastern District of Texas Bar Association, will provide mentoring and networking opportunities for women lawyers practicing in the Eastern District.

Judge Clark appointed Elizabeth “Beth” Forrest from the Plano, Texas, office of Siebman, Burg, Phillips & Smith, LLP, as Chairperson for the WLED Organizational Committee. Amanda Abraham of The Roth Law Firm in Marshall, Texas, has been named Secretary/Treasurer, and Evelyn Chen, in-house counsel at Ericsson in Plano, has been named Vice Chairperson.

Eastern District Judge Marcia Crone of Beaumont, Texas; Eastern District Chief Bankruptcy Judge Brenda Rhoades of Plano; and Eastern District Magistrate Judges Caroline Craven of Texarkana, Texas; Nicole Mitchell of Tyler, Texas; Christine Nowak of Sherman, Texas; and Kimberly Priest Johnson of Plano will serve as the inaugural judicial liaisons to WLED.

“WLED’s goal is to provide a continuing forum where the many experienced women attorneys and judges in the Eastern District can provide advice and moral support to all our members, especially younger trial attorneys,” says Ms. Forrest. “Their insights and our shared experiences will help us develop our careers and assume the mantle of lead trial counsel in an increasingly competitive legal market.”

Membership in WLED is open to anyone who is committed to the group’s ethics and goals and who works toward the success of women trial attorneys, including fostering a deep bench of talented women lawyers as lead counsel in the Eastern District of Texas.

For more information on WLED and to learn how to become a member, contact Ms. Forrest at elizabethforrest@siebman.com.

Theranos Inc. investors accused the company of threatening to file for bankruptcy protection if they don’t agree to give up their rights to sue the firm over its flawed blood-testing business, reports Bloomberg Law.

Reporters Jef Feeley and Caroline Chen write that officials of Partner Investments LP and two other funds, which invested more than $96 million in Theranos preferred shares, said a lawyer representing the privately held medical-testing company suggested it would seek Chapter 11 protection if the investors won’t abandon their lawsuit and accept more equity instead.

Theranos officials have disputed the investors’ claims, saying they discussed the exchange offer with investors before the suit was filed.

“Having said it will no longer sell tests to consumers after running into trouble with U.S. regulators, Theranos and Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Holmes are fighting for the company’s life,” according to Bloomberg. “It’s facing multiple suits by investors who claim they were misled about the technology and want their money back, and it is refocusing on research.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Michael I. Goldberg, the SEC appointed receiver in charge of the Jay Peak Resort and Burke Mountain Hotel in Vermont, reached a settlement agreement with Raymond James that will significantly benefit the defrauded investors and creditors of the receivership estate, according to a news release from Akerman LLP.

Under the terms of the settlement, which must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Raymond James will pay $150 million to the receivership estate and the funds will be used to satisfy the claims of numerous investors and creditors while at the same time allowing the receiver to complete construction of the Jay Peak Resort. The settlement was achieved exactly one year from the date the case began.

The Akerman release continues:

The Jay Peak case involves the largest fraud in the history of the federal EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program. Raymond James allegedly assisted Ariel Quiros, owner of Q Resorts and William Stenger, president and CEO of Jay Peak, a Vermont ski resort owner by Q Resorts, in stealing and misusing millions of dollars raised from hundreds of investors. Raymond James vehemently denied any liability whatsoever. Since July 2016, Goldberg and Raymond James have been engaged in good faith, arm’s-length settlement negotiations. Upon court approval, the settlement will resolve all claims brought against Raymond James and bar any future claims that may arise from the activities associated with the Jay Peak Resort and Burke Mountain Hotel.

Goldberg said, “This settlement would not have been possible without Raymond James stepping up to the plate from the very beginning of this case in an effort to do the right thing. At all times throughout our negotiations, Raymond James acted professionally and honorably in a good faith effort to resolve the litigation. The way Raymond James approached this case is a benchmark for how other firms in a similar situation should handle such a case. I want to further thank my counsel, Jeffrey Schneider of Levine Kellogg and lead class counsel, Harley Tropin and Tucker Ronzetti of the Kozyak Tropin firm for their tireless work in helping me resolve this case and benefitting hundreds of investors and creditors. Finally, I want to thank the officials at the SEC and the State of Vermont for their unwavering commitment to protecting the defrauded investors and creditors since the very beginning of the case and helping us structure a settlement that is in the best interest of the receivership estate and the investors. The SEC’s investigation and lawsuit was the catalyst for this settlement.”

The settlement amount will be utilized as follows:

• $15.3 million will be used to satisfy the promissory notes payable to the investors of Jay Peak Hotel Suites L.P.
• $5.1 million will benefit Jay Peak Hotel Suites Phase II L.P., Jay Peak Penthouse Suites L.P., Jay Peak Golf and Mountain Suites L.P., Jay Peak Lodge and Townhouses L.P., Jay Peak Hotel Suites Stateside L.P. and Q Burke Mountain Hotel and Conference Center, L.P. by satisfying past due trade debt on the Jay Peak Resort and the Burke Mountain Hotel.
• $19.6 million will be used to complete the construction of the Stateside Phase VI project of which up to $2.2 million will be used to satisfy existing contractor liens.
• $67 million will be used to return the $500,000 principal investment each investor made in the Jay Peak Biomedical Research Park L.P.
• $6.6 million will be used to satisfy contractor claims against the Q Burke Phase VIII project and to repay other debt on the Burke Mountain Hotel.
• $10 million will be posted in a separate interest-bearing escrow account and be used if needed to repay up to twenty Q Burke Phase VIII Investors who may not be eligible to apply for permanent residency through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.
• $1 million will be used to refund the $500,000 investment of two investors in the Q Burke phase VIII whose I-526 petitions were denied prior to the date of the SEC Action.
• $25 million will be set aside to pay the fees of class counsel and other attorneys who brought suits on behalf of individual victims.

Goldberg is co-chair of the Fraud & Recovery Practice Group at top 100 U.S. law firm Akerman LLP. The case of Jay Peak is the largest EB-5 fraud scheme in U.S. history and the $150 million settlement represents the largest recovery of EB-5 investor losses.

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In his Petes’ Take blog for  Porzio, Bromberg & Newman,  Peter J. Gallagher describes a New Jersey case in which a court ruled that a clear arbitration provision, negotiated by a sophisticated party while represented by counsel, is enforceable.

In Columbus Circle NJ LLC v. Island Construction Co., LLC, the appellate court held that the arbitration provision in the AIA contract used in this case satisfied the requirements to explain to the signer the possible consequences of giving up the right to adjudication in a court of law, Gallagher explains.

“By its terms, the provision required plaintiff to choose between arbitration and ‘litigation in a court of competent jurisdiction,’ therefore, when plaintiff chose ‘arbitration,’ it did so ‘with full knowledge that arbitration [was] a substitute for the right to have [its] claim adjudicated in court.’ Moreover, the Appellate Division noted that neither the LLC nor its sole member was ‘an average member of the public,'” according to Gallagher.

Read the article.

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Partners at the law firm Chadbourne & Parke, in an unusual public gesture, voted on Thursday to expel from its ranks a female partner who filed a gender discrimination and pay inequity lawsuit against the firm last year, according to a New York Times report.

Campbell argued her case before the partners of the firm, but in a poll of the partnership conducted by telephone, she cast the only vote against expulsion. About 70 partners voted to expel her from the firm, Chadbourne said in a statement.

“On Monday, a federal district judge in Manhattan rebuffed her effort to block the vote, which her lawyers argued was retaliation for her lawsuit, which seeks $100 million and claims that the firm paid female partners less than their male counterparts and denied them advancement opportunities,” reports Elizabeth Olson. “Two other female partners have joined the lawsuit since it was filed in August in Federal District Court in Manhattan.”

Read the NYT article.

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The widow of a partner at the Reed Smith law firm won a $3 million verdict Thursday in a lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company that she blamed for her husband’s suicide, reports The Chicago Tribune.

“Wendy Dolin’s husband, Stewart, stepped in front of a CTA Blue Line train in the Loop on July 15, 2010. He had been taking paroxetine, a drug for depression and anxiety, and his widow claimed in her lawsuit that GlaxoSmithKline failed to warn her husband’s doctor of the drug’s increased risk of suicidal behavior, leading to his death,” writes reporter Grace Wong.

GlaxoSmithKline’s defense was that Dolin was taking a generic version of Paxil, manufactured by another company. But the judge hearing the case released the maker of the generic, saying it had no control of the drug’s label.

Read the Tribune article.

Winston & Strawn LLP has added three more partners to its litigation team in the firm’s recently opened Dallas office.

In a news release, the firm said Geoffrey Harper, Michael Bittner, and Chad Walker, who join the firm from Fish & Richardson, work in complex commercial, business, and intellectual property litigation matters.

“These lawyers are among the best at what they do and therefore a great fit,” said Tom Fitzgerald, chairman of Winston & Strawn. “We’re committed to building an office that is second to none in Dallas, and this is additional proof of that.”

“I know and have worked with these lawyers for years and their continued presence on our team is good for all of us and wonderful news for our clients,” said Tom Melsheimer, who, along with Bryan Goolsby, will serve as managing partner of Winston & Strawn’s Dallas office. “Litigation can be a battle and that means you want and need the best people around you. And these lawyers are the best.”

The firm’s release continues:

Mr. Harper is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who has first chaired more than 25 trials and arbitrations to verdict. Having litigated in 26 states and 4 countries, Mr. Harper is frequently sought by plaintiffs and defendants to handle litigation in state and federal courts around the globe. He has represented clients in multiple billion and trillion dollar class actions and has achieved numerous multi-million dollar verdicts for clients. Mr. Harper has been recognized on Texas Super Lawyers and Texas Rising Stars lists, and has had several of his verdicts cited as some of the top trial victories of the year. His practice emphasizes complex commercial litigation, including contractual disputes, class actions, securities litigation, intellectual property disputes, employment disputes, arbitrations, and general commercial litigation.

Mr. Bittner’s practice is focused primarily on intellectual property disputes with an emphasis on patent litigation. He is responsible for leading the largest joint defense group ever (over 400 defendants) in the Eastern District of Texas. Mr. Bittner was named a Texas Rising Star in Intellectual Property Litigation by Super Lawyers magazine in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Mr. Walker’s practice emphasizes patent litigation, qui tam/whistleblower litigation, business litigation, and complex litigation. He has participated in numerous trials, including six where he served as lead trial counsel. Mr. Walker also has technical experience as a co-op engineer in the Software Engineering Group for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, and a co-op engineer in the Systems Engineering Group. Mr. Walker was named a Texas Rising Star in Intellectual Property and Business Litigation for the years 2014-2016.

Winston & Strawn entered the Dallas market in February 2017 with an all-star team of 21 partners from eight different firms. Led by Managing Partners Bryan Goolsby and Tom Melsheimer, nearly 50 transactional lawyers and litigators now work in Winston & Strawn’s Dallas office.

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A large patent-holding company called Unwired Planet reached a settlement with Apple at 1 a.m. on Monday, just hours before a jury trial was set to start in San Francisco, reports Ars Technica.

“Unwired Planet is the patent-holding remains of early mobile company Openwave, which acquired several hundred U.S. patents from Ericsson in early 2013, with Ericsson getting 20 percent of any patent settlements. Later that year, Unwired Planet sued Apple,” explains reporter Joe Mullin.

Law360, which first reported the settlement, said that Unwired Planet was seeking $33 million in royalties.

Read the Ars Technica article.

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Fresh allegations this week of misconduct by Fox News host Bill O’Reilly have reduced the likelihood that he’ll return to the network, reports Bloomberg, and now the company has hired law firm Paul Weiss to investigate the claims.

“Pressure is rising on Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Inc., the parent of the conservative-leaning news network, to make a decision on O’Reilly’s fate as advertisers flee his show. O’Reilly, the channel’s most popular host, pulls in tens of millions of dollars a year in ad revenue, “writes Anousha Sakoui. “The network has said he’ll return to his show April 24 after a previously scheduled vacation.”

Marc E. Kasowitz is the lawyer representing O’Reilly during his legal trouble.

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Mark Lanier

Trial lawyer Mark Lanier was not looking for new cases when two Idaho attorneys called him earlier this year with an appeal to what he described as his “core sense of right and wrong,” according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

The Androvett post continues:

The always-busy Houston lawyer recently earned a $1 billion  product liability verdict against J&J and is gearing up for numerous other trials. But when he heard more about the case involving Antwon McDaniel, a developmentally disabled teen who was bullied and raped at a rural Idaho high school, the decision to join the legal team was an easy one.

“It’s outrageous. It’s horrible,” Mr. Lanier told the Magic Valley Times-News. “As a lawyer, if I can help in a case like this and I don’t, they ought to take away my bar card.”

The federal lawsuit, filed last year, claims that the individually named school board trustees, administrators, teachers and coaches of the Dietrich School District chose to ignore the ongoing physical and mental abuse being suffered by Antwon McDaniel, effectively depriving him of his constitutional rights. The racially motivated violence inflicted on the now 19-year-old Mr. McDaniel, who is black, included anal rape with a coat hanger by several white football teammates in 2015. Criminal cases stemming from the locker room attack have all been resolved, but the civil lawsuit seeking $10 million is ongoing, with the next hearing set for May 9. Trial dates have not yet been scheduled.

Mr. Lanier described his decision to join the lawsuit in an interview with the Times-News:

“My goal is to make sure no student in Idaho or anywhere else has this problem again,” [Mr. Lanier] said. “We need to do something to protect our children who don’t fit in, aren’t the right color, aren’t the right religion and don’t fit that model profile. There’s a chance to do something here.”

There were three main motivating factors, Mr. Lanier said. The need for the school district to be responsible; the “egregiousness of it all”; and because he “cares deeply about racial issues.”

“America is at a place where we have to find a way to be accepting of people of different race, religion, gender, or even political affiliation,” Mr. Lanier said.