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Living in the
land of lawsuits!
Most
of us living in the US try to abide by the law and maintain
a low profile. In such a situation, the most likely encounter
with the law might come in the form of traffic violations
such as speeding and accidents, observes Mohan Babu
‘Although
lawyers and the legal system can be intimidating, the sytem
here is designed to keep the nitty-gritty transparent to most
of us’
Most
software professionals, even those of us working abroad, are
content to live our lives hoping we don’t encounter any skirmish
with the law or law enforcement officials. Those of us who
live abroad have a special responsibility to understand and
follow at least the basics of law that governs the land. This
is because of a basic doctrine of law — governing the legal
systems in most modern nations — that says `Ignorantia juris
non excusat’, literally translating to the fact that ignorance
of the law is not an excuse.
Most
of us living in the US try to abide by the law and maintain
a low profile. In such a situation, the most likelyencounter
with the law might come in the form of traffic violations
such as speeding and accidents.
Traffic
accidents are generally unpredictable and when they do occur,
we need to be prepared. In case of an accident, both parties,
regardless of who is at fault, need to exchange their name,
phone number and insurance details. Generally a police officer
arrives at the scene within a few minutes of the accident,
notes all the information and gives a ‘ticket’ and summons
to appear at the local court on a specified date. In the same
way, one needs to be prepared if stopped by a police officer
for speeding or other traffic inspection. Most roads have
speed markers prominently placed and the enforcement is quite
rigorous with automatic speed cameras and radars being increasingly
used. For most traffic related cases, the procedures in the
courts are very streamlined. One either accepts the ‘plea
bargain’ or judgement, pays the specified fine and walks away.
Or, in rare cases, argues the case in front of a judge. In
most instances, except for DUI (driving under the influence
of alcohol), traffic violations are not considered criminal
offenses.
Of
course traffic violations are not the only time people need
to go to court. There were a number of well-publicised cases
filed by Indians in the US that made headlines in the recent
past.
You
have probably read of the lawsuit by the Gujarati software
engineer Dipen Joshi, who sued his employer for trying to
enforce an illegal bond. This case was interesting for a number
of reasons. Indians, especially those on H1 visas rarely lash
out against employers.
Joshi
had arrived in the US in March 1998, hired by a California
based company Compubahn, which was supposed to contract him
to work for high-technology firms in Silicon Valley. Compubahn
has offices in Union City, California, and Woodbridge, Virginia,
and its clients include Oracle and Sun Microsystems. For the
first six months, Joshi was not placed anywhere. Then, in
September, he was sub-contracted to another consultancy that
placed him with Oracle. In June 1999, Joshi decided to leave
Compubahn and join Oracle. Compubahn responded by demanding
$77,085 from Joshi in damages for leaving before his 18-month
contract was over. Joshi hired a lawyer in California who
not only managed to blow holes through Compubahn’s case but
also recovered a hefty settlement. According to the ruling,
Compubahn had to pay $207,051.50 in legal fees and $7,999.11
for other expenses. For Joshi, winning the lawsuit did not
entail big gains since his lawyer managed to pocket most of
the $207,051, making some wonder if it was really worth the
trouble. Of course the flip side of this case is the moral
victory that Joshi won, giving courage to others in a similar
predicament who could consider legal options open to them.
Another
recent well-publicised lawsuit was the ‘McDonalds-beef-in-fries’
case. Last month, a couple of Hindus in the US filed a suit
against McDonalds claiming that it misrepresented the presence
of beef-extract in its fries. The company was under fire from
Hindus all over the world who rallied around, shocked that
a multinational could blatantly hide a fact sacred to most
vegetarians. Details of any monetary settlement are unknown
but the case resulted in a public relations nightmare for
the company.
Indians
in the US generally think of lawyers as being synonymous with
immigration. Because of the complexity of laws governing H1-B
and immigration most of us seek the assistance of immigration
lawyers. This fact has not gone unnoticed by the local Indian
publications, newspapers, magazines, Web portals and chat-boards.
Almost every paper devotes at least a page for classifieds
of immigration lawyers and attorneys.
There
are times when individuals can also be at the receiving end
of lawsuits. One must take all measures to cover all the bases.
Most companies provide referral services to their employees,
recommending good lawyers. Although lawyers and the legal
system can be intimidating, the system here is designed to
keep the nitty-gritty transparent to most of us.
People
think of the US as being a land of lawsuits where people sue
at the drop of hat but it is not really true. Of course, there
are the odd frivolous lawsuits that grab the headlines but
by and large the legal system is built to protect people from
injustices. Of course, it helps when most people are aware
of at least the basics of the legal system and the recourses
available to them, as I said earlier says Ignorantia juris
non excusat.
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