The Seventh Circuit just issued an opinion involving NBC’s creepy “To Catch a Predator” where child sex predators (a protected class judging from McCain & Keyes’ objection to Obama’s efforts to protect kids from such predators) are duped into thinking the show’s employees are kids ripe for the molesting. Then they do a Candid Camera-esque “SURPRISE!” and hilarity ensues.
Anyway, the court affirmed a dismissal of the show’s producer, one Marsha Bartel, who claimed that she told NBC that several aspects of the production process did not meet NBC’s ethical guidelines. For example, she says that the law enforcement officers participating in the stings were being compensated by NBC either directly or indirectly and that NBC wasn’t being provided full transcripts of “Perverted Justice” (which engineers the stings) conversations with targets or a list of all of Perverted Justice’s volunteers. Bartel was fired. She claims it was for illegitimate reasons. NBC said that the lay off was because of general economic conditions. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court that, based on the language of her contract, she did not state a cause of action and, therefore, dismissed the case.
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