The Bothwell Letter
NEWS FROM THE
LAW OFFICES OF ANTHONY P. X. BOTHWELL
350 BAY STREET, SUITE 100 PMB314, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133-1966 TEL.
(415) 370-5971
June 19, 2004 Vol. VI / No. 3attorney@apxbothwell.com
www.apxbothwell.com
[1] LIVERMORE LAB WHISTLEBLOWERS WIN NEW
SETTLEMENT
A substantial monetary settlement has been won by two Livermore lab
police union officials who were fired after they blew the whistle
on security mismanagement at the plutonium weapons facility. The University
of California agreed to settle with Mat Zipoli and Charles Quinones.
They had called federal regulators' attention to the need for improved
safety and counter-terror measures at the mile-square lab, across
the street from residential areas. The U.S. Department of Energy has
deferred a decision on whether to renew UC's contract to manage the
facility. Zipoli and Quinones were represented by attorneys Thad Guyer
and Stephani Ayers of the Washington-based Government Accountability
Project and Tony Bothwell of San Francisco. It's the third Livermore
whistleblower case Bothwell worked on that won settlement. In current
whistleblower cases, he represents another Livermore lab employee,
and (in association with Atty. Michael Sorgen of San Francisco) a
former highly-compensated UC employee.
[2] MEDIA SPOTLIGHT CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT AGAINST
A LAW FIRM
Two legal secretaries in the Fresno office of Adelson, Testan, Brundo
& Popalardo were harassed and assaulted at work because of their
Mexican-American background, according to a lawsuit filed in superior
court. Angelica Mendiola was fired and her mother, Elizabeth Murillo
Hook, was forced out of the firm, their complaint said. They are suing
the firm and three of its employees for monetary damages. They also
are "asking a judge to order the law firm to provide anger management
classes and a sensitivity program that promotes appreciation of Mexican-American
culture," the Fresno Bee reported May 31. Atty. Tony Bothwell
called a courthouse news conference and told the press and local TV
stations it was ironic that John Hook, a decorated U.S. soldier, was
defending freedom in Afghanistan while his wife and daughter faced
discrimination on the job in Fresno.
[3] JUSTICE DEPT. SAYS COURT MAY NOT HEAR
AGE BIAS CLAIM
The U.S. Justice Dept. is trying the same tactic in an age discrimination
case as in the Cheney energy records and Hamdi "enemy" detention
cases. That is, government attorneys claim that the petitioners have
no rights – and that the courts don't even have a right to review
the case. But airline pilots seeking exemption from the FAA's age
60 rule should get their day in court, according to a brief filed
June 14 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit. Washington lawyers Jim Klimaski and Lynn Miller joined with
Atty. Tony Bothwell in the brief for 12 pilots. They said "an
outdated stereotype of individuals fifty-nine years and older should
not deny the most experienced, safest pilots the opportunity to continue
in their profession." Sam Woolsey, J.D., a consultant to the
pilots, says the courts have a duty to weigh the evidence. "Unelected,
Executive Branch bureaucrats enjoy greater judicial deference today
than King George and his Royal Court did in 1776," Woolsey told
a Civil Aviation Medicine Association forum May 2 in Anchorage.
[4] NO EXCUSE FOR TORTURE AND ABUSE OF PRISONERS
OF WAR
The 1949 Geneva convention on treatment of POWs says "outrages
upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment"
are "prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever."
The 1984 UN convention against torture says "'torture' means
any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental,
is intentionally inflicted on a person…. No exceptional circumstances
whatsoever, whether in a state of war…internal political instability
or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for
torture." Those conventions, which the U.S. ratified, were quoted
by Atty. Tony Bothwell in a May 14 human rights seminar for pre-law
students at Cal State Hayward. He also quoted intelligence officers
who once said: "We break the law all the time – we're supposed
to." "We're above the law."
ANTHONY P. X. (TONY)
BOTHWELL, Esq. – Member: The State Bar of California, Bar of
the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Bar
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit;
National Lawyers Guild (chair, Native American Indian Affairs Committee),
American Bar Assn. (delegate to the International Court of Justice,
The Hague), International Bar Assn.; U.S. Holocaust Museum, Chinese
for Affirmative Action, Southern Poverty Law Center (Leadership Council).
Degrees: Georgetown Univ. School of Foreign Service, B.S.F.S.; Boston
Univ. School of Public Communication, M.S.; John F. Kennedy Univ.
School of Law, J.D.; Golden Gate Univ. School of Law, LL.M. summa
cum laude. Professor of Law, John F. Kennedy Univ. School of Law.
Listings include: Who’s Who in the Law, Who’s Who in America,
Who’s Who in the World. Descendant of Capt. John P. Dreibelbis,
Continental Army, commanded by Gen. George Washington.
CONTACT:
Anthony P. X. Bothwell, Esq.
Law Offices of Anthony P. X. Bothwell
350 Bay Street – Suite 100 PMB314
San Francisco, CA 94133-1966 USA
Telephone (415) 370-9571
Facsimile (415) 362-5469
attorney@apxbothwell.com
www.apxbothwell.com
