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Dog goes home from animal hospital after saving California woman from mountain lion attack
REDDING, Calif. — Eva didn’t look too bad, considering three days earlier she nearly died in the jaws of a mountain lion. The 2½-year-old Belgian Malinois on Thursday night walked out of the VCA Asher Animal Hospital in Redding with her owner, Erin Wilson, at her side. Eva was a little groggy from the pain meds, a few patches of her fur were shaved for stitches, and she had pink surgical tape wrapped above each of her front paws. But Eva was wagging her tail as Wilson sat down on some grass outside the clinic and wrapped her arms around the dog that she credits for saving her life. “I would do...
A company that fired an employee after she criticized the Black Lives Matter movement online did not break the law, an appellate panel ruled Friday.
Heather McVey sued the AtlantiCare and Geisinger health systems, alleging the First Amendment did not allow them to fire her because of her Facebook posts. But the appellate judges’ Friday decision rejects her argument, saying federal law stipulates only governments — and not private actors — can be held liable for breaches of constitutional rights.
The court cited a 1998 state Supreme Court decision involving a public employee and employer that held racist remarks are not protected by the First Amendment or the New Jersey Constitution.
“Because a public employee can be terminated for such comments … a private company like AtlantiCare clearly had the authority to fire McVey for making these remarks in a public forum while identifying herself as an AtlantiCare employee,” the decision reads.
In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, who was killed by now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020, McVey wrote on Facebook that she found the Black Lives Matter movement racist, claiming it caused segregation and alleging Black people were “killing themselves.” At the time, she was the corporate director of customer service for the health systems.
The comments, made in response to another user’s public post, came to the attention of an AtlantiCare administrator. McVey was suspended for the posts on June 17, 2020, and fired six days later.
AtlantiCare’s social media policy forbids posts on inflammatory or objectionable topics, “such as politics and religion.” McVey’s Facebook page identified her as an AtlantiCare employee.
The trial court dismissed her case, relying on rulings from other states to decree the First Amendment does not bar a private company from firing an at-will employee.
On appeal, McVey again argued her firing violated free speech provisions in the U.S. and New Jersey constitutions, also charging that right outweighed AtlantiCare’s right to promote an inclusive workspace.
There are no precedential New Jersey cases directly involving private-sector wrongful termination cases hinging on free speech issues. The appellate panel’s decision will set precedent for future cases like this unless it is overturned by the state Supreme Court.
It’s not clear whether McVey will seek to petition the case to the New Jersey Supreme Court. Her attorneys did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
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The scandal isn't that McCarthy was lying — it’s that he can’t serve in GOP leadership if he doesn't lie: Adam Schiff
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) noted that his Republican colleague appears to be stuck in a world where if he doesn't submit to GOP overlords like former President Donald Trump, he'll lose whatever power he has in the House leadership.
After fighting to become the House Speaker for a decade, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was recorded lying to his caucus after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. When it was written about and McCarthy was quoted, he claimed that the reporters were lying about him. The reporters published the recording of him saying it, however.
Speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Friday, Schiff explained that McCarthy lying isn't anything new and it certainly isn't an unknown fact on Capitol Hill.
RELATED: Adam Schiff prosecutes the case against Ginni Thomas on MSNBC after 'stunning' revelations
"Listening to those tapes of [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell (R-KY) and McCarthy in private expressing what we all felt about the unfitness of the former president, and to see now how they have completely caved into the immorality of the former president, it just takes your breath away," said Schiff. "What is scandalous about Kevin McCarthy, for example, lying to The New York Times" about the conversations about Jan. 6th is not the lying. Anyone who knows McCarthy isn't particularly surprised by that. The scandal is that if he didn't lie, if he doesn't lie — if he doesn't continue to lie he can't serve in the Republican leadership that's the terrible tragedy."
See the video below:
adam schiff on kevin mccarthy scandal youtu.be
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