29 ms·

There is no settlement involved, because there is no legal claim, technically. None of the logic around legal settlements comes into play at all, so the devil's

There is no settlement involved, because there is no legal claim, technically. None of the logic around legal settlements comes into play at all, so the devil's advocacy here is misguided. The NDA is outlandish and is clearly designed to shut him up and cover up the mishandling of the case. This might be different under UK law, but if he had sued you might have a point. Then I'd expect gag, non-disparagement, forefeiture of claims and so on. I've signed those personally and understand that. But if I haven't sued you and you gag me for what I deem fair? Well, sounds like I should potentially sue because someone is not operating in good faith, and it ain't me. That move alone would make me want to discover your internal communications about handling me and in this case, I bet they're awesome. Keep in mind they're writing him off from saying "they fixed this! They're the good guys!" which sure, seems unlikely, but if a company takes care of something without a lawsuit a gag seems counterintuitive and in bad faith.

tptacek 10y ago
I think the logic is pretty much identical. Abnb could, of course, simply refuse to pay anything. His recourse would be to the courts. The most likely outcome of that would be a settlement. The highest-dollar settlement would likely include confidentiality terms. The incentive structure Abnb is creating here is not great, though: if you know their settlement terms will include confidentiality, and you know they have to settle somehow no matter what, your incentive as the aggrieved party is to get your story on the record immediately, before contacting Abnb, so that what you disclose can't violate their NDA. That's exactly what Abnb doesn't want to have happen. They should probably just be up front about the fact that they'll pay a bonus to clean up the PR.
- jsmthrowaway 10y ago
  Sure. The suit would be public though, and exactly and to your point, wise plaintiffs would be subtly trying their case in the media from day 1, because that gag and non-disparagement is undoubtedly coming. Journos live for David vs. Goliath cases like this. Tossing a contract at me after the case gets a little attention, where I didn't have to sign one for the first payment, makes me wonder what you're hiding. I totally get the logic you're saying, that they're basically treating it as a settlement, but that maneuver is odd and tips a little of their hand that he should perhaps just go hit the courts. When I was at AT&T they were a little rough settling with someone and she ended up suing, and part of the discovery was her internal notes on the case which blew up the claim by 20x. That's mostly what I'm thinking of, because there are for sure emails that would be very interesting to discover here. Like I said, a gag smells when there's no suit.
- dmurray 10y ago
  They didn't pay "a bonus to clean up the PR" though. They eventually agreed to pay the £6400 costs the host had documented, and not a penny more.
DanBC 10y ago
In England if they offer you money, and you decline it and go to court, and you win but you win less than they've offered you get stiffed for costs.
monochromatic 10y ago
> there is no legal claim There might not be a lawsuit, but this sure sounds like a legal claim.

tptacek 10y ago

I think the logic is pretty much identical. Abnb could, of course, simply refuse to pay anything. His recourse would be to the courts. The most likely outcome of that would be a settlement. The highest-dollar settlement would likely include confidentiality terms. The incentive structure Abnb is creating here is not great, though: if you know their settlement terms will include confidentiality, and you know they have to settle somehow no matter what, your incentive as the aggrieved party is to get your story on the record immediately, before contacting Abnb, so that what you disclose can't violate their NDA. That's exactly what Abnb doesn't want to have happen. They should probably just be up front about the fact that they'll pay a bonus to clean up the PR.

jsmthrowaway 10y ago
Sure. The suit would be public though, and exactly and to your point, wise plaintiffs would be subtly trying their case in the media from day 1, because that gag and non-disparagement is undoubtedly coming. Journos live for David vs. Goliath cases like this. Tossing a contract at me after the case gets a little attention, where I didn't have to sign one for the first payment, makes me wonder what you're hiding. I totally get the logic you're saying, that they're basically treating it as a settlement, but that maneuver is odd and tips a little of their hand that he should perhaps just go hit the courts. When I was at AT&T they were a little rough settling with someone and she ended up suing, and part of the discovery was her internal notes on the case which blew up the claim by 20x. That's mostly what I'm thinking of, because there are for sure emails that would be very interesting to discover here. Like I said, a gag smells when there's no suit.
dmurray 10y ago
They didn't pay "a bonus to clean up the PR" though. They eventually agreed to pay the £6400 costs the host had documented, and not a penny more.

DanBC 10y ago

In England if they offer you money, and you decline it and go to court, and you win but you win less than they've offered you get stiffed for costs.

monochromatic 10y ago

> there is no legal claim There might not be a lawsuit, but this sure sounds like a legal claim.