3 ms·
> Lawyers for the schools said in a court filing that the "plaintiffs' goal in pursuing such discovery is to harass and embarrass, rather than because it is rel
by AlbertCory 4y ago
> Lawyers for the schools said in a court filing that the "plaintiffs' goal in pursuing such discovery is to harass and embarrass, rather than because it is relevant to their actual antitrust claim."
> The defense lawyers also called the demand for admissions and development records "intrusive and burdensome."
Prediction: the schools lose, and have to turn over the data.
Maybe if their argument was on privacy of the donors, they'd have a chance. Saying "it's intrusive and burdensome" to ask us for this is utter BS that any judge should see through.
- jonstewart 4y agoDiscovery happens before a trial. The plaintiff gets to ask the defendant for relevant documents. This can be clearly weaponized—the plaintiff can request everything and make the defendant spend a lot of time and money on it. A common recourse is for the defense to argue the initial discovery request is overbroad and burdensome. Often there’s some negotiation but of course the judge makes the ultimate call. I won’t opine on the merits of this particular claim, but it’s a common claim. It also works both ways. The defendant can dump all sorts of papers on the plaintiff and say, “be careful what you ask for, good luck wading through this!”
- AlbertCory 4y agoYou're certainly right about the routine. If they dumped all the donors over $50,000 for the last 10 years, even on paper, I can't believe it would be that much to go through.
- jonstewart 4y agoA nice curated authoritative spreadsheet/database wouldn’t be so much data. What if such a data set doesn’t exist? What if it’s all in the email and word docs for these collegiate development and admissions departments over a decade? How do you tell it apart?
- AlbertCory 4y agoA University "development department" doesn't have a list of their biggest donors anywhere? Somehow I doubt that.
- dumbotron 4y ago> embarrass I don't even disagree with this, but I'm not sympathetic towards the schools, either.
- TeMPOraL 4y agoI guess the ace in their sleeve is that "harass and embarrass" rhymes. It sticks in your mind and will draw your attention every time you see or hear it being used. That's an easy 10x multiplier to the strength of the argument :).
- boathouse 4y agoWhat dialect do you speak that those rhyme?
- AlbertCory 4y agohttps://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/harass https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/ha...
- runnerup 4y agohttps://youtu.be/_kQBVneC30o https://youtu.be/_kQBVneC30o