DNC Gay Discrimination Case Heading To Trial

DNC Gay Discrimination Case Heading To Trial

After months of discovery and mediation, talks between the DNC and Donald Hitchcock failed yesterday. For those of you not paying attention, Hitchcock once served as the DNC's gay outreach officer, but found himself sacked soon after his boyfriend, Paul Yandura, wrote an open letter criticizing the DNC's gay politics.

The party organ, said Yandura, simply used gays as an ATM without fully incorporating them into the party. Hitchcock claims he was fired for political revenge. He also claims the DNC paid him less and marginalized gay outreach. The DNC and Chairman Howard Dean deny these claims, of course.

The two sides have been hashing it out for months, but mediation failed yesterday. And, according to Hitchcock, he couldn't be more upset:

I am profoundly disappointed that our final mediation attempt has failed.

Over the last 18 months, I have in good faith initiated multiple attempts to resolve this matter, including before this lawsuit was even filed.

I have always desired a resolution that was true to the facts and fair to both parties, as of today, that seems to not be possible and a trial is imminent. However, I am a loyal and committed Democrat and this election cycle is not only important to me but is of paramount importance to the country and my LGBT brothers and sisters.

After this important election, I look forward to having my day in court and having justice served.

Hitchcock lawyer Lynne Bernabei seems to blame the DNC and their legal team, writing in a letter yesterday, "Although we have participated in over six separate efforts at settlement, the defendants clearly have no interest in resolving this case through mediation." Perhaps he means "pay-off." The DNC reportedly tried to give Hitchcock $100,000 to drop the matter. He refused.

Pretrial goes down on October 20, but the true action doesn't begin until after the election.

http://www.queerty.com/dnc-gay-discrimination-case-heading-to-trial-20080912/

to delay his lawsuit.

:patriot:

If this is true, then may justice be with him. :thumbsup:

Regardless of the campaign or party, paid staff work at the discretion of the party. Period. This is the way it also works when they become political appointees in an administration and this is what he knew and signed up for when took the job.

If allegations are true, is it fair? No! Is there due process? No! Is it old boy machine politics? Perhaps, but I imagine besides a boyfriend’s remarks and his naiveté that his words would not have consequences for his partner, there is more to this story. It may be that the writing was on the wall and it was he, not DNC outreach to the gay community that was being marginalized (G-d knows that I have had NO shortage of phone calls for my other than financial support); the final nail in the coffin, if you will.

Like an indictment, you can sue or file an EEO claim against a ham sandwich but few are won by the complainant and movement towards settlement by the defendant is usually more of an attempt to avoid legal costs and publicity rather than based on culpability. As for the end game, whether he wins or loses, it’s his last job in politics for a while. He’s not a big enough fish for quick redemption.