#Jay Ellwanger

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

As Gov. Greg Abbott tells state agencies that using diversity, equity and inclusion criteria in the hiring process is “illegal,” lawmakers in the legislature are pushing against the practice in Texas universities. State representative Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, filed a bill to prohibit higher education institutions from funding or supporting diversity, equity and inclusion offices. HB 1006 also prohibits any efforts to formulate diversity “beyond what is necessary to uphold the equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment.” “We call it division, inequity and indoctrination. The DEI office name is a misnomer,” Tepper said. “We feel like it’s purposely being misused, to push a very woke very liberal agenda. You can have any belief you want, you can have any care about race relations or sexual relations or what have you. But we think that on the state dollar, and the state budget, that these universities, these state departments, departments of the state of Texas, should be neutral.”

Tepper’s alma mater Texas Tech University, now in his district, said its Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion works “to foster, affirm, celebrate, engage and strengthen inclusive communities.” They provide mentors to first-generation students, cultural centers for minority students and outlets for the campus to engage with the intercultural community.

Tepper said he hopes his bill will get rid of those outlets. He called Texas Tech’s Black Cultural Center “self-segregation.”

“I would do away with that. We have some wonderful facilities for everyone,” he said. “We want our students to learn together and play together, interact together, not as a segregated society. We want to see distinguished Black alumni, the portraits of distinguished Black alumni all over campus, not just in the Black Cultural Center.”

Some attorneys worry the recent restrictions of DEI policies are misguided. Jay Ellwanger, an attorney who specializes in employment and civil rights litigation at Ellwanger Law, said DEI policies are already prohibited from discrimination by federal law and may attract businesses wanting to create a diverse and competitive workforce. “The thing that struck me most in Governor Abbott’s memorandum to the state agencies was that I think he needed to go back to law school,” Ellwanger said. “Because the issues that were raised by this memorandum are impacted by areas of federal law that have been in place for almost 60 years.” The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recommends DEI initiatives as a best practice.

“EEOC makes it make extremely clear that you can’t have quotas, that you can’t purposely put a minority ahead of a nonminority in a DEI context if they’re not qualified,” Ellwanger said. “All the federal law says is that you can allow for other parts of someone’s makeup to go into that hiring equation, which again, allows for a company or state agency to hire more competitively, to get more viewpoints in the workplace, and just overall become more competitive.”

Rep. Tepper’s concerns are already shifting policy, however. Texas Tech University announced Wednesday they are eliminating DEI criteria. That decision comes after a Wall Street Journal report criticized the weight that some departments give to subjective diversity statements required in candidates’ applications.

[beardedmrbean]

A former girlfriend who had accused Marilyn Manson of abuse has backed away from the allegations in a declaration of support filed in his defamation lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood.

Ashley Morgan Smithline alleges that she publicly accused Manson of sexual assault and sexual battery only because she was pressured by Wood, according to a declaration filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

A representative for Wood denied the allegations, saying in a statement that “Evan never pressured or manipulated Ashley.”

Wood has said Manson "horrifically abused" her for years.

Manson has denied any wrongdoing.

Manson, whose legal name is Brian Warner, filed a defamation suit last year accusing Wood of having “secretly recruited, coordinated and pressured" women to accuse him of abuse.

Smithline came forward with allegations against Manson in an interview with People magazine in May 2021. She accused him of having subjected her to physical, sexual and psychological abuse from 2010 to 2013.

Manson was accused of whipping Smithline, carving his initials into her body, penetrating her while she was unconscious and other conduct. The People report included a photo of Smithline in a towel, showing what appeared to be a scar on her thigh that she referred to in the interview and alleged was caused by Manson.

Smithline told People that she began to heal only after she spoke with other women about their experiences with Manson in 2020. She said meeting others, including Wood, helped lessen "these feelings of guilt and shame."

In the new court document, Smithline says she felt "manipulated" by the women to make the allegations. She said in the declaration of support that she had denied being abused when she spoke with Wood in 2020.

"When I said, no this did not happen to me and this was not my experience, I recall being told by Ms. Wood that just because I could not remember did not necessarily mean that it did not happen," Smithline said in her filing.

Smithline filed a federal lawsuit in 2021 accusing Manson of sexual assault, human trafficking and unlawful imprisonment.

Wood's representative alleges "it was Ashley who first contacted Evan about the abuse she had suffered," adding, "it’s unfortunate that the harassment and threats Ashley received after filing her federal lawsuit appear to have pressured her to change her testimony."

A judge dismissed the suit without prejudice last month after her attorney, Jay Ellwanger, withdrew from her case and Smithline failed to respond to the court's request for a decision about new representation.

Ellwanger has also represented “Game of Thrones” actor Esmé Bianco, a Manson accuser who settled her claims out of court last month. Smithline said in her declaration that it was Bianco who suggested Ellwanger as potential representation.

Smithline accused Ellwanger of including "untrue" claims of violence and nonconsensual sexual activity in the 2021 complaint he filed on her behalf in U.S. District Court for Central California.

Ellwanger said he could not get into details about Smithline's allegations against him, citing ethical obligations of client confidentiality. He denied her characterization of his representation as "categorically and verifiably false."

Howard King, Manson's attorney, said Thursday that Smithline's testimony proves the allegations against his client are untrue.

“As we have always said, the coordinated campaign of #MeToo lies against Brian Warner is going to go down as one of the greatest hoaxes of all time," King said. "Vulnerable women were manipulated by unscrupulous individuals seeking to build their own brands and pursue their own vendettas."

Wood has denied the allegations in Manson's defamation suit, which include a claim that she forged a letter from the FBI to persuade other women to take part in her documentary about abuse, "Phoenix Rising," which aired on HBO last year.

In an opposition motion, Wood’s attorney accused Manson of filing the defamation suit as retaliation for her decision to go public with her abuse allegations. The motion accuses Manson of trying to silence Wood.

Wood testified to a House Judiciary subcommittee in 2018 that she had been raped twice, first by an abusive partner and then by a man in the storage closet of a bar. She did not name them at the hearing.

In an Instagram post in 2021, she accused Manson of “grooming me when I was a teenager” and said he “horrifically abused me for years.”

Manson has not been charged with any crime connected to Wood’s allegations. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department submitted a case for review to the district attorney's office in September after a 19-month investigation by the special victim's unit.

The prosecutor's office has not given a public update on a decision about whether Manson will face charges.

[dankusner]

Thomas J. Henry ordered to pay sanctions in alleged assault case

Bar Card Number: 09484210

Personal-injury lawyer Thomas J. Henry, shown at Austin Elevates in 2019, has been sanctioned by a federal court judge for failing to answer questions in a deposition about a case stemming from the event.

High-profile San Antonio personal-injury lawyer Thomas J. Henry has been sanctioned by a federal judge for failing to answer questions during a deposition in a case of alleged sexual assault.

On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower in Austin ordered Henry to complete the deposition and comply with court orders and rules.

He also must pick up the tab for the “re-deposition” and cover fees and expenses the opposing party incurred in the original deposition last month, the judge ruled.

“The court finds that Henry and (his lawyer, Jason) Davis impeded, delayed and frustrated Henry’s fair examination, in violation” of federal court rules governing depositions “by refusing to answer questions, flouting Court Orders, and unilaterally terminating his deposition,” Hightower wrote in her order.

Jay Ellwanger, an Austin lawyer who sought the sanctions, said he didn’t know how much Henry will owe but added “We believe it will be a five-figure penalty.”

Ellwanger represents a New York woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a director hired to work on a film commissioned by Henry chronicling Austin Elevates, a two-day art and music festival presented by Henry in 2019.

The event benefited various charities.

Henry is well-known for his advertisements on billboards, television, online and in newspapers across the state.

He spends millions annually promoting his firm’s successes in scoring results for clients injured in car wrecks, workplaces and operating rooms.

His firm has more than 250 lawyers, according to its website.

The plaintiff, whom the San Antonio Express-News is not identifying as a matter of policy because she is an alleged victim of sexual assault, is suing Henry and his law firm for unsafe workplace negligence and negligent hiring, supervision and retention.

She’s seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

Henry has countered that he and and his firm shouldn’t be defendants because the woman and the director weren’t employees of his law firm.

Even if they were employees, Henry said in a court filing he had no duty to protect the plaintiff from a sexual assault outside the workplace and after work hours.

He has asked the court to rule in his favor without a trial, a request that’s pending.

Henry previously sought to have the case dismissed, a request Hightower recommended be denied in 2022.

She did recommend the dismissal of some claims against the lawyer and his firm, including for sex trafficking and forced labor.

Last year, then-U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel issued an order accepting Hightower’s recommendations.

Davis and his partner Caroline Small, who also represents Henry and his firm in the case, declined to comment on Hightower’s latest ruling.

In asking for a ruling in his favor, Henry has alleged testimony shows the plaintiff’s motive is “extortion.”

In another filing, Henry said the plaintiff began texting with E. Jean Carroll — an advice columnist who was awarded $5 million last year by a jury that found she was sexually abused by Donald Trump — almost immediately after the alleged encounter.

Earlier this year, a jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million after finding the former president had defamed her. Trump is appealing the judgments.

Carroll encouraged the plaintiff to report she was sexually assaulted while “WORKING … and that (director Robert) Herrera was your boss,” Henry’s filing said.

The document includes a screenshot of Carroll’s alleged text.

The plaintiff also named Herrera, of St. Louis, and his production company Gray Picture LLC in the lawsuit.

They are being sued for sex trafficking and negligent hiring, supervision and retention.

She also has an assault claim against Herrera and another for negligence based on an unsafe workplace against his company.

Herrera, through his lawyer, has denied the allegations.

The woman’s suit said she was retained to work at Austin Elevates as a production assistant or assistant camera operator.

The case was set to go to trial in September but postponed after it was reassigned to Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra upon Yeakel’s retirement.

‘Basic questions’

In her motion seeking to compel Henry’s deposition and for sanctions, the plaintiff alleged he “repeatedly refused to answer (per the instruction of counsel) even basic questions … during the first two hours of his deposition.”

Among the questions: “What is your address?” the July 2 motion said.

In a July 9 court filing, Henry said the questions called for information that is “confidential and proprietary to the law firm, and not relevant to any of the issues in dispute.”

Questions also related to his firm’s “proprietary phone system,” Henry said.

The Express-News reported in 2022 that a lawyer at Henry’s firm had disclosed in court papers that the firm records all phone calls, creating a thorny issue for it in some personal injury cases.

In that case, counsel for Henry said the lawyer was “mistaken” about the firm recording calls after defense attorneys sought access to them.

Hightower, the magistrate judge, had to be contacted twice during Henry’s deposition, the plaintiff’s court filing said.

The judge told Henry’s counsel “to cease instructing the witness not to answer,” the filing said.

“Rather than comply, immediately after concluding this second hearing with the Court — the Defendant unilaterally terminated the deposition rather than follow the Court’s order,” the plaintiff said in the motion.

‘Gross misrepresentation’

That’s a “gross misrepresentation of what actually occurred,” Henry responded in a July 3 court filing.

The parties had “a disagreement over the scope of the deposition after Mr. Ellwanger embarked on a fishing expedition,” Henry added.

He also objected to Hightower conducting a hearing on the motion without notice being given or having the opportunity to present evidence.

In her order, Hightower also noted she ordered Davis during the deposition to “stop instructing his client not to answer questions within the scope of discovery.”

She also said that if any employment information may constitute trade secrets, as Henry contends, the testimony is adequately protected from disclosure by a protective order.

Hightower declined the plaintiff’s request that the judge be present for Henry’s deposition, calling it a “misallocation of scarce judicial resources.”

But the judge issued a warning to Henry and his firm.

They “should expect any continued refusal to cooperate in discovery to result in substantive sanctions,” including monetary penalties, she said.

[arun-pratap-singh]

Marilyn Manson and Esme Bianco settle sex abuse lawsuit

“Game of Thrones” actor Esme Bianco has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit with rocker Marilyn Manson in which she alleged sexual, physical and emotional abuse, attorneys for both sides said Wednesday. Bianco reached the agreement in her lawsuit against Manson and his record company “in order to move on with her life and career,” lawyer Jay Ellwanger said in an email. Manson’s attorney Howard…

[abcnewspr]

NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ERIC ADAMS, ANDY RICHTER, BRIAN KELLY, HOT TOPICS AND MORE ON ABC’S ‘THE VIEW,’ JUNE 28 – JULY 2

Track Stars, the Sheppard Sisters, Make a Return Visit to ‘The View,’ June 29

Marilyn Manson Accuser Ashley Morgan Smithline, June 30

Honored with Daytime Emmy® Award for Outstanding Informative Talk Show, “The View” (11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EDT) is a priority destination for our guests and must-see viewing for our loyal fans with up-to-the-minute Hot Topics, tackling the important conversations and sharing passionate opinions. “The View,” now in season 24, is the place to be heard with live broadcasts five days a week.  “The View” is executive produced by Brian Teta and directed by Sarah de la O. For breaking news and updated videos, follow “The View” (@theview) and Whoopi Goldberg (@whoopigoldberg), Joy Behar (@joyvbehar), Sara Haines (@sarahaines), Sunny Hostin (@sunny), Meghan McCain (@meghanmccain) and Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) on Twitter.

Scheduled guests for the week of JUNE 28 - JULY 2 are as follows (subject to change):

Monday, June 28 – Andy Richter (Series finale, “Conan”); “View Your Deal” with hottest items at affordable prices

Tuesday, June 29 –  The Political View with NYC mayoral candidate and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams; Once homeless, track-stars, the Sheppard sisters, make a return visit to  “The View” (“Sisters on Track”)

Wednesday, June 30 —Marilyn Manson accuser Ashley Morgan Smithline joined by attorney Jay Ellwanger

Thursday, July 1 �� Brian Kelly (“The Points Guy”)

Friday, July 2 (OAD: 5/19/2021) — John Stamos (“Big Shot”); Dorothy A. Brown (Author, “The Whiteness of Wealth”)

Follow “The View” (#theview) on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

“The View” is now available on a podcast. Listen to the full show for free on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app every weekday afternoon.

“The View” can be streamed on ABC News Live weekdays at 5 p.m. EDT.

For more information, follow ABC News PR on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

[differentnutpeace]

Actor Esmé Bianco sues Marilyn Manson, alleging sexual abuse

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Game of Thrones” actor Esmé Bianco sued Marilyn Manson on Friday, alleging sexual, physical and emotional abuse.  หวย บอล เกมส์ คาสิโนออนไลน์

In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Bianco says that Manson violated human trafficking law by bringing her to California from England under the false pretenses of roles in music videos and movies that never materialized.

An email seeking comment from an attorney who has previously represented Manson was not immediately returned. Manson said earlier this year that all of his intimate relationships have been entirely consensual.

The lawsuit alleges that in 2009, Manson, whose legal name is Brian Warner, flew Bianco to Los Angeles to shoot a video for the song, “I want to kill you like they do in the movies.”

The suit says that Bianco was expected to stay at Manson’s home instead of the hotel where she had been booked, and there was no crew, only Manson himself shooting with a phone.

Manson deprived Bianco of food and sleep though gave her alcohol and drugs, locked her in a bedroom, whipped her, gave her electric shocks, tried to force her to have sex with another woman and threatened to enter her room and rape her during the night, the suit alleges. No video was ever released.

The two began a long-distance relationship later that year, the suit says.

Manson again brought Bianco to Los Angeles in 2011, ostensibly to appear in his feature film “Phantasmagoria,” though that project also never materialized.

During that visit, Manson would not allow Bianco to leave home without his permission, chased her around their apartment with an ax, cut her with a “Nazi knife” without her consent and photographed the cuts and posted the pictures online, also without her consent, the lawsuit alleges.

“It took Ms. Bianco years to understand the extent of Mr. Warner’s physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse. Her career suffered due to the deterioration of her mental health,” the suit says. “She deals with complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, depression, and panic attacks to this day as a result.”

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Bianco said in a statement that she is coming forward publicly to air her allegations with hopes that others will do the same.

The lawsuit said that at the time, Bianco feared for her safety if she didn’t comply with Manson’s demands, and did not go to authorities. But her attorney Jay D. Ellwanger said she has now come forward and spoken to the FBI and local law enforcement.