Posted on 09/15/2009 5:40:31 PM PDT by jessduntno
Teens Sue Over Minor League Ejection By BETH DeFALCO, AP
TRENTON, N.J. (Sept. 15) - Three teenagers who say they were tossed from a New Jersey ballpark over their refusal to stand during the song "God Bless America" are suing the minor league Newark Bears.
The boys argue that their constitutional rights were violated when they were asked to leave Newark's Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium on June 29 by Bears' president and co-owner Thomas Cetnar.
Cetnar acknowledged the boys were asked to leave but declined to say why. He also has denied making some statements attributed to him in the lawsuit.
The boys — Millburn High seniors Bryce Gadye and Nilkumar Patel, both 17, and junior Shaan Mohammad Khan, 16 — sued in federal court on Friday seeking unspecified damages.
According to the lawsuit, the boys were seated behind home plate when the song began playing. Once it ended, they say Cetnar approached them yelling. "Nobody sits during the singing of 'God Bless America' in my stadium," the lawsuit quotes Cetnar as saying. "Now the get the (expletive) out of here."
-snip-
""I think what makes it so horrible is that they were publicly humiliated for exercising a right that was guaranteed to them by the United States Constitution," Gadye said."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.aol.com ...
"Nobody sits during the singing of 'God Bless America' in my stadium," the lawsuit quotes Cetnar as saying. "Now the get the (expletive) out of here."
If the stadium is private property, the owner is free to refuse service. If told by a property owner that you are no longer welcome...you leave.
If the stadium is private property, you don’t have a leg to stand on.
Umps have tossed fans for heckling the players. I wonder how Mohammed Khan would feel if I talked and didn’t kneel during the call to prayer.
Personally I think property rights include the owner having the right to select who is or is not allowed on his property business or not. It is a fundamental aspect of private property.
Sorry, God Bless America is NOT our National Anthem. I remove my hat for the anthem but not God Bless America, I think it is demeaning to our anthem. I have had “discussions” with seat neighbors on this very issue. I would have sued the owner also. What if some green lib wanted you to stand during the playing of some lib song? Not gonna happen.
The boys — Millburn High seniors Bryce Gadye and Nilkumar Patel, both 17, and junior Shaan Mohammad Khan, 16 — sued in federal court on Friday seeking unspecified damages.
Want to guess what religious these three were?
Those kids can’t even spell Constitutional let alone know the meaning of Constitutional Rights.
Bryce Gadye and Nilkumar Patel, both 17, and junior Shaan Mohammad Khan, 16
Want to guess what religious these three were?
Amish. It’s ALWAYS the Amish.
“If the stadium is private property, the owner is free to refuse service.”
Really? Legally? Like refuse entry to blacks? To disabled? To people that don’t stand for a certain song?
I must have missed that concept.
It could be argued that not observing the anthem is “free speech.” Like flag burning.
Depends on what parts of the Constitution you like. Applying to who, etc.
LOL! I do believe this was done on purpose so now they are suing.
LOL!!!
That would be atypical for the Hindu. I smell set up.
“I have had “discussions” with seat neighbors on this very issue. I would have sued the owner also.”
VERY strong...stand up for your right to sit while everyone else is being respectful and sharing a feeling of pride in our Country...VERY strong...good for you!
These boys would have benefited from your assistance in battling the ignorant owner, I am sure. You are right, just why should he expect anyone to be patriotic OR simply respectful of the crowd around them. The guy may have had every right to throw them out on their collective asses, but I don’t think this is about legality and it sure as hell isn’t about being told what to do...but I could be wrong...don’t let anyone tell you that you should be part of “the herd” especially for a dopey song like that, is that what you mean?
Boycott the green lib's business to your heart's delight. Next!
Your statement of “forcing” someone to stand during a patriotic song is the telling statement. Nobody is going to FORCE me to do that. This is supposed to be a FREE country. And for those that say a business owner can pick and chose who can enter their business, that was tried with diners in the south - didn’t work.
I agree. And suing over it? Good grief, would any of OUR parents have forked out money to sue over this? I’d wager absolulely not. I am positive my parents would have grounded me for a good long time for being a disrespectful, obstinate little snot if I’d pulled a stunt like this.
Of course, there appears to be larger agenda here.
Race and disability are covered under Federal Code. Behavior is not. He can make whatever rules he wants so long as they do not contravene statute.
It did work until specifically prohibited by Federal Law.
The Bill of Rights doesn't apply to private entities.
What if China launched a full scale nuclear attack the day before? What if your aunt had balls, she'd be your uncle, right?
You get the drift, we deal with facts not " what if's"..........now get out of my park if you don't wish to stand for the song.
You are correct:
The Federal Civil Rights Act guarantees all people the right to "full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin."
Pretty sure they were not tossed for ANY of the above reasons...although, before the old man is through with the jury, I'm betting it becomes about all of them...
I'd leave. It's called exercising your freedom of choice. I don't have to stay and listen to crap, and if God Bless America was considered a crappy song to these guys, they always had the freedom to get up and leave, too. Nobody was putting a gun to their head to make them stay.
Personally, I think they were "plants."
nice little park...Newark?
I disagree, at least with the lawsuit. It's his property, and he's entitled to refuse service for any reason at all or for no reason.
It does look nice. I’d like to see a game there, perhaps some NJ FReepers could chime in about the park.
I don't doubt that their rudeness was a form of political expression - and the GOVERNMENT has no right to censor that form of expression. As for the owner of private property, he has the right to toss out these disgusting little losers for burning a flag in his stadium or for expressing disrespect toward our country (whether or not that was their intent). It's his property, and he should make the rules.
I don't doubt that their rudeness was a form of political expression - and the GOVERNMENT has no right to censor that form of expression. As for the owner of private property, he has the right to toss out these disgusting little losers for burning a flag in his stadium or for expressing disrespect toward our country (whether or not that was their intent). It's his property, and he should make the rules.
Agree with you. Besides, the tune in God Bless America is awful and the lyrics banal. Give me “America the Beautiful” or “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” any time over GBA.
Likewise, one could get into a lot of trouble by not renting to a gay person because the person is gay.
You get to pick and choose who enters your home. Same principle: private property.
Well, to be fair, God Bless America isn’t the National Anthem. I’ve been at events where it’s been sung and people have not stood up.
I can’t speak for all, but I have a huge group of friends whose last name is Patel and they are all Hindu. You can’t tell by that. I also know several Drs at the hospital I used to work at with the last name of Khan and they are Hindu also.
“Well, to be fair, God Bless America isn’t the National Anthem. I’ve been at events where it’s been sung and people have not stood up.”
But, also to be fair...we are not talking about other events, we are talking about this one...and, I don’t know if it was the custom of the place, the people around them annoyed by it, or just the boss not liking it, but the guy who owns the place tells you to leave...bye!
Someone comes into my place and I don’t want them there, for some reason other than race, creed, color or religion, they are gone. It is the law and it is my right. A lot of people here keep throwing in straw men...they weren’t asked to leave for any of the “protected” reasons, as listed above, that we know of...they didn’t fit into the guy’s way of doing things or he had complaints...doesn’t matter. It was, as they say...his house...if a guy doesn’t want you in his store because you don’t have on shoes or a shirt, bye! It’s about rights. They weren’t violated.
If the logic of some of the protesters here was carried out, we would have no say over who came and went in our businesses? Crazy.
From AP: “Even if the boys win their lawsuit, it’s unclear if they’ll get much money from the minor league team. Developer Marc Berson sold the team to California-based Bases Loaded group last year after the team filed for bankruptcy.”
“The boys are being represented by Bryce Gadye’s father, Ross, who said the boys weren’t protesting the song and no one asked them to stand.”
Original article:
...If recent history is any example, the youths could have a case. In July, a federal judge in New York signed a settlement between the Yankees and a fan who’d been ejected from the old Yankee Stadium by security — a pair of off-duty police officers — because he insisted on walking to the bathroom during the famed Kate Smith rendition of the song.
Under the settlement, the Yankees agreed to scrap a policy that prohibited movement while the song played. It was in the weeks after 9/11 that the Yankees began playing “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch. The practice was soon emulated at ballparks across the country, though many teams have dropped it since then.
Ed Barocas, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said the Newark Bears, like the Yankees last year, clearly crossed a line.
“They should not have been ejected,” said Barocas, whose groups is not involved in the suit. “They have the right to choose not to participate in somebody else’s beliefs.”
Ross Gadye said his son and the teen’s friends were not disruptive at any time during the evening game, in which the Bears played the South Maryland Blue Crabs. At one point, they were given permission by stadium staff to move from their seats to empty seats behind home plate.
In the fifth inning, Bryce Gadye and Patel were selected to take part in a contest on the field, winning four tickets to a future Bears game. Things went awry in the seventh, according to the suit, when Cetnar noticed the teens sitting during “God Bless America” and stormed over.
When Bryce Gadye told Cetnar he had a right to remain seated, the suit said, the co-owner told them they were underage and that he “could do whatever he wanted with them.”
He then instructed two security officers to lead them out, the lawsuit contends. The confrontation created a spectacle that “humiliated” the teens, the suit said.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Ross Gadye said, recounting his reaction when his son told him what had happened. “These kids are good kids,”
The father met the next month with general manager Mark Skeels and Wankmiller, the co-owner, who offered an apology and free tickets. But the teens were upset Cetnar was not at the meeting and that he never apologized, Ross Gadye said. After several weeks without a resolution, the youths decided to file the lawsuit.
Original story:The Star-Ledger Thursday September 10, 2009
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/three_teens_sue_newark_bears_h.html
Yikes, I thought that “j” in ‘ejection’ was an “r.”
“They should not have been ejected,” said Barocas, whose groups is not involved in the suit. “They have the right to choose not to participate in somebody else’s beliefs.”
Where does it say that is why they were ejected?
“When Bryce Gadye told Cetnar he had a right to remain seated, the suit said, the co-owner told them they were underage and that he “could do whatever he wanted with them.”
Sounds like that was what the kid says the boss said. Is that what he said? Or was the kid just giving him shit after getting free upgrades, free tickets and having their way (we used to call that p*ssing on velvet) and the guy threw his ungreatful ass out? I would have.
I am with you. I would not have been attending a baseball game for a long time or anything else if I had pulled a stunt like this.
I would bet there is a larger agenda at play here.
Umm.. you're right. However, the boys weren't forced to stand - they were simply forced to leave.
Should the owner be FORCED to allow jerks to stay in his park?
Oh woe is me, the boss owes them an apology. That's what this is about...power and ego, stick it to the man. Make him pay. Bet the lawyer is a liberal.
This case is going to get tossed out on its ear. "I've been offended" cases usually do. They got an apology from the co-owner. This is a vexatious lawsuit, filed for no other reason but to harass and punish.
In my world a private property owner could refuse entrance to anyone for any reason at all.
I found this also....http://lagniappeslair.blogspot.com/2009/09/three-unpatriotic-punks-booted-from.html
... Ross Mitchell Gayde, Bryce’s daddy, apparently after an unsuccessful attempt to shake the team and the stadium down for cash.
Ross Gadye said he met with general manager Mark Skeels and James Wankmiller, a co-owner, following the incident. He said they apologized and offered and free tickets, but Gadye said the boys wanted an apology from Cetnar, who was not at the meeting, and sued when there was no resolution.
Wankmiller, who declined to talk about whether the boys were asked to leave the ballpark and why, said they offered to meet with Gadye’s son and the other boys and never heard back from them. He said it boiled down to money.
“We offered to sit with him and find out what his beef was and he asked for money,” Wankmiller said. “That was about it.”
So Daddy Gadye tried to pull a Jesse Jackson on them and extort some cash for the little hoodlums, and when the managers refused, he filed a lawsuit and started calling up newspapers and TV stations.
Now had this been me, MY father would have knocked my block off for not standing tall and showing the respect for our country that he taught me to have. Then he would have had me in that baseball team owner’s office, where I would have apologized like there was no tomorrow coming had I ever caused a scene like this. But then he was my father, not my buddy, and he saw to it that I at least knew right from wrong.
But apparently these little turds never learned that lesson. And in Bryce Gadye’s case, it’s easy to see why.
A follow-up search showed that Daddy Ross Gadye is not exactly a good or ethical attorney. I immediately found his name on a 2001 US Supreme Court Order of Attorney Discipline.
D-2279 IN THE MATTER OF DISCIPLINE OF ROSS M. GADYE
Ross M. Gadye, of New York, New York, having been suspended from the practice of law in this Court by order of October 29, 2001; and a rule having been issued and served upon him requiring him to show cause why he should not be disbarred; and the time to file a response having expired;
It is ordered that Ross M. Gadye is disbarred from the practice of law in this Court.
If was memorialized forever as 535 US 924 (2002).He was also admonished by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1999, apparently for practicing a case while under suspension in that jurisdiction. Even more, he also made this list of Lawyers Involved In Dishonest Conduct And Amounts Awarded To Their Clients 1982-2008...
My blog post on this subject matter:
Nice work!
Yeah. The Almighty $$$. They want their 'public humiliation' to pay off.
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