Leslie Smith files FOIA request for documents related to Trump/Dana White meeting

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kneeblock

kneeblock

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Apr 18, 2015
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MachidaKarate said:
Lolwut?

I'm trying to figure out what the purpose would even be for this. Does she really think that DW went to Trump to get his help with defending against her lawsuit?



View: https://mobile.twitter.com/lkmiddleb/status/1025018080420941824
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The reason is because the National Labor Relations Board has to approve whether or not fighters can have the possibility of being ruled to be workers as opposed to their current independent contractor status. It's the administration's prerogative to have a political bias in their favor (eg 3-2 advantage) in the makeup of the NLRB. So if the administration supports fighters continuing to be independent contractors, unionization efforts are effectively foreclosed until Trumpito is out of office.

The UFC throwing their support behind a candidate in the last election, as they did, likely has little to do with whatever they think about politics and more with preserving their advantage in antitrust rulings by the FTC (eg Rob Maysey's suit) and which way the NLRB will rule on unionization. Filing a FOIA request is a smart way for the fighters to later prove the UFC deliberately acted to prevent unionization, which is a protected right under the National Labor Relations Act.
 
FrankieNYC

FrankieNYC

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Aug 13, 2017
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karate chop! said:
Did they, though? Does an endorsement from Dana = an endorsement from the UFC as a company?
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I never heard of the company donating towards the candidate.
The might have, buy Dana's seemed to be his personal money
 
MachidaKarate

MachidaKarate

Well-Known Member
Aug 4, 2018
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Kneeblock said:
The reason is because the National Labor Relations Board has to approve whether or not fighters can have the possibility of being ruled to be workers as opposed to their current independent contractor status. It's the administration's prerogative to have a political bias in their favor (eg 3-2 advantage) in the makeup of the NLRB. So if the administration supports fighters continuing to be independent contractors, unionization efforts are effectively foreclosed until Trumpito is out of office.

The UFC throwing their support behind a candidate in the last election, as they did, likely has little to do with whatever they think about politics and more with preserving their advantage in antitrust rulings by the FTC (eg Rob Maysey's suit) and which way the NLRB will rule on unionization. Filing a FOIA request is a smart way for the fighters to later prove the UFC deliberately acted to prevent unionization, which is a protected right under the National Labor Relations Act.
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No shit. Well that's interesting.

I can't imagine anything useful will come of this, but it would be crazy if Smith filing a fucking FOIA request for DW's meeting with Trump is the thing that breaks this wide open for her.

I have to say, I do wonder what those two talked about. I would love to be a fly on the wall during that conversation.
 
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nuraknu

nuraknu

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Jul 20, 2016
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Maybe she wouldn't have bothered if there weren't already shady business going on with the nlrb. If later it turns out that meeting was significant, people would have criticized her lawyer for not doing everything he could to follow up when the meeting was so obvious and public.

I think when you're a lawyer due diligence is good. This was an appropriate move. The concerns here are legitimate. I am not sure whose side I'm on right now, but this was a solid move for that side.
 
Papi Chingon

Papi Chingon

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Oct 19, 2015
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Shy Guy

Shy Guy

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...
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Clinton has had people killed for less.
 
MachidaKarate

MachidaKarate

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Dro Cop said:
The media hasn't paid any attention to this - not even the MMA bubble media.
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I noticed that. It's actually kind of strange.

They always seem to be dying for something to do and yet they haven't latched onto this at all.
 
Dick Niaz

Dick Niaz

Yearning for TMMAC days gone by
Jan 14, 2018
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Leslie is that person who you kind of agreed with at first, but then became so annoying that you just want them to go away.
 
Wild

Wild

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Dec 31, 2014
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Dick Niaz said:
Leslie is that person who you kind of agreed with at first, but then became so annoying that you just want them to go away.
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I wonder if it’s her or Lucas Middlebrook making these decisions though.
 
FrankieNYC

FrankieNYC

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Wild said:
I wonder if it’s her or Lucas Middlebrook making these decisions though.
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You can't disassociate them on this.
Leslie is the front person

A lot were turned off by her GoFundMe it seems
That halted the sign-ups

It seems to have changed the pulse from "for us" to "for me" in a lot of minds.

I'm not versed on what exactly good or bad this does, but it seems out of left field
 
kneeblock

kneeblock

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Apr 18, 2015
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Union organizing is messy business, and it's no accident as the US has gradually chipped away at the rights of workers to organize in the past several decades via worker hostile legislation and court rulings. Focusing on Leslie and whatever is going on with her is a very small piece of the puzzle. Her utility was as an active fighter who was willing to put herself on the line for this effort, even at the very real risk of her job (which she lost). The people who should be questioned are first, the company for its various efforts to stonewall or discredit any organizing effort and second, the fighters who aren't willing to take the same risks Leslie did despite their constant complaints.
 
Wild

Wild

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Dec 31, 2014
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FrankieNYC said:
You can't disassociate them on this.
Leslie is the front person

A lot were turned off by her GoFundMe it seems
That halted the sign-ups

It seems to have changed the pulse from "for us" to "for me" in a lot of minds.

I'm not versed on what exactly good or bad this does, but it seems out of left field
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Hard to argue with that. They’ve made some PR mistakes on this thing, for sure.
 
FrankieNYC

FrankieNYC

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Wild said:
Hard to argue with that. They’ve made some PR mistakes on this thing, for sure.
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Weird thing is ...
If I was a fighter & dislike Leslie & how she is handling things, I would still sign the fn card.
Its anon & about info.
I could always vote "no" on a union or vote against her being in charge or in a high position.

It is asinine not to get info that can help your career

But if they don't care as a collective, I don't
 
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