By CarrZee & Friends
Dec. 8, 2021 — Yesterday was the second day of my court hearing at “Victory House” in London.
On the way this morning, I knew I was again coming face to face against the comically large team of litigators representing Bloomberg LP.
It doesn’t feel like victory right now in a rather drab building that’s largely vacant because many hearings are taking place online during the global pandemic.
My particular litigation still feels like a cautionary tale.
Bloomberg has been chasing me to pay 20,000 pounds ($26,000) of its QC barrister’s costs for more than a year — hilariously it’s giving us a little discount on Mr James Laddie’s one-day (or so) fee. ……deleted on request of the Respondent’s Laddie.
There are many good reasons why employees who have been (allegedly) used and abused by ex-employers do not take their grievances to the courts.
Today, my car ride laid just a few of my doubts to rest.
I was running late, and with many bundles of paper for the hearing, a taxi ride felt like some respite ahead of what was sure to be a grueling day.
Mark in his green Hyundai IONIQ was candid when I quizzed about his vehicle.
‘’We should have moved away from fossil fuels a decade ago,’’ he quipped, as he gave the low down on the super-low running costs compared with his previous petroleum cars.
For example, Mark explained it cost him about £8 to top up the car batteries which would give him up to three days of running the car around the British capital (if those days were quiet).
A full tank of petrol these days would cost you about £50 on average in the UK, according to a comparison website.
But, it gets better, because Mark’s employer, Uber, is forward thinking, at least in some respects.
Drivers with an electric car pay a 15% commission to their US based employer (according to Mark) while drivers with a fossil-fuel vehicle pay 10 points more. Im trusting his facts without checking. (Annoyingly this Bloomberg story has some facts about Uber gliches with its payments to drivers.)
But still. Now, we are talking.
Even regular folk are getting the importance of an urgent green transition, which requires not-so-clever incentives. It’s obvious to make polluters pay.
Mark is right. Why have we taken so long to get here?
Am I correct to have clashed horns with my previous employer for its role in the delay of information and news to investors showing the viability of the green energy transition? Not delay versus other news outfits. Delay vs what it knew it could do.
Mark knew he was dropping me off at the Central Employment Tribunal, but if only he knew why.
And then, at the actual hearing, a related home truth, extracted by my QC (joking – Mr Laddie will fear not for his job — my first day cross examining someone as a self litigant was far from a comfortable affair. I could have made my former boss look so much more stupid.)
But even fossil-fuel soaked Reed Landberg is now conceding Bloomberg could have done more to improve its coverage of the climate crisis. Send a comment to add here if you want, Reed: mathew@carrzee.net
Search for “Bloomberg” on CarrZee.org for more details on my runins with my former employer, etc.
