Stossel v. Schottel

It’s funny how things can work out.

I mentioned in an earlier post I’m reading John Stossel’s new book, Give Me a Break, a journey of Stossel’s ideological development and overview of why libertarianism makes sense in today’s society. I took a break from the chapter of trivial lawsuit as the author started targeting disability rights lawyers. Absent-mindedly, I visited overlawyered.com—an excellent site I often forget to visit (probably because I’m afraid of being swamped with legalese).

Lo and behold, the triviality knows no bounds: James W. Schottel Jr. filed a lawsuit against NBC’s “The Apprentice” this week because having “excellent physical health” was a prerequisite for audition. Citing the Americans with Disabilities Act, Schottel who’s confined to a wheelchair, calls the requirement “discrimination.”

Yes, I’m sure Donald Trump hates the handicap. It has nothing to do with the mobility required of an executive (like visiting a construction site), or the ease of communicating with others (talking to a handicap person can be physically and psychologically awkward for some customers), or that the Donald would require long hours that would be physically taxing. And I’m sure that I’ve considered every possible nuance of running a major company and there aren’t some relevant scenarios where health makes a difference.

Even if Trump was stupid enough to believe the PC bullshit that the handicapped are precisely the same as everyone else, it wouldn’t matter. He’s hiring someone for his company. He could require all applicants to have mustaches, experience in at least one threesome and wear Velcro sneakers. If he loses a good applicant in the screening process, that’s his loss.

Instead, taxpayers have to pay for this lawsuit and basic economics tells us there’s no reason for the suit in the first place. The plus side is at this rate, we’ll be able to sue for stupidity and I’ll be first in line to give Schottel his own.