Lawyer calls on pageant to scrap 'abhorrent' gender rule

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AppId is over the quota

The lawyer for a transgender Miss Universe Canada hopeful is calling on the pageant to clarify whether her client will be allowed to compete, and to scrap the "abhorrent" rule excluding others like her.

Jenna Talackova, 23, was named among 65 Miss Universe Canada finalists last month, only to be disqualified days later after news broke online that she had undergone sexual reassignment surgery.

"Jenna was being eliminated as a contestant not because she lacked beauty or charisma, but because, according to pageant representatives, she was not a ‘naturally born' woman," said famed feminist lawyer Gloria Allred, who is representing Talackova in the U.S.

After an outpouring of public support for the 6-1 tall blond, the pageant issued a statement Monday indicating Talackova could compete only "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions."

But Allred, who recently represented Tiger Woods mistresses Rachel Uchitel and Joslyn James, says the Donald Trump-owned beauty contest has only managed to confuse the issue.

"Instead of stating clearly that Jenna will be allowed to compete, Mr. Trump qualifies it by adding conditions that are ambiguous," Allred said at a Tuesday press conference in Los Angeles.

"We are asking Mr. Trump to step up and be a leader in the fight against discrimination. Or would he prefer to hide behind other organizations and say that if they discriminate, so can he?"

Talackova's Canadian driver's licence, passport and even birth certificate indicate that she is a woman, Allred said.

The pageant said it disqualified the beauty queen because she lied on her application when asked if she was born female. Talackova, who appeared on camera Tuesday for the first time since the controversy arose, says the rule amounts to blatant discrimination, and should be removed.

"I also want Mr. Trump to clearly state that this rule will be eliminated," Talackova said. "I do not want any other woman to suffer the discrimination that I have to endure."

"I am a woman… I have never asked for any special consideration. I only wanted to compete."

Trump responds

Trump told gossip program TMZ in a phone interview after the conference ended that Talackova would unequivocally be allowed to compete if she so chooses.

"We go by the law, and based on the laws she's able to compete if she wants to. She can take her shot, she can maybe win and maybe she won't win," he said.

The billionaire businessman refused to apologize for Talackova's initial disqualification, however.

"There'll be no apology whatsoever," he said. "Frankly, if she competes that's wonderful and if she doesn't want to compete because maybe she thinks she can't win that's fine also, I couldn't care less."

The controversy has been a boon to Miss Universe Canada ticket sales, Trump added.

Talackova has previously represented Canada at Miss International Queen, a transsexual beauty pageant in Thailand, where she placed as a finalist.

In an interview posted on YouTube, she describes herself as having identified as a woman at four-years-old, beginning hormone therapy at 14. She had her reassignment operation at 19.

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Japan lawyer calls for Google autocomplete change

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AppId is over the quota
A Japanese lawyer on Tuesday urged Google to make its "autocomplete" function more flexible, after a court ordered the search giant to modify the feature to prevent embarrassment for his client.

Hiroyuki Tomita said his unidentified client was suffering reputational damage because Google's algorithm generated a suggestion linking him to a crime he had not committed when users typed his name.

"We are not asking for the entire 'suggest function' (autocomplete system) to be switched off," Tomita told AFP, clarifying reports Monday that he wanted the function disabled by Google in Japan.

"We are asking Google to follow what was issued by a Japanese court," the lawyer said.

The Tokyo District Court last week approved a petition by the man to have his name delinked from autocomplete suggestions, ruling that the function violated his privacy.

The Google function linked the man to criminality, damaging his reputation and making it hard for him to find work in recent years, according to Tomita.

Autocomplete is a function provided by many search engines that suggests what a user may be seeking as they type queries.

Query suggestions are typically based on what other people have searched for when they typed the same initial letters or words.

In the United States, Google said it was reviewing the Japanese court ruling.

"A Japanese court issued a provisional order requesting Google to delete specific terms from autocomplete," a spokesman for the California-based company confirmed on Monday.

"The judge did not require Google to completely suspend the autocomplete function. Google is currently reviewing the order," he said in a statement.

Tomita expressed frustration that Google in Japan had been unable to handle the matter, and accused the company's US headquarters of dragging its feet.

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Japan lawyer calls for Google autocomplete change

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
A Japanese lawyer on Tuesday urged Google to make its "autocomplete" function more flexible, after a court ordered the search giant to modify the feature to prevent embarrassment for his client.

Hiroyuki Tomita said his unidentified client was suffering reputational damage because Google's algorithm generated a suggestion linking him to a crime he had not committed when users typed his name.

"We are not asking for the entire 'suggest function' (autocomplete system) to be switched off," Tomita told AFP, clarifying reports Monday that he wanted the function disabled by Google in Japan.

"We are asking Google to follow what was issued by a Japanese court," the lawyer said.

The Tokyo District Court last week approved a petition by the man to have his name delinked from autocomplete suggestions, ruling that the function violated his privacy.

The Google function linked the man to criminality, damaging his reputation and making it hard for him to find work in recent years, according to Tomita.

Autocomplete is a function provided by many search engines that suggests what a user may be seeking as they type queries.

Query suggestions are typically based on what other people have searched for when they typed the same initial letters or words.

In the United States, Google said it was reviewing the Japanese court ruling.

"A Japanese court issued a provisional order requesting Google to delete specific terms from autocomplete," a spokesman for the California-based company confirmed on Monday.

"The judge did not require Google to completely suspend the autocomplete function. Google is currently reviewing the order," he said in a statement.

Tomita expressed frustration that Google in Japan had been unable to handle the matter, and accused the company's US headquarters of dragging its feet.

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'Housewives' creator's lawyer calls Sheridan's case 'desperate'

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AppId is over the quota
Actress Nicollette Sheridan arrives at the courthouse as the trial of her wrongful termination lawsuit against "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry continues. (Valerie Macon / Getty Images / March 14, 2012)

Was it a conspiracy that went all the way to the top of ABC? Or was it the case of an exaggerating actress out for revenge?

Nicollette Sheridan's wrongful-termination suit against the creator of "Desperate Housewives" and a studio wound toward a conclusion Wednesday as jurors heard closing arguments offering vastly different interpretations of the case.

As the tall, blond actress and Marc Cherry, the balding, bespectacled writer who invented the world of Wisteria Lane, looked on from opposite sides of the courtroom, their attorneys debated for hours over what led to the 2008 death of Sheridan's character.

The actress' lawyer told jurors that Cherry killed off bed-hopping real estate broker Edie Britt in the fifth season in retaliation for her complaint that he had struck her in the head in a dispute over a line of dialogue.

Attorney Mark Baute said studio and network executives rushed to cover up for Cherry and protect the $1-billion "'Desperate Housewives' money machine."

"It's all about the benjamins for management. It's not about a woman getting hit in the head," Baute said.

He repeatedly termed a human resources investigation that cleared Cherry a "whitewash" and said employees, including high-level executives, who testified that Edie's death was plotted months before falsified their accounts on the stand and destroyed evidence to aide a powerful Hollywood colleague.

"They all got together and created a cute and superficial paper trail that suited their needs," he said. Their message to Cherry, he said, was, "Don't worry, everyone agrees with your version of events, boss man."

Cherry sat motionless as the attorney called him an "obvious liar" with a vindictive personality. When Cherry's lawyer got an opportunity to address the jury, he told jurors that Sheridan's case brought one word to mind.

"Desperate," attorney Adam Levin said.

He said there was no evidence of a conspiracy and noted that 10 witnesses said Cherry decided to kill off Edie months before his run-in with Sheridan. He emphasized that five of the witnesses no longer worked with Cherry or co-defendant Touchstone Television Productions, and had no reason to perjure themselves.

"What incentive does [witness and former ABC Entertainment chief] Steve McPherson, who is not even in the entertainment industry anymore, have to lie to you?" he asked jurors.

Levin showed the jury transcripts of trial testimony in which producers, writers and executives recalled Cherry seeking approval from the studio and network to kill off Edie in May 2008, four months before the incident on set.

Cherry contends he only tapped Sheridan's head to demonstrate a stage direction, and his attorney said Sheridan's own phone records suggested the incident was minor.

"Would a reasonable person who felt she had been violently walloped or hit check her voice mail?" he asked. He recalled the testimony of an executive producer that Sheridan initially only wanted a bouquet of flowers, hardly, he argued, appeasement for an unprovoked assault.

Sheridan, who earned $4 million a year as well as back-end profits, is seeking economic damages of $5.7 million. The jury of nine women and three men deliberated for less than two hours before departing for the evening.

harriet.ryan@latimes.com

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