Earlier this week I addressed a story Tracy had written about Hurricane Katrina victims on her FRAUDfiles blog. The Times Picayune (that’s the New Orleans paper) ran this story yesterday:
http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/money-1/1181199889251640.xml&coll=1&thispage=1
In Tracy’s story about this lawsuit she dismissed the case and said, “I have a hard time seeing how a policyholder might think that a flood did not include water from a levee break. A flood is a flood, and flood damage was excluded.” Tracy, with her extensive background in accounting, assumes that she knows all of the details of this case and is flippant (thanks Tom Cruise!) enough to make her ruling.
The judges in this case are still delibirating. I guess because they aren’t as smart as Tracy, they had to take some time to go over the facts. Included in the story ran by the Times yesterday was a short bio of the judges involved.
“While Duval, the trial court judge, was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994 to the New Orleans court, two of the three appeals court judges were appointed by Republican presidents and all three appeals judges are from Texas.
“King was appointed in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter and served as chief justice from 1999-2006. DeMoss was appointed by the President George H.W. Bush in 1991. Owen was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005 after a bitter confirmation fight and serving on the Texas Supreme Court for a decade. She had been rumored to be under consideration for the Supreme Court slot vacated by Sandra Day O’Connor in 2005 that was eventually filled by Samuel Alito. ”
Hmmmm…. Who’s more qualified to make this decision? Wait a minute. Let me think…..
So not only is Tracy a forensic accountant and a fraud investigator, she’s also an expert on legal semantics AND Louisiana law. Wow, that is SOME impressive resume!
Banned from the Bitchfest: Pink Truth Can Bite My Ass 
princessedamame said
This isn’t meant to be unsympathetic, and I know a lot of you were either affected or had family who was affected by Katrina, But for argument’s sake, and to see if there’s another way to help the flood victims, let’s say the judges go Tracy’s way since we all know how smart the Queen is. And let’s say a house was flooded by the levee (levy?) breach. And let’s say insurance doesn’t cover it. Why can’t the homeowners make a civil claim against the government for the breach? (Now, I know there are a lot of other factors, like subsequent weather, the amount of time that has now passed, etc., but let’s just say…)
princessedamame said
“So not only is Tracy a forensic accountant and a fraud investigator, she’s also an expert on legal semantics…”
Me – I’m anti-semantic…
Duh said
Princess-
The insurance company may be found not liable for the damages. My point is that it is a complicated case, and it is NOT insurance fraud which is what Tracy implies.
I think the homeowner’s should sue the Army Corp of Engineers who designed and built the levees and then lied about the level of protection they were able to provide. The people of New Orleans were told that the levees could withstand a strong Cat 3 hurricane, but when Katrina struck the New Orleans area it was only a weak 2 or maybe just a 1. Still a strong hurricane, but not nearly the worst case scenario.
Meow Mix said
I am so tired of Tracy thinking she knows everything. All she’s good at is manipulating people and just bein a plain old bitch.
BITCHES YO!
She Who Must Not Be Named said
Don’t forget that many of the homeowners of the hardest hit areas (9th ward) were not residents but landlords. Think of all the renters, the people who didn’t own their homes, who have been displaced from their homes, and will probably never be able to return because of this mess, both the physical mess of the city and the legal mess in the courts.
For many houses in the 9th ward, there are two sets of victims per house – the homeowners who lost property and rental income, and the residents who lost personal property AND their home AND friends/family/pets AND their communities.
Imagine if you had nothing of what you have today – just the shirt on your back. You would do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to get your life back in order – even challenge your insurance company when they won’t pay because they say it was a ‘flood’ and you’re policy didn’t cover that.
These are desperate people, and by golly, they SHOULD be challenging anything and everything so that they get what they legally are entitled to.
HOW DARE Tracy, (who has probably never experienced such a hardship,) HOW DARE she accuse these poor people of trying to do anything fraudulent. They are trying to rebuild their lives the best they can, and by God we should be rallying BEHIND them!
SHAME ON YOU TRACY!
(The only people I have no sympathy for are the ones who were NOT affected by Katrina but applied for and claimed federal aid as if they had been. That WOULD be fraudulent.)
Duped said
I have to agree with most of you here – shame on you, Tracy. After all the citizens of New Orleans have been through, they have every right to try and recoup their losses. In my opinion, you have no basis for your “claims” that they are being fraudulent other than some more press and foot traffic for your web site. You are merely trying to benefit from their loss and their grief, and that is sad.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, yes, however I see no reason for you to publish yours on your corporate blog. Your opinions in this matter are entirely personal and should be left to your own personal blog – not your professional one.
ScrewU said
Once again, Tracy tries to make a buck off the backs of those who have been victimized. Shocking!! Who would have ever thought she is capable of that.
New To Pink said
There used to be a saying: It’s better to know a lot about one thing than just a little bit about a few things. Tracy reminds me of the latter, someone who knows just a little bit of a few things and nothing solid about one thing. She should do everyone a favor and learn herself a lot about one thing, meanwhile keeping her mouth shut (or fingers still).
Kayla said
She-
I know you mean well, but the 9th Ward was only one of a number of areas that was hard hit and filled with tenants. (The media would have you believe that only the 9th Ward suffered in this.) New Orleans had a higher than normal rental ratio, due to low rental rates. Unfortunately, those rates are never going to come back again.
As for the Corps, we have already had the opportunity to make a claim; they are currently processing them. We have until August 29 to file legal action, but it is not easy to sue (and collect from) a government entity.
My friends and I have been fighting for almost 2 years to get some sense of normalcy back. It’s tough.
princessedamame said
Duh – you and I are on the same page – it will be and has been a difficult battle with the insurance companies. I think that the Army Corp of Eng. should be sued, if it’s possible at this point. There are certain time limits within which to bring such an action, and a particular method to make claims against a government agency, plus many governmental agencies have immunity for a bunch of crap, so I don’t know what’s possible.
She and Kayla – As far as collecting against govt’s agencies (local and state), I’ve found that once you win your case, they may pay slowly and stroke you with phrases like “waiting for budget approval”, but you will get paid eventually. They just don’t care if you feel like dog shit in the meantime. Bastards.