I'm Suing. You Didn't Tell Me I Could Get Arrested in A Communist Country

[bmore_ken]

The family of an American man imprisoned in Cuba for nearly three years is suing his former Maryland employer and the United States government, saying they didn't adequately train him or disclose the risks he was undertaking by doing development work on the Communist island.
The family of 63-year-old Alan Gross sued Friday in federal court in Washington.

The lawsuit says that the economic development company Gross was working for and the U.S. government, which the company had a contract with, failed to "provide Mr. Gross with the education and training that was necessary to minimize the risk of harm to him."


Gross was tried in a Cuban court on charges of crimes against the state and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011. In testimony from the trial previously released, Gross he called himself a "trusting fool."

"I was duped. I was used. And my family and I have paid dearly for this," he said, though the excerpt does not say who Gross feels misled him.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bre...,4495645.story

Really dude?

[octoburn]

This is the part that I do not quite understand about the lawsuit ~

The lawsuit says that the economic development company Gross was working for and the U.S. government, which the company had a contract with, failed to "provide Mr. Gross with the education and training that was necessary to minimize the risk of harm to him."

?????????????

[Omaha Beach]

The US Government has immunity from this suit. It will be dismissed against it. The employer should also get out for a couple of reasons. First Gross has to show his employer had a legal duty to advise him of the "risks" he is talking about and to identify those as yet still unspecified risks. Secondly since this was his I think,his fourth visit to Cuba why wasnt he aware of those risks and if he was why make return trips there? A little something in law, known as assumption of risk. This whole thing smells of a legal shakedown for the purpose of getting the Government to do something to get him out. Iam wondering if Sean Penn and the other Hollywood lefties who so admire Senor Castro are aware of this story.

[Saticon3]

On the surface he looks like an idiot, but, really, to me there is not enough information in there for a reasonable conclusion to be made. I could think of scenarios where his case would have merit.

[bmore_ken]

On the surface he looks like an idiot, but, really, to me there is not enough information in there for a reasonable conclusion to be made. I could think of scenarios where his case would have merit.

Possibly. I just can't feel sorry for someone who willingly works in a communist country. Especially a country who's leadership hates yours.

[Saticon3]

Possibly. I just can't feel sorry for someone who willingly works in a communist country. Especially a country who's leadership hates yours.

Well, you know, we contributed to that, maybe, like trying kill him several times? Setting up a (failed) invasion? (Not too) Covertly trying to have him overthrown by various proxies?

Before the missiles, what real threat did he pose to us? Looking at it from thier perspective, perhaps we more or less drove him into the arms of the Soviets.

[Omaha Beach]

Well, you know, we contributed to that, maybe, like trying kill him several times? Setting up a (failed) invasion? (Not too) Covertly trying to have him overthrown by various proxies?

Before the missiles, what real threat did he pose to us? Looking at it from thier perspective, perhaps we more or less drove him into the arms of the Soviets.

He was already a communist before the CIA tried to get rid of him. He needed the Soviet Union to prop up his economy because marxism simply does not work. Even China has a stock market.

[bmore_ken]

Well, you know, we contributed to that, maybe, like trying kill him several times? Setting up a (failed) invasion? (Not too) Covertly trying to have him overthrown by various proxies?

Before the missiles, what real threat did he pose to us? Looking at it from thier perspective, perhaps we more or less drove him into the arms of the Soviets.

Not my issue. Regardless of why it is, I believe in common sense. Would you take a job in Iran?

[Saticon3]

Not my issue. Regardless of why it is, I believe in common sense. Would you take a job in Iran?

No, nor would I go hiking there either.

I also wouldn't fly a plane over Cuba and drop anti-government leaflets.

[Oriole-Bob]

Sounds to me like the Cubans are right on this one. Seems like he was part of a company that was using propaganda against the communist regime.. and with the help of the US Government. This would probably get dumb foreigners locked up in many countries around the world, he would have to be a complete idiot not to know the risks of such work.

[jtowne-swim]

But is he an idiot who was at least told that his work could get him arrested there andno one would be able to help him. If not than some people got some explaining. The CIA who used to do this stuff told it's agents this before hand.

[ivanbalt]

I guess a position in North Korea wasn't available?

[bmore_ken]

But is he an idiot who was at least told that his work could get him arrested there andno one would be able to help him.

Seriously? why wouldn't I know as an American in a communist country my activities were being watched? Again, common sense I wouldn't be working in a communist country anyway

[jtowne-swim]

Seriously? why wouldn't I know as an American in a communist country my activities were being watched? Again, common sense I wouldn't be working in a communist country anyway

For the same reason people did not understand get how the election turned out like it did. They don't want to know, they burry themselves in a world of dillusion. If you are going to send someone there you need to make sure they know this.

[Lawman 27]

I take it that this guy does NOT have a Doctorate in nuclear technology?

[Hexexis]

...this was his I think,his fourth visit to Cuba why wasnt he aware of those risks and if he was why make return trips there? ...

There you go: so this guy's bright, manipulative, conniving enough to leap thru the countless hoops periodically to go forn. lands but too dense to dig just what those forn. lands are?

Maybe there's 1st Amendment caveat I missed: Congress shall make no law abridging the citizen's right to be an irresponsible lout. Maybe family's attys will subpoena famous reps of loutish behavior: Romney, McCain, Pelosi, Trump.

OTOH, there is a statement from long ago by Am. conservative icon Ronald Reagan, which no one but me & apparently any number of folks dying to abuse it to the nth degree remember: "Whenever an American citizen, anywhere in the world, is denied his constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it is up to this government to restore those rights."

He was talking about his arms-for-hostages caper, but since Reagan, there do seem to be lotsa people devoted to having their rights restored; often folks like Mr. Gross that hunted ceaselessly for ways to abdicate their rights in the first place.

[Omaha Beach]

There you go: so this guy's bright, manipulative, conniving enough to leap thru the countless hoops periodically to go forn. lands but too dense to dig just what those forn. lands are?

Maybe there's 1st Amendment caveat I missed: Congress shall make no law abridging the citizen's right to be an irresponsible lout. Maybe family's attys will subpoena famous reps of loutish behavior: Romney, McCain, Pelosi, Trump.

OTOH, there is a statement from long ago by Am. conservative icon Ronald Reagan, which no one but me & apparently any number of folks dying to abuse it to the nth degree remember: "Whenever an American citizen, anywhere in the world, is denied his constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it is up to this government to restore those rights."

He was talking about his arms-for-hostages caper, but since Reagan, there do seem to be lotsa people devoted to having their rights restored; often folks like Mr. Gross that hunted ceaselessly for ways to abdicate their rights in the first place.

Huh? Were you on meds when you posted this?

[old school]

So I wonder if training was adequate on the previous four trips. What a dumb ***!