A court-mandated settlement conference for the parties in Jon Del Arroz’ lawsuit against San Francisco Science Fiction Convention Inc. is set for June 9. If the case is not settled, a jury trial will begin June 14. Del Arroz today publicly shared his settlement demands while talking with Vox Day during The Dankstream #47 “The Dark Lord Strikes Back (with special guest Vox Day!)” on YouTube.
SFSFC, Inc. is the parent corporation of Worldcon 76, held in San Jose. Del Arroz sued SFSFC in 2018 after the Worldcon 76 committee announced he would not be allowed to attend the convention (“Del Arroz Files Suit Against Worldcon 76”. In February 2019, the court tossed four of the five causes of action in Del Arroz’s lawsuit against Worldcon 76’s parent corporation. The case continues on the fifth complaint, defamation. Earlier this month the court rejected Worldcon 76’s motion for summary judgment asking the court to render judgment on the record already submitted, an unsuccessful effort to get the case dismissed without trial.
At the 01:37 mark in the video Del Arroz described his settlement demands:
JDA: …I could care less about trouble with this juncture. So yeah, but I just put in my um… We have to attempt to reconcile and do a settlement with the beautiful Worldcon before we get to trial here. So I just put in my demands this morning and that’s pretty fun. I would definitely accept it if they do this. I have, of course, a monetary reward which I won’t talk more about since they did defame me and cause trouble for me. But the other thing I thought is I would like to be on the board of Worldcon as a diversity and inclusivity officer to make sure this doesn’t happen to other people.
Vox Day: Well, I think that makes sense, you know, I mean they don’t have a Hispanic one, and right, yeah, they probably don’t have an indigenous people’s one, so you know you can let them know that if you’re too much for them that you know you’d be willing to accept me in that role in your style. Extremely generous of you, yeah, you know, so yeah, very nice [Laughter]
JDA: Cool, but that’s ongoing…
The suggestion about “an indigenous people’s one” is presumably in reference to Vox Day’s stated “English, Irish, Mexican, and Native American” ancestry.
[Update 06/01/2021: Corrected to show where Vox Day was speaking.]
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Oh boy.
“I would like to be on the board of Worldcon as a diversity and inclusivity officer to make sure this doesn’t happen to other people.”
Does he not understand how Worldcon actually works?!?!
JdL: “I would like to be on the board of Worldcon ”
http://www.worldcon.org/about-worldcon/ : “There is no Board of Directors or Central Committee of WSFS that manages Worldcons”
Well if all it takes for a settlement is for JDA to be on the Board of Worldcon 76 and ensure diversity and inclusion issues are dealt with in a timely manner for the 2018 Worldcon, surely that could be arranged with a court mandated manipulation of the space-time continuum?
They did not cause trouble for you. You caused it for yourself with your own actions.
Also, there is no Worldcon Board. The sponsoring body changes ever year. So you’ve asked for something that can’t be given because it doesn’t exist. Idiot.
“Board of Worldcon” …Ha!
Also, kudos to whoever took that screenshot. The dubious expression on Day’s face is priceless.
[Raises hand.] What’s great is that this screencap comes from the same section of the video as the quote.
Does he actually know what a settlement conference is? He’s not won anything and is not in a position to make demands. It’s just a step before it goes to court, where, if he appears as a witness, he’ll piss off the jury and lose.
It does depend on the insurance policy language, the carrier might force settlement but I think they can only do that on financial, not other terms.
As others have noted, the entity he’s suing would probably no longer exist if it wasn’t for this case.
Since Jon is not specifying any actual powers or duties for his putative office, in the spirit of helpfulness and amity, I am — right here and now — hereby declaring that a (strictly imaginary) entity called the “Board of Worldcon” shall from this day forth exist, and that the illustrious Jonathan del Arroz of Pleasanton, California shall be its Diversity and Inclusivity Officer.
Jon, don’t say I never did anything for you, buddy. Go forth and do, y’know, make-believe stuff.
Chris S: The entity that’s being sued is San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc., and its corporate life will go on whenever the 2018 Worldcon closes its books. That’s the same corporation that will be hosting the 2022 Westercon in Tonopah, NV.
Is it just me, or does VD look remarkably vampiric in that screenshot? Looks like sunlight has never touched his skin….
Does he not remember that the complaints about discrimination were tossed out? (And wasn’t it supposedly discrimination for his politics, not for being Hispanic anyway?) Even if a Worldcon board existed, the idea of him being assigned to prevent defamation from happening to others is pretty laughable.
I don’t think we want to get into deciding who ‘qualifies’ to call themself Hispanic.
We really don’t. Please.
@ Nancy Sauer
I don’t think we want to get into deciding who ‘qualifies’ to call themself Hispanic.
Damn straight. And calling people “mutts” is not a good idea. However, it is worth asking if JDA has the training and experience to be a diversity officer.
@Nancy
I agree.
I just came back online and found this comment and deleted it. By now I have made the point many times I’m not hosting a jury about anybody’s ethnicity.
That’s a set of demands he probably knows won’t be met, and in fact he’s probably counting on it. I suspect he believes he will charm the jury–which, who knows, but I think it’s very unlikely.
Also, yeah, the idea that there isn’t an overarching Worldcon organization with a Board of Directors is probably beyond his imagination. If he’s been told that clearly enough that he can’t miss it, he thinks we’re lying and it really exists in secret.
@Cat,
You can question his best-selling status all you want; that’s an issue of numbers.
When even Vox Day realises that you’re full of crap, you really are in trouble.
Anyway, I pity the poor jurrors who will have to waste time dealing with this nonsense.
I remember the advice that lawyers always give on cop shows and in real life. The defendant should STFU. That is, everything he or she says or writes can go on the record and be used at a jury trial.
@Mike, thanks for the clarification! I stand corrected, I didn’t realize this was an ongoing entity not a one purpose one. Ugh, makes it more painful for the people involved.
I think his demand for the sole use of the continent of Australia is really beyond reasonable. Who does he think he is, Lex Luthor?
@Linda Robinett Well, I agree he should shut up because basically, he’s an idiot who can’t help making a fool of himself, but picking a nit, he isn’t a defendant. This is a civil case, and if there were anybody who would be considered the defendant in this trial, it would be SFSFC.
Two members he sued that were thrown out have the last names of Castro and Rodriguez.
Tell me again there are no Hispanics involved, jackass.
@Cassy B: a little known fact about VD is that it actually stands for Vitamin Deficiency
“Also, kudos to whoever took that screenshot. The dubious expression on Day’s face is priceless.”
Second Fifthed.
FWIW and FYI, the transcript quoted above doesn’t show who’s saying what. If you (gird your ears and) listen, that sentence is one of the ones not said by the person involved in (this) lawsuit.
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So JDA just tipped his hand. He is worried he will lose at the trial and is hoping to bravado his way into a settlement before that happens. This guy really should learn to shut up and not wave his cards for the entire world to see.
Well, one day or the other we will see this put to end this month.
What I have to wonder is after this… what’s next for JDA? Would any con want to invite a litigious A-hole? This alone would be reason to not allow him in any organization. What publisher (outside of Vox who is also likely having second thoughts) would want to deal with someone who sues for attention? As Spock would say “exhibits 2-dimensional thinking”
Mike, thanks for tweaking the transcript to reflect who’s saying what.