Edwina Rogers Dismisses Claims in Her Lawsuit Against Richard Dawkins and Atheist Lobbying Group

[muriel_volestrangler]

Last May, Edwina Rogers (below) sued the Secular Coalition for America, her former employer, alleging that SCA leaders wrongfully terminated her and then made defamatory statements about her to the press. They were motivated, the document said, by “petty jealousies and naked ambition.”

Rogers also said that SCA President (at the time) Amanda Metskas and/or SCA Education Fund Treasurer Roy Speckhardt (of the American Humanist Association) found a way to leak information to New York Times reporters in order to get ahead of the story:
...
An amended version of Rogers’ lawsuit also included charges against Richard Dawkins — that he was taking money from his own foundation and enlisting his allies in retaliation against her.
...
Instead, Rogers chose to end her lawsuit voluntarily before that encounter could take place:

Plaintiff Edwina Rogers and Defendants Amanda Metskas and Secular Coalition for America, Inc., (“SCA”) stipulate to dismissal of her claims against SCA and Ms. Metskas.
…
Plaintiff Edwina Rogers voluntarily dismisses her claims against Defendants Secular Coalition for America Education Fund, Inc., Greg R. Langer, Roy Speckhardt, and Richard Dawkins.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/02/27/edwina-rogers-dismisses-claims-in-her-lawsuit-against-richard-dawkins-and-atheist-lobbying-group/

Which I'm guessing means she had launched the suit in hope of being able to find some evidence for people agreeing to get rid of her, and couldn't.

[Warpy]

1. ...or the "make it go away" settlement was a generous one.

That's usually how these things happen, especially when the plaintiff is a woman or POC. A gag order is invariably part of the settlement agreement.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Hmm - had you heard of Rogers before?

Don't assume she's the one with less power here:

In 1989, she married Ed Rogers, a protege of political strategist Lee Atwater who served in two administrations and founded a lobbying firm with former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour. The couple lived in an 18,000-square-foot mansion in McLean, had two children, and named their son Haley. The couple divorced in 2012 .[5][7]

Rogers worked on International Trade matters for President George H. W. Bush at the Department of Commerce from 1989 to 1991. She practiced law in the Washington office of Balch and Bingham from 1991 until 1994, then served as General Counsel of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the Republican take-over of the Senate in 1994. She worked for Senator Trent Lott while he was a Majority Leader in 1999.[6]

She was an Economic Advisor for President George W. Bush at the White House during 2001 and 2002 at the National Economic Council, focusing on health and social security policy.[6]
...
In answer to her skeptical critics, Rogers describes herself as “nontheist” and as a libertarian-leaning economic conservative who is also “laissez-faire on social issues”.[5] According to Rogers, being a professional lobbyist and political staffer meant going along with certain causes even when she didn't believe in them. In 2007, when Rogers was vice president of health policy for the ERISA Industry Committee, Rogers testified in the House against a bill mandating more generous mental-health coverage, even though she personally favored the legislation. And she handled health-policy issues for pro-life senator Jeff Sessions despite being pro-choice herself.[5] Rogers states she has donated to Planned Parenthood over the past 25 years.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwina_Rogers

Compare that with Amanda Metskas and Roy Speckhardt, whom she had been accusing of the evil plot. Speckhardt has no connections - he's just worked in the atheist/humanist/secular organizations; Amanda Metskas doesn't even rate a Wikipedia entry.

[Warpy]

3. I'm not a joiner. Organizations and their begats give me a rash

The only reason I've heard of Dawkins is that he's the main bogeyman at the Religion group, supposed to be our pope or something.

[RussBLib]

4. doesn't sound like a settlement

simply a withdrawal of the claims