Wait so you can kick a person in the head and have nothing come back to you so long as the person is brown. What a country!

big pig peaches: GT_bike: $1.2 after taxes and attorneys 40% cut...not too shabby for a kick in the head.

I don't believe you have to pay taxes on a lawsuit payment. I could be wrong as I often am.

IRC section 61 states that all income is taxable from whatever source derived, unless exempted by another section of the Code.

IRS Pub 17 page 90 says:
"To determine if settlement amounts you receive by compromise or judgment must be included in your income, you must consider the item that the settlement replaces. The character of the income as ordinary income or capital gain depends on the nature of the underlying claim. Include the following as ordinary income:
1. Interest on any award.
2. Compensation for lost wages or lost profits in most cases.
3. Punitive damages, in most cases. It does not matter if they relate to a physical injury or physical sickness.
4. Amounts received in settlement of pension rights (if you did not contribute to the plan).
5. Damages for:
a. Patent or copyright infringement,
b. Breach of contract, or
c. Interference with business operations
6. Back pay and damages for emotional distress received to satisfy a claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
7. Attorney fees and costs (including contingent fees) where the underlying recovery is included in gross income.

Do not include in your income compensatory damages for personal physical injury or physical sickness (whether received in a lump sum or installments)."

I don't know, he was trying to cash a check instead of a sack of oranges. I think the teller had a valid point.

GT_bike: big pig peaches: GT_bike: $1.2 after taxes and attorneys 40% cut...not too shabby for a kick in the head.

I don't believe you have to pay taxes on a lawsuit payment. I could be wrong as I often am.

IRC section 61 states that all income is taxable from whatever source derived, unless exempted by another section of the Code.

IRS Pub 17 page 90 says:
"To determine if settlement amounts you receive by compromise or judgment must be included in your income, you must consider the item that the settlement replaces. The character of the income as ordinary income or capital gain depends on the nature of the underlying claim. Include the following as ordinary income:
1. Interest on any award.
2. Compensation for lost wages or lost profits in most cases.
3. Punitive damages, in most cases. It does not matter if they relate to a physical injury or physical sickness.
4. Amounts received in settlement of pension rights (if you did not contribute to the plan).
5. Damages for:
a. Patent or copyright infringement,
b. Breach of contract, or
c. Interference with business operations
6. Back pay and damages for emotional distress received to satisfy a claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
7. Attorney fees and costs (including contingent fees) where the underlying recovery is included in gross income.

Do not include in your income compensatory damages for personal physical injury or physical sickness (whether received in a lump sum or installments)."

Meaning that looks like you are correct except where some of the settlement may be for lost wages.

FTFA:

"Police from Aventura and Miami-Dade rushed to the bank, ordered everyone to the floor as they physically detained Valladares, handcuffing him and kicking him in the head, his lawyer said."

"If Bank of America had required its tellers to keep pictures of robbers at the teller stations, this whole incident would have never happened."

Yeah, and maybe also if cops hadn't KICKED HIM IN THE HEAD. WTF, cops? Any cop who kicks anybody in the head deserves the most severe punishment available. We can't tolerate police brutalising citizens.

And then..

"To add insult to injury, they cashed his check after finally telling police officers it was a false alarm," Adler said.

Huh? As opposed to what? NOT cashing it? Calling him names while cashing it? What?

blorpenster: Why weren't the cops sued for kicking him in the head?

This. I have no great love for BoA but it wasn't BoA who kicked him in the head. Some nervous teller freaked out and pressed the button. It was the cops who got rough, not BoA.

He must have had a gub.

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Cupajo: Driving While Black is already a crime. I guess we have to add Banking While Hispanic.

Yep. Those damn Hispanic bank tellers are so racist against Hispanics bank-goers.

Teller's defense was "We all look alike"

BOA promptly charges court $3.31 million blippty bloopity account management fee.

JC

A Hispanic? In Florida? And male? Wearing national professional sporting team apparel? What are the odds?

In the comments on the site, one guy says twice he wouldn't have been treated this well in his native country. Did I miss the part that said he was from somewhere other than Miami?

In South Florida, you can be Hispanic and be a third-generation (or more) American.

GoodyearPimp: Valladares, 50, a former mortgage company loan officerwearing a Miami Heat hat,

Well, I can see why they mistook him for a crook.

Makes more sense that way.

thelordofcheese: A Hispanic? In Florida? And male? Wearing national Florida professional sporting team apparel? What are the odds?

FTFM

Boot to the head? Summon Ed Gruberman.

Jument: blorpenster: Why weren't the cops sued for kicking him in the head?

This. I have no great love for BoA but it wasn't BoA who kicked him in the head. Some nervous teller freaked out and pressed the button. It was the cops who got rough, not BoA.

wouldn't have happened at all had BoA not freaked out and handled the situation with even a tiny bit of reason. proximate cause and all that.

I'm going with BofA at fault 100%; the police had no way of knowing that it wasn't a real robbery. Boot to the dome might have been excessive; but they were responding to what they thought was a robbery.

/ I know, I'm a horrible person for pointing out that the police acted in good faith

Maybe this is just the future of bank robbing for minorities?

Wait until you hear about someone of the same ethnicity as yourself robbing banks. Acquire similar outfit (apparently even just the same hat works). Walk into a bank. Then let the stupid over reacting bank staff and police do the rest for you.

Think about it, he probably got more than he'd have got from an actual bank robbery and he didn't have to fight his way out or have to deal with a warrant for his arrest.

Weaver95: so here's what you do - you can spend the next 10 years in court appealing the f*ck outta the verdict and risk spending $4 million, lose the case and STILL pay out the $3.3 million award. OR you can walk across the hall and make a deal with the guy you f*cked over. pay him $2 million cash up front, he signs off on further claims and says you did nothing wrong and then everyone signs a non-disclosure agreement and the whole thing goes away.

Personally, I figure the appeal is because $3.3M is a bit excessive. I'd bet it's reduced to more like $300k and the guy's told to get the rest from the police who did the kicking.

Banks don't have room to put a picture of every potential robber by every cashier station.

farkinfilipino: Jument: blorpenster: Why weren't the cops sued for kicking him in the head?

This. I have no great love for BoA but it wasn't BoA who kicked him in the head. Some nervous teller freaked out and pressed the button. It was the cops who got rough, not BoA.

wouldn't have happened at all had BoA not freaked out and handled the situation with even a tiny bit of reason. proximate cause and all that.

There has to be a line. Taken to an extreme: suppose the cop had an assault rifle and shot the guy by mistake. And the bullet went through someone else and killed them two. Is that all BoA's fault?

The boot to the head was not reasonable given the bare facts, therefore I don't think it's reasonable to make BoA pay damages for the boot to the head.

I knew I shouldn't have started direct deposit and online banking...

If you take the money out, you go to jail.
If the bank takes the money out, you don't get it back for a few weeks, bank collects interest.

Let me guess, he was kicked in the head while handcuffed.

WAR ON THE POLICE IN MIAMI-DADE!!!

You know many many times jury initial awards are never paid. They obviously appeal or settle with a much lower amount.

BOA: "Sir we would be happy to deposit and invest that million dollar settlement check, and... its gone"

Russ1642: I'm thinking the bank is liable because the alarm is for telling the cops "we are being robbed". The teller pushed it when she wasn't being robbed. Now the correct thing to do would be to get on the phone and call the cops if you're simply suspicious. That way when they show up they aren't under the impression that there's an armed bank robbery in progress. This is like shouting and screaming Fire in a theater just because you imagined you smelled smoke from a cigarette.

/fixed

dletter: Let me just say right now... I'll let a cop kick me in a head for $3.3 million.

Then you're an idiot already and probably wouldn't lose anything from it.

Vlad_the_Inaner: So if I understand this, his ordeal was about as bad as scalding your lap with hot McDonald's coffee at the drive-thru window

You do realize the "hot" coffee was so hot it disfigured her vagina right?

This story does not surprise me, as 'BoA' is perfectly synonymous with 'douchy assholes'.

It could have happened at Chase and I wouldn't be any less unsurprised.

Bank of America plans to appeal the verdict, believing their employees acted reasonably.

Valladares "displayed no weapon, made no threat and demanded no money," according to the lawsuit.

"To add insult to injury, they cashed his check after finally telling police officers it was a false alarm," Adler said.

All you really need to know about BoA.

Nattering Nabob: thelordofcheese: A Hispanic? In Florida? And male? Wearing national Florida professional sporting team apparel? What are the odds?

FTFM

I'm pretty sure we get broadcasts of Heat games up here in the north, too.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of assholes.

Bschott007: Good on you sir.

/Damn it, I would take a kick in the head and 'public humiliation' for $3.3 million!

Lightfoot would advise against it.

Cupajo: I guess we have to add Banking While Hispanic.

The woman who rang the alarm on him and chatted him up is named Garcia. Maybe all Miami Heat fans look alike to her.

I wonder if he'll change banks?

Normally I would say a ruling like this stupid, but since it's against BofA my complaint is that they weren't ordered to pay more!

/Fark BofA
//Worst bank on the planet

Weaver95: Bank of America plans to appeal the verdict, believing their employees acted reasonably.

so here's what you do - you can spend the next 10 years in court appealing the f*ck outta the verdict and risk spending $4 million, lose the case and STILL pay out the $3.3 million award. OR you can walk across the hall and make a deal with the guy you f*cked over. pay him $2 million cash up front, he signs off on further claims and says you did nothing wrong and then everyone signs a non-disclosure agreement and the whole thing goes away.

Keep in mind that while the appeal is in play, the internet will be BURNING with hate stories about your bank. Think it over guys, and be smart for a change.

Appealing this works a lot of times to reduce the jury award. Juries love to make big companies pay through the nose for everything (punitive damages are typically extremely high against larger companies). Appeals bring the amounts way down; ask the McDonald's lady.

/actually, didn't Liebeck and McD's settle during appeals of the appeal?
//maybe one needs to be appealing to be able to settle after a judgement has been issued? I don't know
///The Internet already is burning with hate stories about BoA. I'm sure there will be plenty already in this thread.

I feel bad for the guy for getting kicked in the head but I have to disagree with the verdict.
Given that the teller (mistakenly) thought she was dealing with a bank robber what was she supposed to do?
All she did was call the police. Noone from BoA told them to kick the guy in the head.

I was hoping to hear more personal stories of BoA Asshattery by now.

This thread is disappoint.

Thanks, Obama-bailouts!

aprentic: Noone from BoA told them to kick the guy in the head.

Was Noone the bank manager or just another teller?

I agree though, the cop that did the kicking is the one to blame. Doesn't sound like the guy was resisting or doing anything the needed that type of force. Hell, even if this guy WAS the suspected bank robber, still should not have been booted in the head for no apparent cause.