A Hurricane Katrina evacuee has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), blaming it for his parole violations, which resulted in an additional four years in prison.
If you think this guy is playing victim, the story in the Louisiana Record says you’re wrong! h/t SLABBED Reader
According to the lawsuit, Lorio was convicted for distribution of cocaine in 1994 and was originally sentenced to serve 30 years in prison. After various appeals, his sentenced was reduced to 15 years. He was released from prison on March 7, 2001 due to good behavior and was subject to supervised parole until September 2008.
Lorio states that Hurricane Katrina caused New Orleans’ criminal justice system to fall apart. He claims there was no way to reach parole supervisors after the storm. According to his suit, the city became dependent on FEMA for information on the location of city parolees
After the hurricane made landfall, Lorio was evacuated to a hospital in Houston then moved to a shelter followed by a church and finally to an apartment. He states he did not know who to contact regarding his parole obligations because his parole officer had quit his job and the officer’s office had not reopened.
In early 2006, the Probation and Parole office contacted FEMA regarding Lorio’s whereabouts. Lorio states FEMA gave the office an incorrect address, although FEMA was sending direct rental assistance payments to Lorio’s landlord every month.
A parole violation warrant was issued in March 2006 and Lorio was arrested in September 2006. His parole was revoked and he was imprisoned to serve the remainder of his original 15 year sentence. He remained in prison until March 30, 2010 when he was released for good behavior. He will remain on supervised parole through 2013.
Lorio argues that FEMA’s failure to provide his correct address was the only reason for the revocation of his parole.
He is seeking damages for compensation for his time spent in prison and on extended parole.
Lorio is represented by New Orleans attorneys Andrew L. Kramer and Binford E. Parker III.
U.S. District Judge A. J. McNamara is assigned to the case.
So, just because the “f word” has been out of the news, doesn’t mean it ever stopped f’n people displaced by the storm. “Clarence Lorio filed suit Jan. 24 in federal court in New Orleans”.
With McNamara as the judge, this guy should just pack it in now. And after McNamara throws it out, he can appeal it to the 5th Circuit. Wow, this guy’s luck just does not get any better.
The fact we all know what the Katrina F’word is before you said FEMA is in part due to blogs like Slabbed. FEMA is a classic case of social media brand destruction. The rest of the insurance industry faced similar fates with State Farm and Allstate being the top two who are going down fast. If you don’t think the industry is aware of the impact their poor claims handling has upon their online reputation than consider this article by one of the few insurance companies who hold a stellar reputation on the internet. Allstate and State Farm could learn a lot from this company.
More than anything the internet will be the death of poor claims handling. When people buy products like insurance they tend to look online for information concerning the quality of the company providing such services. The short sighted move from by Allstate to move from Good Hands to Boxing Glove killed the online reputation of Allstate. Unlike the traditional media which has no easily access to historical news information, online information can be accessed forever. Your stuck with your bad reputation a long time. Also search engines like Google tend to place negative events toward the top of the search engine results for reasons I have not figured out yet.
So Slabbers need to know they are part of something which is correcting social problems and not just idle bitching like one elected offical in Mississippi hoped. Your words impact the way government and business provide their services to society. I know a certain leader in Egypt believes this even if Mike Chaney doesn’t. In the end we will win this battle with poor insurance service to their customers and poor political service as well.
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Managing Social Media Risk: Global Crowdsourcing Event Seeks Solutions03.23.2010
I heard McNamara had terminal cancer.