Diane Good led the Pledge.  Marsha Hunt provided our Invocation.
Our visiting Rotarian was Judy from Santa Monica and our Guest was lovely Lynne Rogo.

No Merchant Minute today - we already miss it!

Announcements:

·         The board has voted to approve Phil Gabriel, owner of Scrubs Unlimited on Weyburn Ave, for membership. This approval is open for comment from members for 10 days prior to becoming final. Please contact Pres Dwight Heikkila or Membership Chair Colby Smith with questions or comments. 

·         Update re: Hurricane Sandy.  Your Board approved a $10,000 donation thru Rotary International and will be matching donations up to an additional $10,000 so please write your check to WVRC Foundation or RI and send to Don Nelson at: WVRC, P.O. Box 24114, Los Angeles, CA 90024.     

·         The Director of Development  for Shelter Box USA, Isaac Egge  spoke to our friendly Westwood Village Rotary club.  He shared this program which was created by Rotarians in the UK.  The Asian Tsunami was the eye-opener that food may be available to victims but not shelter.  He cited other examples In Nigeria with flooding or Northern Iraq and the refugees, and New Jersey with Hurricane Sandy.  Their work depends on donations so they are very grateful for our support.  Shelter Box responds once every three weeks--95% of disasters we will never hear about.  Other support they provide includes: Blankets, hygiene kits, etc  

·         PP Steve Day provided more information about the Japanese Youth Exchange program.  If you are seeing family at the holidays or having conversations with your neighbors, it is a wonderful opportunity to offer.  For more info please contact Steve Day at 310-614-6433 or sday@jhcohn.com or Vicki Radel, PDG, at 310-713-2260 or Makiko Nakasone, at 818-790-4333. Any high school student between the ages of 15 and 18 ½ is eligible! For more information on the full year program and/or summer program and a new Late March friendship exchange you can also contact Steve Day.   

·         District Breakfast and Club assembly were announced again.  Please let Dwight or Don know if interested in going to the breakfast on January 8 (LMU President David Bircher is speaking)  or want more information to consider.  

Two tickets to the UCLA Basketball game at Pauley Pavilion THAT NIGHT were auctioned.  Our newest member, Phil from Scrubs Unlimited, suggested maybe we can have these announcements blasted on email prior to our meetings to check with spouse, children, etc .  Even an hour before may help to get more bids.   Great suggestion, Phil!!!

Birthdays this month:  
Don Nelson, Dwight Heikkila, Mike Yousem  

Lynn Rogo provided the intro to our speaker, a long-time and close friend: "Jim Turken may be known most recently for the case he tried against the Hotel Shangri La in Santa Monica re: an anti-discrimination case where the whole world cheered when He won!" 

James Turken is the co-leader of Dickstein Shapiro's Business Litigation Practice and serves as managing partner of the firm's California offices.  Mr. Turken, a well-known trial attorney, has tried more than 60 jury trials, as well as multiple bench trials and arbitrations.  His recent landmark case, in which he represented Plaintiffs seeking damages for alleged discriminatory actions taken by the owner of the Shangri-La Hotel in Santa Monica, resulted in a $1,600,000 verdict against the hotel.  It was the lead article on the front cover of the Jewish Journal and has been reported from various news outlets around the country.

Our esteemed speaker grew up with Lynn here in Los Angeles where he says he never experienced discrimination or antisemitism.   He provided the background  and who were involved in the case.  The Friends of the Israel Defense Fund  would bring  100-150 kids from Israel to camps in the US for a little normalcy each year.  In June, 2010 the hotel was supposed to have a designated area at pool for these supporters with check-in, identifying bracelets, T-shirts etc. This case had 18 individuals and more involved, stating that it happened on the day of a World Cup finals.  The owner of the hotel was viewing the game from a private cabana.  When she heard of the group's charitable activities, she claimed they were trespassing, kicked the group out, and dismantled the event.

A four-day jury selection ensued and Mr. Turken shared the amount of discriminatory attitudes his team had to ferret out in addition to a few gotcha moments in the trial.  The jury came in with a verdict, with five days of deliberation for the 19 plaintiffs.

A 12-0 unanimous vote of discrimination was found for every claim in this largest verdict in CA-- $4K per claim plus a second phase worth about $1.7M.

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  See you at our next meeting on Thursday, Nov. 29.