Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 12-6-19

State
FAMU Professor Demands 50% Interest Rate On Personal Loan
DR. MICHELLE FERRIER
A Florida A & M University professor loaned an employee $3,000 because the employee had not received her pay check from the school. Then, the professor reportedly sent the employee a repayment schedule for the loan.
In the letter Dr. Michelle Ferrier allegedly sent to an employee, she stated, “I am documenting the funding that I personally paid to you in July and August for salary in advance of your wedding. I paid $3,000 to you in Sun- Trust cashier’s checks during that time. As we have dis- cussed, I expected repayment since then from your earnings. To date, I have not received the returned funds.”
The letter was dated Octo- ber 14, 2019. She is then al- leged to have outlined the payment and interest rates if the loan is not repaid by De- cember 31, 2019.
The letter continues, “There is a hefty penalty for not submitting the payment in total by the time we discussed by year’s end. On January 1, 2020, a 50 percent interest
will be charged for any re- maining balance, with an ad- ditional 25 percent accruing monthly for the remaining balance(s), on February 1, and March 1 and continuing until such time that the balance is repaid.”
Dr. Ferrier then asked the employee to sign the letter agreeing to the terms and re- turn it to her.
A source who did not want to be identified stated that the letter was sent to the em- ployee over the Florida A & M University email system. The source further said that the employee was not paid be- cause the proper paperwork was not submitted in a timely manner, which resulted in the woman not receiving her pay check from the school.
The source further stated that she read the letter and that the employee is terrified.
Dr. Michelle Ferrier
was named Dean of the School of Journalism & Graphic Communication at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University in March 2018.
She is the founder of Troll- Busters.com, a just-in-time service that helps journalists fight online abuse and has ad- vocated on behalf of journal- ists worldwide.
She is a digital content ar- chitect with more than 30 years of experience in new media technologies, digital identity and media entrepre- neurship.
Calls from the Sentinel to Ms. Kathy Times,Executive Associate Director, Office of Communications, at FAMU, were not returned.
George Zimmerman Sues Trayvon Martin's Family For $100M
George Zimmerman
has launched a $100M lawsuit against the family of Trayvon Martin, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, a pub- lishing firm and a law enforce- ment agency for defamation.
Zimmerman, who shot and killed the unarmed 17- year-old in 2012, filed the law- suit on Wednesday (Dec. 3), The Washington Post reports. The former security guard was acquitted of homicide charges for what transpired on Feb. 26, 2012, when he deemed the teenager who was wearing a hoodie as suspicious. Zim-
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN
merman claimed he shot the
teen in self-defense as prose- cutors claimed the fatal shoot- ing was unjustified. The trial and Trayvon went on to be- come one of the key pillars in the Black Lives Matter move- ment which brought to light various and racist police prac- tices used around the country.
Zimmerman now claims Trayvon's mother Sybrina Fulton worked alongside po- lice and prosecutors to create a negative narrative around him. He also claims fake evi- dence was used in the case leading to “malicious prosecu- tion.” Zimmerman cited Joel Gilbert's film and the documentary The Trayvon Martin Hoax, where Gilbert claimed Trayvon's girlfriend was an imposter. Following the lawsuit announcement, Gilbert will hold a screening of the film on Thursday.
Also named in the suit is Ben Crump and publishers Harper Collins who released his book, Open Season: Legal- ized Genocide of Colored Peo- ple. Members of the Florida Department of Law Enforce- ment were also named in the suit.
PAGE 10-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019