Misrepresentation

Scholars, journalists and other investigators may be held liable for invasion of privacy if they misrepresent themselves to obtain sensitive information, the California Supreme Court decided 5 to 2 on Monday. A lawyer for the media said the ruling was troubling for both journalists and academics.

An Orange County businessman and political ally of Sheriff Michael S. Carona allegedly misrepresented himself as a deputy sheriff to an airline employee during a dispute that began after he returned from a hunting trip and found his baggage -- including his guns and game meat -- were missing.

Los Angeles City Council members, fresh from a campaign in which they were accused of dirty tricks and now fighting off a hotel-backed initiative to overturn an extension of the city's "living wage" law, accused petition circulators Friday of trying to deceive voters into overturning it. Later, the head of that effort acknowledged that two signature gatherers were indeed found to have been misrepresenting the city law and said both had been fired.

A drug industry-supported campaign, which has been criticized for giving money to people who endorsed its ballot measure, is now under fire for misrepresenting the positions of black politicians. A mailer paid for by the campaign and headlined "The Black Woman's Guide to California Politics" urges voters to support Proposition 78. The measure would allow drug companies to voluntarily cap prices and avert mandatory caps.

Launching a sting operation against the growing crime of immigration fraud, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo announced Tuesday that he has filed criminal cases against 18 immigration consultants for crimes including misrepresenting themselves as attorneys. During its initial five-month investigation the immigration fraud strike force targeted consultants in Pico-Union who specialize in assisting people from Spanish-speaking countries, including Mexico and El Salvador.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System and a number of pension funds in New York said they had filed suits against Cendant Corp., alleging the business and consumer services company misled investors about its financial results. In a statement, CalPERS, New York State Common Retirement Fund and several New York City pension funds said the suits were filed in U.S. district courts in New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The funds estimate they have lost $89 million as a result.

Nike Inc. moved to dismiss a California lawsuit charging that company executives lied about the conditions of Asian workers who make its popular athletic shoes. The Beaverton, Ore.-based footwear and apparel company said it filed a motion in San Francisco County Superior Court, requesting that the case be put on hold until its argument for dismissal can be heard.

Reality matters, even in politics. There will probably be more pointed lessons on this theme as the 1998 elections near. But for now, there are two distinctly different reminders that in politics, what you see is not necessarily what is. Along the Central Coast, voters in the 22nd Congressional District have seen weeks of radio and television ads--with weeks more to come--sponsored by advocates of term limits.

Larry Wayne Harris, arrested last week in an anthrax scare, was ordered to remain in custody Tuesday and be returned to Columbus, Ohio, to face charges that he violated the terms of his probation in an earlier exotic bacteria case. U.S. Magistrate Robert J. Johnston agreed with Harris' defense attorney that the Ohio microbiologist is not a threat to the community.

A group of high-profile plaintiffs' lawyers, who won a major suit against tobacco company R.J. Reynolds last year, has now turned its resources against Nike Inc.--accusing the company of misleading and deceiving California consumers about wages and working conditions in its overseas factories. "Nike has failed to tell Californians the truth about [its] business practices, and that is illegal," said San Francisco attorney Alan M. Caplan.