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"Last week&amp;apos;s biggest headlines concerned Paula Deen&amp;apos;s stunning fall from grace and the equally stunning overturning of same-sex marriage bans DOMA and Proposition 8. And now, both very different stories are intertwining, thanks to a new, surprising argument made by Deen&amp;apos;s attorney in the ongoing discrimination lawsuit filed by the celeb chef&amp;apos;s former restaurant manager, Lisa Jackson.\r\n\r\nAmong a slew of other shocking accusations regarding Deen and brother Bubba Hier&amp;apos;s conduct, Jackson revealed that Deen, 66, used the &amp;quot;N-word&amp;quot; -- which Deen famously admitted to on the stand during a May deposition. As reported by CNN, the former Food Network star&amp;apos;s lawyer argues that, because Jackson is white and not African-American, she could not have suffered &amp;quot;a personal and tangible harm&amp;quot; from Deen&amp;apos;s use of the hurtful slur -- and thus has no legal standing in the case. The attorney, William Franklin, argued in Savannah on Monday July 1 that the U.S. Supreme Court&amp;#xA0; rejected an appeal of California&amp;apos;s Proposition 8 law -- because those filing the appeal similarly did not have &amp;quot;standing&amp;quot; in the fight, and would not be peronsaly harmed by the legalization of same-sex unions.\r\n\r\nJackson rejected this argument -- and addressed the huge backlash against Deen -- in a statement to CNN Monday. &amp;quot;This lawsuit has never been about the N-word,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;It is to address Ms. Deen&amp;apos;s patterns of disrespect and degradation of people that she deems to be inferior,&amp;quot; said the former Lady and Son&amp;apos;s employee.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;I may be a white woman, but I could no longer tolerate her abuse of power as a business owner, nor her condonation of Mr. Hier&amp;apos;s despicable behavior on a day-to-day basis. I am what I am, and I am a human being that cares about all races, and that is why I feel it is important to be the voice for those who are too afraid to use theirs.&amp;quot;\r\nWhile Deen has submitted numerous apologies for the &amp;quot;N-word&amp;quot; admission -- including a tearful appearance on the Today Show last Wednesday -- she has been dropped by Food Network and lost major endorsements with Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Ballantine Books, Sears, Kmart, Targe, Home Depot, and Diabetes drug maker Novo Nordisk."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/paula-deens-lawyer-cites-same-sex-marriage-ruling-to-throw-out-lawsuit-201327>