now-dismissed employment lawsuit brought by former Dateline producer Marsha Bartel. In the filing, Bartel alleges that NBC provides financial incentives to the group to use trickery and to humiliate targets to "enhance the comedic effect of the[ir] public exposure." According to Bartel, some of the men caught in the Predator sting operations have reported that the decoys begged them to come to the sting houses, even after they had decided to walk away. Perverted-Justice responded to the criticism by labeling Bartel a disgruntled former employee motivated by financial gain. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed after the New York Supreme Court ruled that "an employer is free to terminate an employee at any time for any reason or no reason."<ref name="Bartel">"Bartel vs. NBC Lawsuit (page 6, paragraph "o"), states Perverted-Justice decoys "sometimes beg sting targets to come to the sting locations." " , The Smoking Gun Web Site", May 29, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2007.</ref> The father of a man arrested in a July 2006 sting by Perverted-Justice appeared before a Georgia Superior Court judge to seek an arrest warrant for Perverted-Justice founder Xavier Von Erck, stating that Von Erck solicited the commission of a felony from the man. The judge found that probable cause existed to believe Von Erck impersonated a girl and solicited the man with the intent for him to commit a felony, but declined to issue the warrant because when the act occurred, there was no actual girl and thus no crime occurred. The act of soliciting a felony is itself a felony. Attorney Gary Gerrard filed an appeal with the Georgia Court of Appeals, alleging that under Georgia law, solicitation is a felony whether or not a crime occurred. That appeal was ultimately rejected. In June 2007, Perverted-Justice was criticized following a sting operation in Collin County, Texas that resulted in the charges against 23 suspected online sex predators being dropped. Collin County Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis said the cases were dropped after Perverted-Justice failed to provide enough usable evidence. "In many cases, we could not prosecute because Perverted Justice refused to answer our questions, refused to participate as witnesses, or refused to turn over potential evidence.""Perverted Justice should focus on predators, not Collin DA's office" , Jacquielynn Floyd, Dallas Morning News, June 8, 2007. Susan Etheridge, director of the Children's Advocacy Center in Plano, Texas, was not surprised the cases were thrown out. She