The U.S. Department of Justice is cracking down on employers who are discriminating against returning injured soldiers that are having a hard time getting their old jobs back, being demoted, or straight up denied work altogether.

“The DOJ is suing employers nationwide — almost on a weekly basis — for failing to promptly re-employ returning service men and women, in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Even an Indiana law firm was hit with a USERRA lawsuit in March.”

Most recently, a USERRA lawsuit was filed against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation stating that it failed to promptly re-employ an injured U.S. Air Force reservist Dany Felix.

Felix, who injured his back while on duty, didn’t get his old job as medical technical assistant back because of his injuries.  The alternative positions offered to him were paid substantially less and required longer commutes.

“The complaint also alleged that a suitable job was not offered until May 2007 — nine months after his honorable discharge, and only after Felix had told the CDCR that he had found a job with another employer.”

“Service members injured during active duty should not be penalized with the loss of their civilian jobs,” said Loretta King, acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division.

With these stories making headlines, hopefully our injured troops will be able to come back home to some jobs. They deserve it. Especially in this tough economic time.

To view the original article, click here.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

A former associate in Foley & Lardner’s Chicago office named Zafar Hasan is suing the firm for employment discrimination. Hasan, a Muslim of Indian descent stated that in 2004, his partners at the firm were pushed to fire him based on his race, religion, color and national origin right after the September 11 attacks.

Allegedly, the firm said that Hasan was getting the boot because of his poor work performance. However, positive work evaluations were later discovered, making the firm’s accusation false. The firm came back claiming that they didn’t have enough to keep him busy.

When the suit was presented to the U.S. District Court, they granted summary judgment to the law firm, saying that Hasan didn’t have “convincing mosaic” of evidence of the discrimination that could permit a jury to agree that Foley had discriminated against him. However, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision and gave Hasan the OK to proceed.

Popularity: 8% [?]

William Felkner, 45, a former student at the Rhode Island College School of Social Work, is suing the school and several of his professors and administrators for discrimination. Felkner claims that he was persecuted for having conservative beliefs.

Felkner called the school a “liberal political machine” and claims that his professors wouldn’t approve his final project because he was on the “wrong” side of the political issues and countered the schools “liberal progressive agenda”.

“Felkner said his problems with his professors began in his first semester, in the fall of 2004, when he objected in an e-mail to one of his professors that the school was showing and promoting Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11″ on campus. He said he objected because no opposing point of view was presented.”

He said Professor James Ryczek wrote to him on Oct. 15, 2004, saying he was proud of his bias and questioning Felkner’s ability to “fit with the profession.”

“Felkner’s complaint, filed two years ago, alleges that Ryczek discriminated against him for his conservative viewpoint and gave him bad grades because of it in several classes. It also alleges discrimination by other professors and administrators.”

Felkner claims that he received failing grades in this particular professors class because he was challenging his viewpoints and the progressive direction of the class.

“Felkner says he was also discriminated against by Professor Roberta Pearlmutter, who he says refused to allow him to participate in a group project lobbying for a conservative issue because the assignment was to lobby for a liberal issue. He alleges that Perlmutter spent a 50-minute class “assailing” his views and allowed students to openly ridicule his conservative positions, and that she reduced his grade because he was not “progressive.”

The Rhode Island College School of Social Work did not respond to a request for comment.

The social work organizing and policy degree program at the Rhode Island College School of Social Work requires a student to complete a project that works for “progressive social change.” Felkner was scheduled to complete his project in January, but he said the defendants’ actions kept him from finishing and graduating.

“There were two years worth of discrimination really, there’s no better way to put it, because I had different views than the school does,” Felkner said.

Should be interesting once it enters litigation.

Check out the original article here

Popularity: 3% [?]

Defending a law firm (Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.) and a former in-house general counsel, Eric J. Shames, in a sexual harrasment case brought on by Irina Alter, a paralegal who worked at the investment boutique from 2002 to 2003 is Pennsylvania-based Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler. And after the sexual harassment and discrimination charges were filed, two months later, Shames signed a joint representation letter sent to him by Patterson Belknap, stating that if a conflict arose, the firm “would no longer represent” Oppenheimer and another company officer but “could continue to represent Shames.

However, when Oppenheimer and Alter reached a settlement, Shames failed to settle and now the firms still representing him want out. According to Shames, their withdrawal raised “legitimate concerns” that he would not be able to properly defend himself. A Manhattan judge agreed. Ruling that his representation could not withdrawal a few days before trial, Justice Judith J. Gishe said that neither firm has shown that the attorney-client relationship with Shames was “irrevocably broken.”

Therefore, the trial will go on…

Popularity: 3% [?]

For 21 years, Lisa Craib, an autistic woman, was an employee at McDonald’s in downtown Berkeley. That is… until new management took over and fired her. Now, Craib has filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to her statement, the fast-food restaurant at Shattuck and University avenues posted a sign: “Help Wanted - Equal Opportunity Employer.”

Filed under the Americans With Disabilities Act, under the law “if someone’s a qualified individual with a disability, they have to be treated equally alongside other people…and they’re entitled to reasonable accommodations,” stated Craib’s attorney, Claudia Center of the Legal Aid Society’s Employment Law Center in San Francisco.

In response to this accusation, the new owner, Nick Vergis, (who is probably freaking because he had no idea Craib would actually sue), said, “I comply with all applicable laws including the Americans With Disabilities Act and continually strive to maintain an environment in which everyone feels valued and accepted.”

Everyone who knew Craib said she was an excellent employee and was referred to as “Miss McDonald’s.” Her claim, which was filed Tuesday, asked the federal agency to make a finding of discrimination in order to clear way for a damage suit. And…two other disabled workers were fired along with Craib, as well. That doesn’t look good for Vergis but we shall see.

Popularity: 7% [?]

And just when you thought you’ve heard it all, bam, a new lawsuit emerges! In Springfield, Missouri, Debby Rose has filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart, local health officials and Cox Health Systems, alleging discrimination against her and Richard, the woman’s pet monkey.

Accusing the organizations of being monkey-haters, Rose also claims that her 10-year-old bonnet macaque “helps her curb a social anxiety disorder that can cause her to have panic attacks in public,” according to Kansascity.com.

For those of you who don’t know what a bonnet macaque is, here’s some added trivia to this trivial suit. Bonnet macaque is 35-60 cm long plus a tail of 35-68 cm. Their weight ranges from 3.5 to 9 kg, boys are always larger, thus, Richard is a big boy, at least bigger than the gals. With a life expectancy of up to 30 years, Richard will also be around for quite some time. He eats fruits, nuts, seeds, flowers, invertebrates and cereals. Needless to say, almost everything he needs can be found at Wal-Mart and therefore, I’m beginning to understand why monkeys should be allowed to shop there, too.

However, Rose’s suit gets deeper than that, contending that the Springfield-Greene County Health Department lacked the authority to decide that Richard is not a service animal under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Allegedly, in 2006, Health officials also sent letters to restaurants and grocery stores, stating that Rose and her monkey were not allowed in together. However, Rose and Richard are retaliating. After all, monkeys should have rights, too.

Popularity: 4% [?]