Category Archives: Civil Rights

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Yelp Issues Consumer Alert On Business Pages That Threaten Legal Action Against Reviewers

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Yelp is trying to ease consumers’ worries about posting a negative review of a business online.

CBS2’s Alice Gainer reported Yelp issued a new type of consumer alert of the pages of businesses that have threatened customers with legal action.

The alert reads in part: “This business may be trying to abuse the legal system in an effort to stifle free speech. Reviewers who share their experiences have a First Amendment right to express their opinions on Yelp.”

Last summer, Dr. Nima Dayani, an endodontist, filed a defamation lawsuit against a reviewer after the patient called the doctor “curt” and “dismissive,” said there was a long wait time and gave a three-star review. However, the reviewer also stated the doctor was genuinely interested in finding a cause of the pain.

It wasn’t the first time Dayani sued a reviewer.

In a statement, Dayani said he readily accepts criticism, but when he sees a review that contains an assertion that he says is not true, he first asks the reviewer to take it down, and if they don’t, then he takes legal action.

Dayani’s listing on Yelp is the third to get this kind of consumer alert.

A Texas pet sitting service and a Florida moving company also have them. Michelle Douchouquette and her husband were sued when Prestigious Pets in Dallas said the couple violated a non-disparagement clause.

“When I say it out loud, saying I’m getting sued up to $1 million over this review, I can’t believe it,” she said. “I don’t think it was hateful. It didn’t have bad intent. It’s my opinion of a business.”

Civil rights attorney Normal Siegel said what Yelp is doing is a good thing.

“We need to encourage people to speak their mind,” Siegel said.

However, Siegel added that reviewers must be stating the “absolute truth.”

“When you’re speaking your mind make sure what you’re saying is the absolute truth,” he said. “It it’s not truthful, they do run a risk that a business can claim their reputation has been injured and they could bring a defamation lawsuit, although it’s hard to win a defamation lawsuit.”

Siegel also said that Yelp should change its wording of the alerts and take out First Amendment.

“Because the First Amendment is only applicable to government action, so when you’re dealing with a private business the First Amendment doesn’t kick in,” he said. “What kicks in is our concept of the right to express yourself.”

Two bills have been introduced in Congress: the “Right to Yelp Bill,” also known as the Consumer Review Fairness Act, and the Speak Free Act. It would prevent businesses from suing over negative reviews.

Full Read – http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/07/26/yelp-consumer-alert/

Complaint says MBTA violated civil rights by ending late-night service

By Nicole Dungca GLOBE STAFF 

The T’s fiscal control board in February ended weekend late-night service, saying it wasn’t cost-effective and drew few riders.

A coalition of three advocacy organizations alleges that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority violated civil rights guidelines when it axed late-night bus and subway service, incorrectly analyzed how the cancellation would affect minority and low-income riders, and failed to implement alternative services to mitigate the impact, according to a federal complaint filed Tuesday.

Rafael Mares, a vice president at the Conservation Law Foundation, said he filed the complaint because the MBTA needs to make up for the loss of late-night service as soon as possible.

“Some of the T’s most vulnerable customers were affected by the termination of late-night service,” he said. The MBTA “chose not to do anything about it. The service that’s so important for late-night shift workers has been terminated since March, and nothing else has been put in place.”

The complaint doesn’t ask the MBTA to restore late-night service, but the coalition wants it to fully vet alternative routes that could help the minority and low-income riders affected by the cancellation. Until a permanent decision is made, the complaint asks the MBTA to temporarily put other services into place to help those riders.

Spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the T does not comment on pending litigation, but wrote that the Federal Transit Administration “has informed the MBTA that the equity analysis on Late Night Service is properly documented and has met their requirements.”

The FTA in May responded to a complaint about the cancellation, saying that the MBTA “demonstrated the need to eliminate late-night service, and explained why alternative proposals were not feasible.”

Federal officials wrote that the MBTA would not have to take further steps to mitigate the cancellation, and that the service was eliminated in a way that complied with federal rules.

The MBTA initially offered late-night service on a trial basis, and then extended it for nearly two years. Under federal guidelines, a transit system must complete a civil rights analysis before cutting service if the service has been in place for more than a year.

In February, the T’s fiscal control board voted to end late-night service, saying it was not “cost-effective.” The T spent about $14 million annually to extend service for subway lines, popular bus routes, and the paratransit service from 12:30 a.m. to about 2 a.m. every Friday and Saturday night.

Initially, The Federal Transit Administration rebuked the MBTA for voting to get rid of the late service without completing a required analysis that would have shows whether minority and low-income riders would be hurt disproportionately. That research is supposed to determine whether the T must take extra steps to make up for the effects on those riders.

The T completed the analysis later, but said that it found “mixed results” as to whether the cuts would be discriminatory.

Tuesday’s complaint, however, says the T’s civil rights analysis was flawed because of the way it used population data to measure who would be affected. Instead of limiting data to smaller geographic areas with larger concentrations of minority and low-income riders, the study included all of Boston’s population, for example, which includes many higher-income and less-diverse areas.

The advocacy organizations allege that if the T had used the proper federal guidelines, it would have found that canceling the service placed a disparate burden on minority riders and a disproportionate burden on low-income riders.

MBTA officials have said they plan to revisit alternatives for late-night service, including an all-night bus service. But Tuesday’s complaint says the T should consider such changes to be mandatory, not voluntary.

The Conservation Law Foundation is joined in the complaint by Alternatives for Community & Environment, a Boston-based environmental advocacy organization that opposed T fare hikes, and the Greater Four Corners Action Coalition, also of Boston.

Supporters of late-night service said they do not expect the same hours and levels of service to be restored. But Stephen Clark, director of government affairs at the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said late-night workers who have fewer transit options deserve some help.

Nicole Dungca can be reached at nicole.dungca@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ndungca.

Lawsuit: White Prof Axed After Insisting Black Student Do Her Homework Properly

Former City University of New York adjunct professor John Trujillo claims in a new lawsuit the school abruptly fired him after running afoul of a black student he insisted do her homework precisely as instructed.

Trujillo, who taught political science at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, part of the CUNY system, told the New York Post that despite multiple prior positive evaluations they just “threw me away like a piece of trash,” he tells the New York Post.

In his federal race discrimination claim ,Trujillo says that he was treated “differently from and less favorably than” non-white employees. In 2014, Trujillo upbraided a black student in class who turned in an assignment on a 3 X 5 index card instead of the required 4 X 6.  The budding young scholar responded by calling him a “dick.”

After another confrontation Trujillo had her booted from the classroom by security. He says another black student then left in solidarity and vowed, “I’m going to write a letter, I’m going to take you down.”

And she did, complaining the professor was a racist who said all blacks are on welfare. Trujillo was suddenly given an “unsatisfactory” evaluation.

In the course of what sounds like a sham investigation, administrators refused to interview a black student who offered to defend him against the bias charges and explain that his detractors were outright lying.

He was fired from the $25,000 part-time job in February 2015.  Trujillo’s lawyer, Marshall Bellovin, told the Post he “didn’t get a fair and impartial investigation and accounting of the facts.  It was open and shut apparently from the start.”

But his legal battle is still uphill, according to one veteran civil rights lawyer with no liberal ideological axe to grind.  Even though Trujillo was obviously railroaded he needs to offer specific evidence that similarly situated non-whites were treated differently and more leniently. In addition, he needs to prove that CUNY fired him solely for being white, as opposed to just the typical unwillingness of college administrators to offend loud and whiny students, especially when they make wild accusations of bigotry.

In fact, one administrator who investigated Trujillo said she found the charges of anti-black bias bogus.

But whatever the legal outcome Trujillo’s saga is good reminder that in Barack Obama’s America some allegations of racism are so serious innocence is no defense.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/11/lawsuit-white-prof-axed-after-insisting-black-student-do-her-homework-properly/#ixzz4EBPtK2SC

Duluth diocese sues insurers to cover abuse lawsuits

The Diocese of Duluth, which entered bankruptcy proceedings after a $4.9 million verdict in a child sexual abuse case, wants to ensure that its insurance companies help pay the bill.

The Duluth News-Tribune reports that the diocese is suing five insurance companiesLiberty Mutual Group, Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., Church Mutual Insurance Co. and Continental Insurance Co. — to compel them to participate in a mediation process between the church and 125 people who have filed abuse claims.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy last December. It’s facing many claims apart from the already-announced $4.9 million verdict and has an annual budget of just $3.3 million.

The lawsuit against insurers is similar to one filed by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which is also in bankruptcy and sued its insurance companies in 2014, accusing them of improperly rejecting its claims to cover the cost of the church’s settlement with victims of clergy sex abuse.

Read Full Article – http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2016/07/05/duluth-diocese-sues-insurers-to-cover-abuse.html

Court rejects state’s appeal in KKK highway cleanup case

Dismissing an appeal on a technicality, Georgia’s highest court granted a victory to a Ku Klux Klan group that has been seeking for years to participate in a state-run highway cleanup program

Dismissing an appeal on a technicality, Georgia’s highest court granted a victory to a Ku Klux Klan group that has been seeking for years to participate in a state-run highway cleanup program.

The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the state’s appeal of a lower court decision that the state had violated the KKK group’s free speech rights. The Department of Transportation filed its appeal incorrectly, leaving the high court without authority to consider its merits, the opinion said.

The state attorney general’s office, which represents the department, is reviewing the decision and considering its options, spokesman Nicholas Genesi said in an email.

The north Georgia KKK group applied to join the state’s Adopt-A-Highway program in May 2012, hoping to pick up litter along part of Route 515 in the Appalachian Mountains. The program was started in 1989 to get volunteers to clean up sections of roads in the state. In exchange, the Department of Transportation posts a sponsorship sign along the road with the program logo and the volunteer group’s name.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article87664407.html#storylink=cpy