Legal Radar

Google Facing Age Discrimination Suit by Job Candidate

A 64-year old tech worker from Florida recently filed an age discrimination suit against the Google early this week. He claims the search engine giant passed on him during an interview due to his age.

Robert Heath indicated in his complaint that Google shot down his job application for a software engineering position back in 2011, despite his wealth of experience in General Dynamics, Compaq, and IBM.

The suit implicates Google based on its decision to not hire Heath on a phone interview, despite informing him in an e-mail that the company is carrying out the largest “hiring campaign in its history,” and telling Heath that he “would be a great candidate to work at Google.”

Kotchen & Law, currently representing Health, is after a class action suit on behalf of 40+ year old applicants who weren’t employed by the internet search engine giant.

The suit also cites a similar case (Reid v. Google), in which an ex-Google executive settled with Google for undisclosed damages.

Flag Shirt-Wearing Students Asking SC to Hear Their Case

Later this week, the justices are set to privately discuss a ruling against white high school students who sued their school for demanding them to remove their flag-print shirts on the day their classmates were celebrating Mexican heritage.

Attorneys of the students are asking for the Supreme Court to overturn the previous ruling, which resulted to the school not infringing on any constitutional rights.

The lawsuit was carried out by three students from Live Oak High School in California. In 2010 of the Cinco de Mayo, they wore shirts with a huge American flag print, angering Mexican students who saw them as a racial slur.

Aware of a possible trouble brewing, the school’s assistant principal demanded the students to have their shirts worn inside-out or replaced with other shirts. Several wearers refused while the other two went home. Those same two students received numerous threats and had to miss school for another day out of fear.

Federal Charges Dropped Against George Zimmerman

Attorney General Eric Holder said early this week that the Justice Department won’t file federal charges against George Zimmerman, an ex-neighborhood watch volunteer, regarding the 2012 death of Treyvon Martin in Florida.

The acquittal of Zimmerman on Martin’s death, an unarmed black teen, triggered calls by numerous groups including ACLU, NAACP, and countless other to encourage legal action. It was expected that a federal investigation would end up facing plenty of obstacles.

To start the legal battle, federal prosecutors would need to prove that Zimmerman had the racial hatred and motivation when Martin was shot, according to legal experts.

Zimmerman, a Hispanic, shot Martin to death within a gated community in Florida. Prosecutors claimed Zimmerman was profiling Martin as a criminal and creating a physical struggle that led to the teen’s death. Defense attorneys objected by saying Martin was the primary aggressor, punching Zimmerman, scuffing him to the ground, and smashing his head on a walkway.

Judges Getting Spotlight on First Amendment Rights

A few days back, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments as to whether or not states can prevent judicial candidates from soliciting donations without violating their rights of free speech.

All over the coast of California, the state’s Supreme Court decided that judges there are prohibited to be part of non-profit associations that discriminate sex, sexual, orientation, race, and among other things, effectively excluding the Boy Scouts of America membership.

The group wasn’t included specifically by name but state rule, which will take effect in 2016, was proposed in the previous year in response to the Boy Scout’s policy of barring homosexuals from leadership or staff roles, which led to a fierce debate among California attorneys and judges.

The case of the U.S. Supreme Court describes political free speech rights of judges while state ethics rule of free association limits. Both raise the question as to how the protection of the First Amendment should be given to judges who are tasked to be impartial and fair.

Experts: Taxi Service App for Women Could Be in Legal Conflict

A NY city taxi service app, SheTaxis, will offer women to request a female taxi driver. The app targets women who are uneasy of being driven by a male driver or for other reasons that would make female drivers desirable to operate behind a wheel.

Is SheTaxis actually legal? According to legal experts, no, who indicated that such service would likely run into local and federal sex discrimination laws.

The app service will begin in September 16 in NY and will provide female riders with female taxi drivers. It’ll entail app ride requests via the app, which will then dispatch drivers wearing pink scarves.

The NY human rights laws also bars public services from refusing to serve any consumer based on sex.

The app will deploy female drivers hired by licensed cab companies that have partnered with SheTaxis.

A spokesperson from the NY City Taxi and Limousine Commission, indicated that SheTaxis will be subjected to the very same regulations and rules like other public transport services in the city.

Airlines Make Settlement on Obese Suit

A husband from an obese NY woman who died while taking a vacation in Europe after not being able to fly back the U.S. for medical treatment, agreed to a $10 million settlement from several airlines who didn’t want his wife to board.

Janos Soltesz, 57 years old, settled a wrongful death suit against Lufthansa, Delta, and KLM Royal Dutch airlines.

The complaint alleged the airlines to have sent his obese wife, Vilma, in a goose chase that ultimately led to her death.

Vilma took a flight to Budapest on Sept 18, 2012. Her trouble began after she started getting sick and asked for medical treatment in the country.

The couple tried to board home via a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight but Vilma was refused to her seat. They tried a Delta flight but the airline had no wheelchair support. A flight for the Lufthansa Airline was booked but the captain demanded the couple off the plane to make room for other passengers.

Vilma died several days later.

Former Maryland Teacher wins $350,000 in Discrimination Suit

A jury awarded a former Maryland teacher $350,000 after he accused the black principal of discriminatory actions against him. Jon Everhart claims that the principal forced him out of his teaching position simply because he is whit. Everhart sued the school board in Prince George's County after alleging that he had endured years of racial discrimination at the hands of the principal, Angelique Simpson-Marcus. Everhart stated that she called him names like "poor white trash." He stated that her behavior toward him was simply outlandish. Everhart was fired in 2010 and stated that the principal told the school's student body that the "only reason a white teacher teaches in P.G. County is that they can't get a job elsewhere." The principal argued that the allegations were unfounded. Everhart was one of several employees at Largo High School who had filed lawsuits which alleged harassment. Some teachers stated that they were vocally mistreated for supporting Everhart. The award is for compensatory damages and the school still has 30 days in which to respond to the judge's order. They can still file an appeal in the case.

Minnesota Vikings Gearing Up for Litigation

The Minnesota Vikings are getting ready for a legal battle with their ex-teammate punter.

An attorney was hired by the team, who did a probe on the Miami Dolphins bullying issue as well as taking part in an integral role in marriage equality via settlement negotiations with Chris Kluwe.

The Vikings made the announcement recently this week by retaining Roberta Kalplan and Ted Wells. Kluwe will be suing the team after it disclosed a multi-page report summary that saw the team cutting him for football reasons. Kluwe demanded the report be made available for the public to view.

Ted Wells spearheaded the probe in the Miami Dolphins case that revealed Richie Incognito and a few other teammates to have taken part in continued harassment to team lineman Jonathan Martin.

Roberta Kaplan, on the other hand, successfully made an argument to the Supreme Court previously, in which part of the Defense of Marriage Act was deemed unconstitutional.

NY Police Unions Denied Pursuit of Stop-and-frisk Challenge

A U.S. judge ruled earlier today that the police unions of New York city cannot challenge a settlement pertaining to the very controversial stop-and-frisk police tactic. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres denied the request made by the unions for her to intervene the two class action lawsuits. Torres stated that the unions cannot pursue the appeal that Mayor Bill de Blasio had already chosen to dismiss. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin had ruled that the stop-and-frisk occurrences were largely based on illegal racial profiling since it was mostly minorities which were affected. Scheindlin also ordered a federal monitor to oversee many changes in the department. Former Mayor Bloomberg had previously appealed the ruling and held that the practice was necessary for the safety of the public. However, de Blasio who publicly opposed the stop-and-frisk practices stated that he would agree to the reforms ordered by Scheindlin and drop the appeal.

LGBT Federal Employees Protected by Obama's Executive Order

An executive order signed by President Obama will bar companies that work for the federal government from discriminating against employees based on thier gender identity or sexual orientation. Although several religious groups such as Catholic hospitals requested that Obama exclude institutions which are faith-based, but Obama would not agree to an exemption. Obama also amended the already existing executive orders which protected LGBT employees from being discriminated against. In essence, Obama's executive order makes LGBT and gender identity a protected class which protects the groups from discriminatory practices in the workplace. The president opted for an executive order since the Congress failed to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which would ban discrimination against employees who are gay. The Democrat controlled Senate passed the Act, but the republican House did not. LGBT groups were pleased with the order and advocacy groups stated that the president's actions are "historic executive actions to advance LGBT equality."