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Founder of Stray Rescue Sued for Racial Discrimination

Former employee, Gary Gray has filed a lawsuit against Stray Rescue founder Randy Grim and executive director Cassady Caldwell alleging racial discrimination.

The law suit claims employees of the nonprofit were allowed to use and deal drugs and sexually harass others without punishment.

According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Gray started working for Stray Rescue in January 2012 as a part-time caregiver and became a full-time caregiver in May 2013, and specialized in socializing and domesticating feral dogs and cats.

In the lawsuit, Gray said he complained to Caldwell about the unfairness of promoting three white women with less experience than him. He then met with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Aug. 25, 2015.

EmCare Wrongfully Terminated Employees in Retaliation

EmCare Inc. wrongfully terminated three employees in retaliation for filing complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace, as upheld by the jury’s decision in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

According to SE Texas Record, Trahan and two other former employees, Yvonne Shaw and Gloria Stokes, alleged that Jim McKinney, the CEO of AnesthesiaCare at EmCare, made frequent and persistent sexual remarks and gestures in the workplace.

Despite a positive work evaluation in July 2009, Trahan and the two other employees were fired six weeks after filing their complaints against McKinney. Trahan was told by a supervisor that he was being terminated because “it was not working anymore.” EmCare maintains that Trahan was fired due to the “quality of his work and inaccuracies in his contracts.”

The jury found in favor of the EEOC and awarded $167,000 to Trahan, $82,000 to Shaw, and $250,000 in punitive damages to Stokes, who the EEOC alleged had been subjected to a hostile work environment based on her sex and fired in retaliation for her complaints.

Uber Employee Fired for Reporting Sexual Harassment

Uber LogoAn Uber employee claims he was fired for complaining to the company’s HR department about the treatment of women on his team.

According to the complaint filed with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the employee was approached in late 2015 by his female coworkers, who were seeking his help.

As mentioned in Business Insider, the women “sought his intervention regarding alleged sex-based discrimination and harassment they were suffering at the hands of a male supervisor,” according to the complaint. After hearing their stories, he “raised concerns” with Uber’s HR, he said in the complaint.

Instead of investigating the claims, Uber’s HR department told him “we get a lot of phone calls from employees that we don’t always act on,” the employee alleged. He was fired in March 2016, soon after approaching the HR department, according to the complaint.

Colorado Prison Employee sues Captain for Sexual Harassment

Colorado correctional officer, Leticia Cornella has sued prison captain Scott Lancaster for sexual harassment, including making obscene gestures to her in front of her husband and ultimately retaliating against her.

According to the lawsuit, Cornella is seeking lost pay, punitive damages and attorneys fees, according to the lawsuit.

“It is the rare case in which a sexual encounter between a supervisor and his or her underling leads to a stroll into a romantic sunset of marital bliss,” the lawsuit says.

As mentioned in the Denver Post, the sexual harassment continued even after her marriage and in front of her husband and escalated to the point where she lost her job, the lawsuit says.

She filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, and her doctor recommended she stay away from work for one week and be given work accommodations to avoid contact with Lancaster.

She has been placed on unpaid leave, the lawsuit says.

Washington State Patrol to Pay Military Veterans $13 Million in Back Wages

The Washington State Patrol has agreed to pay up to $13 million in back wages to military veterans who didn’t receive credit for their service in hiring and promotional decisions.

The settlement includes $13 million in cash and about $2 million worth of retirement benefits.

As mentioned in The Spokes-Man, attorneys and legal experts say it’s the largest cash payout in a case brought under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, a 1994 federal law requiring employers to give military members job protections, honor promotions and other benefits that accrue during service.

The lawsuit, filed in Spokane County Superior Court, challenged the State Patrol’s failure to give qualified veterans hiring and promotion preference as required by state law.

The University of Iowa to Pay $6.5 Million Settlement

The University of IowaThe University of Iowa will pay $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit alleging discrimination and retaliation targeting a gay athletics administrator and her partner, a long-time coach at the school.

As mentioned in Bloomberg, Jane Meyer, a former senior associate athletic director at Iowa, and Tracey Griesbaum, Iowa’s former women’s field hockey coach, agreed to settle their claims against the Iowa Athletics Department.

The settlements come two weeks after Meyer won a $1.4 million jury verdict against Iowa. Meyer had alleged she was fired and suffered retaliation because of her gender, sexual orientation and her relationship with Griesbaum. Griesbaum’s lawsuit, containing similar allegations of discrimination and retaliation, had been scheduled for trial on June 4.

Under the agreements, Meyer and Griesbaum agreed to withdraw their actions and Iowa will provide $3.9 million to Meyer and $2.6 million to Griesbaum.

Magic Leap Settles Hostile Environment Sex Discrimination Lawsuit

Hostile EnvironmentLocal billion-dollar startup Magic Leap was sued for sex discrimination earlier this year by former VP of strategic marketing, Tannen Campbell, who was actually hired to help create a more female-friendly product.

According to Engadget, Campbell initially sued Magic Leap for “hostile environment sex discrimination and retaliation,” citing anecdotes that paint Magic Leap as having a misogynist culture. The lawsuit says that the company does not value women for their technical skills, while it also stereotypes them as homemakers, wives and sex objects. The suit alleges that Magic Leap’s management are aware of the gender-based hostility within the company. It describes a 50-slide presentation Tannen created about gender diversity in the workplace that was cancelled six times, a “Female Brain Trust Initiative” that was only window dressing and an app that was to be bundled with the company’s headset in which the sole female character was only shown groveling at a male protagonist’s feet.

It’s not just reports of sexism, either. The lawsuit also claims that when IT support lead Euen Thompson was asked a question during a tutorial session for new hires, he reportedly said that women always have trouble with computers. He then followed up with, “In IT We have a saying; stay away from the Three Os: Orientals, Old People and Ovaries.”

Notice of the confidential lawsuit settlement was filed Tuesday and signed by Judge William P. Dimitrouleas.

UploadVR Sued for Sexual Harassment and Discriminating Female Workers

harassing A San Francisco-based news startup, UploadVR has been sued by a former employee for inappropriate behavior at the workplace, including gender discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

As mentioned in CBS SF Bay Area, the suit alleges the UploadVR’s San Francisco office was a hostile environment for female employees, and the co-founders goal was to create a kind of “boy’s club” at the office. According to the complaint, “The atmosphere … was marked by rampant sexual behavior and focus, creating an unbearable environment for Plaintiff and other female employees.”

The executive claims there was a room set aside equipped with a bed, designated the “kink room” where condoms and underwear were sometimes left behind by employees having sex on the job.
“In the office, Defendants would frequently talk about how much sex they were going to have at each party, and how many girls they were going to have sex with. UploadVR even set up a room to encourage sexual intercourse at the workplace. The room was referred to as the “kink room” and contained a bed. Male employees used that room to have sexual intercourse, which was disruptive and inappropriate. Often, underwear and condom wrappers would be found in the room.”

Pregnant Walmart Workers File a Lawsuit Against the Retail Giant

WalmartTwo former Walmart employees have filed a lawsuit accusing the retailer giant of treating thousands of pregnant workers as “second-class citizens” by rejecting their requests to limit heavy lifting, climbing on ladders and other potentially dangerous tasks.

As mentioned in Reuters, the proposed class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Illinois on Friday by Talisa Borders and Otisha Woolbright, who say that until 2014, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart had a company-wide policy that denied pregnant women the same accommodations as workers with other disabilities.

The class could include at least 20,000 women and possibly up to 50,000 who worked at Walmart while pregnant before the policy change, according to the lawsuit.

SpaceX in Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

Judge Jason Blasdell filed a lawsuit against Space Exploration Technologies Corp. claiming he was fired after raising concerns about the safety procedures. A judge dismissed the defamation allegation but ruled that the plaintiff could take his wrongful termination and retaliation claims to trial.

According to Patch, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Fahey issued his rulings Wednesday in the lawsuit brought in April 2016 by Jason Blasdell. The judge heard arguments April 24 on SpaceX’s motion to dismiss the entire lawsuit, then took the case under submission.

Judge Fahey said the trial will focus on whether Blasdell had a reasonable belief that SpaceX was falsifying rocket-test documents and whether he was fired for false reasons. The trial is scheduled May 22.

In his lawsuit, Blasdell says he received consistently positive reviews from management while working at the rocket and spacecraft manufacturer’s Hawthorne headquarters as an avionics test technician from 2010 until his 2014 firing. He says he began seeing safety issues related to the testing procedures of rocket parts, leading him to question the quality of the testing and the risks it posed for not just the rockets potentially exploding, but for the potential loss of human life, as well.