Can a jail intentionally discriminate against an arrestee because of his HIV status? In 2012, the Payne County Jail in Stillwater, Oklahoma moved an HIV positive arrestee from general population to solitary confinement “due to his HIV status.” Unlike detainees in general population, people held in solitary confinement at the Payne County Jail are locked…
A Sapulpa assistant softball coach was found dead in an apparent suicide after Creek County officials officially charged him in the rape of a 17 year old softball player. The body of Brad Alan Evans was discovered by deputies when they entered his home to serve the charges of Second Degree Rape. The Sapulpa school…
Because the Pregnancy Discrimination Act does not protect pregnancy complications, employers can terminate pregnant employees who cannot perform certain job functions because of a pregnancy. For example, if an employer would fire a non-pregnant employee for missing work to visit the doctor, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act will not protect a similarly-situated pregnant employee just because…
A new study was published regarding differences between use of the words “African-American” and “Black.” In the findings, researches discovered that participants in the study were more likely to associate negative words with the term “Black” than “African-American”: Perhaps, each term evoked different individuals. For example, if White Americans were told that an African-American man…
The Tacoma News Tribune is reporting that the ACLU and Columbia Legal Services have dropped a lawsuit alleging that solitary confinement was used to retaliate against a hunger strike at the Northwest Detention Center. The article says that the lawsuit was ended after “the release of about two dozen detainees from isolation.” ICE spokesman Andrew…
The City of Tulsa has settled a pregnancy discrimination case filed by a former employee in the public works department. In 2011, the City of Tulsa hired Qamar Herd three weeks before her scheduled delivery, but when Herd requested four days of maternity leave, the City denied her request and terminated her employment for failing…
