New York Employment Attorneys Blog

The American Civil Liberties Union ("ACLU") brought suit against the Chesterfield School District on behalf of one of its students for unconstitutionally promoting religion. Specifically, the District held a prayer rally at a school assembly and prayers at official events.

The ACLU acted on behalf of a middle-school atheist student who did not agree with the Christian activities, such as the evangelical assembly, at school. Moreover, this student was pressured into attending religious events - for instance he was given the choice of attending a religious concert or being sent to the suspension-room. Such treatment hinders students' freedom of religion and may even be considered religious discrimination.

The ACLU and the Chesterfield School District finally agreed to settle the suit. In the consent decree and order, the Chesterfield County schools admitted they had violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which mandates separation of church and state. The official outcome of the case prohibits school officials from promoting religion and encouraging prayers at events and was made final on Thursday, January 26, 2012, by a federal judge.

Follow the story as it develops here.

Casimir Manyoni Mung'aho, a newly ordained Roman Catholic Priest, was removed from his parish by church officials for secretly fathering a child while in seminary.

Father Mung'aho had been serving as a parochial vicar in the parish of St. Stephen in Warwick, New York. He had come from Tanzania to the United States six years ago to become a priest. He said he wanted to be a role model for people. Indeed, he was liked by his parishioners and the children to which he taught religion.

However, the priest was also later revealed to be a parent. He had fathered a child while he was attending seminary. Although he was still a seminarian when his child was born, and as such had not yet made promises to be celibate, Father Mung'aho was still expected by the church to be celibate.

The archdiocese has not made any final decision on this case yet. Indeed, the removal of Father Mung'aho will allow church officials to address the matter at hand. In the meantime, however, Father Mung'aho has been asked to live independently and reflect on his actions.

Follow the story as it develops here.

A couple from Temple, AZ who alleged they received discriminatory treatment from their apartment manager, were paid $197,500 in a settlement, the largest fair housing lawsuit settlement in the history of the civil division of Arizona Attorney General's Office.

Hany Ibrahim and his wife Soha Abdelrahman moved into their apartment in Villatree in July 2006, at which time they were asked by their apartment manager about their ethnic background and religious affiliation. They were asked to fill out a second application after the first one was allegedly "lost".

Once they moved in, the tenants complained about a maintenance worker entering their apartment without authorization or notification. The apartment manager then said: "This is our way. If you don't like it, you can go back to where you came from," according to the complaint. The apartment manager threatened them with retaliation, saying she would make their lives "miserable" if they ever decided to file a complaint about these incidents.

Things became even more challenging when the apartment manager told them their unit would be once again subject to an inspection. Soon after, the management insisted on the tenants signing a money order that belonged to the unit's previous occupants.

Right after, the apartment manager tried to evict the tenants, claiming they had committed fraud. The couple was also accused of harassing other tenants and received notices threatening them with unwarranted eviction. They finally moved out in October 2006 and filed suit with the state.

While this blog hasn't often tackled the issue of debt and debt collectors, it remains a factor in employment decisions as raging unemployment has forced many American's into crippling debt. Debt collectors, eager to collect on payments from individuals have come up with new ways to harass and intimidate people into paying.

The newest strategy from debt collectors is utilizing social networks like Facebook. Previously, debt collectors would employee private investigators to monitor their debtors employers, friends and families. But as more and more American's take to the social network to share intimate details of their lives, debt collectors jobs have become increasingly easy.

Debt collectors and agencies have started using Facebook as a way to message a person's personal contacts, including friends and employers to let them know they have a debt to pay. This embarrassing technique is incredibly invasive, and highlights the need to understand one's online presence and privacy settings. With any website, you should be mindful of what data is publicly available and seen by anybody with an internet connection.