New York Paralegal Blog

(USDOJ) WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice today announced the filing of a lawsuit against the County of Muskegon, Mich., alleging discrimination against a former employee by subjecting her to a hostile work environment. The Department's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, alleges that the county violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when, among other things, it failed to respond with adequate remedial measures to her complaints of multiple instances of sexual harassment, and to similar complaints made by other employees. More...

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice today announced that it has reached an agreement as to liability in a lawsuit filed under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act against the Euclid City School District Board of Education in Euclid, Ohio. The lawsuit challenges the method of electing members of the Euclid City School District’s governing body, alleging that it violates the rights of African-American voters to elect candidates of their choice. "We are pleased that the school board’s willingness to concede liability in this case spares the Department and the citizens of Euclid the necessity of protracted, costly and potentially divisive litigation," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "This concession immediately places before the court the task of determining a fair remedial plan that provides African-American voters in Euclid the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to the school board." More...

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced that on Aug. 26, 2008, it will monitor elections in the towns of Bayou La Batre and Marion, Ala., as well as in Seminole County, Fla., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). The VRA authorizes the Justice Department to ask the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send federal observers to areas that are specially covered in the statute or by a federal court order. Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities in Marion, Ala., based on the special coverage provisions. More...

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced that on June 24, 2008, it will monitor the special primary election in Wilkinson County, Miss., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act. The election will include special primary contests for county offices. Under the Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department is authorized to ask the Office of Personnel Management to send federal observers to areas that are specially covered by the Act or by a federal court order. Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities in Wilkinson County, Miss., based on the special coverage provisions. The observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations in this jurisdiction. Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials. Each year, the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management, as well as departmental staff, to mo...