Owners of Angelo's Pizza and Grill in Buffalo, NY Settle Sexual Harassment Suit Against Them

Wow, the 3 male owners of Angelo's Pizza & Grill in Buffalo, NY seem to have gotten away with a pretty good deal for a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by 7 female subordinates. They are only paying $35,000 total for all 7 claimants in a settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), who brought the suit on behalf of the 7 females. These females alleged that all 3 male owners sexually harassed them over a 7 to 8-year period, including groping their breasts, grabbing their asses, simulating sex with phallic objects held between their legs, regularly talking about blow jobs and sex, and even locking one in the food cooler and forcibly fondling her in the dark. Gross. They also alleged that 2 of them were fired for complaining about it. Sounds like these pizza boys got off easy! Well, at least these ladies got a little slice of the pie, and (hopefully) the (alleged) pizza perverts did not get the pie they were after!

Angelo's Pizza & Grill Settles EEOC Sexual Harassment Lawsuit for $35,000 - EEOC Press Release

New Trial for Battered Woman in Florida Who Was Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Firing a Warning Shot

An appellate court in Florida has reversed the conviction of Marissa Alexander, An African-American woman who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot into the air while being abused by her husband. Apparently there was a major altercation in the home about a week after the couple's child was born, during which Marissa had to lock herself in the bathroom to get away from her husband, who was threatening to kill her that day. He "broke through the door, grabbed her by the neck, and" threw her into the door. She ran into the garage to escape, but she could not get the garage door open. So she grabbed the gun and ran back in. As he threatened to kill her, she fired a warning shot into the air. No one was hurt by the shot.

Meanwhile, convicted rapists are getting 30-day sentences . . . . 15 months at best . . . . .

Marissa pleaded the Stand Your Ground defense, but the defense failed. Instead, the jury convicted her of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and she was sentenced to 20 years because it is the mandatory minimum sentence for gun crimes. Now the appeals court has remanded the case for a new trial because the jury instructions on self defense were erroneous.

Interestingly, the prosecutor who prosecuted Marissa Alexander was the same prosecutor who prosecuted George Zimmerman. Only Zimmerman was acquitted for his role in the altercation which resulted in the actual death of Trayvon Martin.

Marissa Alexander Will Get a New Trial - MSNBC

Florida Woman Given 20 Years For Firing Warning Shot Gets New Trial - nbcnews.com

Zoria Farms/Z Foods of Fresno, CA Sued for Sexually Assaulting, Harassing, and Retaliating Against Workers

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Z Foods, Inc., formerly known as Zoria Farms, Inc., a dried fruit producer based in Fresno/Madera, CA, for sexual assault, sexual harassment, and retaliation. The EEOC claims that multiple supervisors at the company had been sexually abusing numerous female subordinate workers for years, and then fired the workers who refused their sexual demands, and also fired the workers who reported the abuse, and even fired the victims' family members. The complaint also alleges that male employees who stood up for the women and complained about the abuse were also hornswoggled out of a job when the company changed hands. The company is apparently no longer in operation and the phone lines are disconnected. Sounds like their fruit's already dried up.

Calif. Producer Faces Federal Sex Harassment Suit - The Fresno Bee

Fruit Processing Plant Sued for Sexual Assault, Harassment - abclocal.go.com

Zoria Farms and Z Foods Sued by EEOC for Sexual Harassment and Retaliation - EEOC Press Release

Gender Equality Rankings by U.S. State

Here is a really cool compilation of data and infographic which tells us the rankings for all U.S. states in terms of women's equality. The Map incorporates all kinds of different factors, from number of women in political office, to number of women living in poverty, size of the wage gap, pro-choice/anti-choice laws, paid leave laws, number of women in management positions, etc. If you click on the link to explore the data in more detail, you can actually look at each individual factor they analyzed and view all the states by rank on that particular factor. Many of these rankings are no surprise, but there are others which seem inconsistent with my personal experiences . . . . One thing that came as no surprise to me, however, is that the Deep South is not the nation's hub for gender equality! How do your states fare?

Mapping the State of Women in America - Center for American Progress

Jomar/Seko CEO Sued for Sexual Harassment

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued Jomar Transportation, Inc. of Atlanta, GA, doing business as Seko Worldwide, for sexual harassment. The EEOC alleges that the owner and CEO of the company sexually harassed a female manager. Among various other lewd acts, the complaint alleges that this CEO kept a pair of rubber breasts and a jar of vaseline on his desk at work at all times. That was the one that really jumped out at me. Was this for ease-of-harassment purposes I wonder? You know, because you never know when you're going to need to harass someone in a hurry, so you'd better have props at the ready, right? Let's all stay abreast of the legal developments in this case!

Jomar / Seko Worldwide Sued by EEOC for Sexual Harassment - EEOC Press Release

Platinum Oil Company Pays $100,000 in Pregnancy Discrimination Suit

Platinum, PTS, Inc. of Laredo, Texas has settled a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $100,000. The EEOC alleged that the company fired a female employee after she asked for time off for a miscarriage.

Texas Oil Company Owes $100,000 For Pregnancy Bias - hr.blr.com

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Unanimously Votes Against Autocam Corp. in Obamacare Case

There is another "Obamacare"-and-women's-health-care case going on right now in the Sixth Circuit. In that case, like the Hobby Lobby and Hercules cases in the Tenth Circuit, Autocam Corporation has sued the federal government claiming that The Affordance Health Care Act's new mandate that employers must cover women's health care services as part of their employer-sponsored health insurance plans infringes upon the *corporation's* religious freedom under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

Under the RFRA, *persons* are entitled to worship a religion freely without undue interference by the government. Autocam apparently believes certain reproductive health care services for women (birth control, family planning, pills) are A SIN and against its religion. But one threshold question in all of these 70 or so cases recently filed in federal courts around the country has been: How on Earth is a *corporation* considered a *person* that could actually hold religious beliefs? Well, recently, the 10th Circuit, in the Hobby Lobby and Hercules cases, has answered that question in the affirmative.

UNLIKE the 10th Circuit, however, the 6th Circuit last week UNANIMOUSLY answered that question in the negative. So in the 10th Circuit now, corporations are people for purposes of religious freedom, but in the 6th Circuit, they are NOT. How interesting that two different appellate courts could reach such a different result on the same question around the same time. Here is a copy of the 6th Circuit's opinion:

Autocam Corp. v. United States - 6th Circuit Court of Appeals

More Info on the issue: A Second Federal Appeals Court Rules Against For-Profit in Fight Over Contraception Coverage - RH Reality Check

The 3rd Circuit has also recently sided with the 6th Circuit in holding that corporations are not people and they must provide insurance plans with birth control, and so far the 10th Circuit is officially alone. This is very likely going to be a question for the United States Supreme Court.