Week Adjourned: 4.16.10

Next Batch of Census Recruits? (no, but when you hear "Hi Ho" well...)Top Class Actions 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s off to court we go….

Census Looking for a Few (Really) Good Men? The feds are in hot water this week, facing a lawsuit—the first of its kind—alleging that the Census Bureau screened out job applicants with arrest records, regardless of whether or not the arrest actually led to a criminal conviction.

This has adversely affected “thousands of African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans,” the suit claims, as they have been “rejected for jobs by the US Census Bureau during the federal government’s massive hiring campaign for this year’s census because of systematic discrimination.” Personally, I wouldn’t have thought the government capable of that level of organization, but hey, it’s possible. And, if it’s true, it’s no laughing matter.

According to a related press release, “Government records show that more than 70 million people in the US have been arrested, but more than 35 percent of all arrests nationwide never lead to prosecutions or convictions,” a sobering statistic indeed. No wonder the police are so busy, busy generating paperwork.

Unfortunately, as the lawsuit points out, African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans are far more likely to have arrest records and convictions than whites, and so Census’s hiring policies discriminate against people of color in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Ummm. 

Top Settlements

The Chinese Drywall Homes…Homes Barely Livable…We Can Rebuild Them…Ok, so it’s not quite like the $6 Million Dollar Man, but… Remember all those stinky drywall stories? Well, a critical settlement Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 4.16.10”