Donald Trump sued over Capitol police officer’s death after January 6 riot

Former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a rally

 in Warren, Michigan, U.S., October 1, 2022. (File photo: Reuters)

Bloomberg
Published: 06 January ,2023

Donald Trump is being blamed for the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was assaulted during the January 6, 2021, riot, in a lawsuit that claims the former president is responsible because he riled up his supporters with false election claims and calls to take action.

That “cost Sicknick his life,” Sandra Garza, Sicknick’s former girlfriend and representative of his estate, said in a complaint filed in Washington Thursday.

It’s the latest civil lawsuit seeking to hold Trump legally responsible for the violence at the Capitol. He’s previously argued that he’s immune against being sued over his words and actions in connection with the events of January 6. A federal appeals court is set to weigh in on the merits of that defense later this year.

Garza also sued Julian Khater and George Tanios, both of whom pleaded guilty last year to offenses tied to the riot. As part of his plea, Khater admitted to spraying Sicknick and other officers with bear spray. Tanios admitted to buying the bear spray and bringing it to the Capitol. Khater then took the canister from Khater’s backpack and used it on the officers, according to the complaint.

Sicknick later collapsed at police headquarters and died the next day. A medical examiner determined that he died of natural causes, though Garza’s complaint notes the examiner also previously stated that “all that transpired played a role in his condition.” The government didn’t charge the men in connection with Sicknick’s death.

Garza’s lawyers placed the blame squarely on the former president.

“Trump put out a clear call to action, and the crowd — including defendants Khater and Tanios — responded,” Garza’s lawyers said.

Garza is seeking at least $10 million in monetary damages from each defendant as well as punitive damages.

Two years on, Trump in ‘serious legal jeopardy’ over his role in Jan. 6 attack: Legal expert

Former US president already at ‘great risk’ due to numerous other investigations, says Georgetown University Law School professor

6/01/2023 Friday
AA

Friday marks two years since supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol in Washington, DC after he urged them to descend on the seat of Congress to block lawmakers from making official the election of Trump’s successor, Joe Biden.

The ensuing mayhem and violence was historic. Barricades were overrun as rioters clashed violently with police, smashing the Capitol’s windows and invading Congress as lawmakers evacuated and went into lockdown.

Five people died as a result of the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, while in the aftermath four law enforcement officers died by suicide. The Capitol building, seen by many as a symbol of American democracy, suffered damage not seen since over 200 years ago, during the War of 1812, as invading British forces burned it to the ground.

In the two years since, Trump has not put forward any evidence to substantiate his claims of widespread voter fraud – allegations he used to try to stoke public anger and draw enraged rioters to the nation’s capital. Meanwhile, attempts to hold those responsible for the violence have continued within the American legal system.

More than 950 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the deadly riot, including more than 284 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the Justice Department.

A bipartisan House of Representatives committee that probed the Jan. 6 attack also just released its final report on Dec. 23, just weeks before the panel dissolved with the convening of the 118th Congress.

After an 18-month investigation with 10 public hearings and more than 1,000 interviews, the committee recommended the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against Trump.

Lawmakers recommended prosecutors pursue four charges against the former president: inciting, assisting, or aiding insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the US, and conspiracy to make a false statement.

But what is the next step in the investigation into the Jan. 6 riot? What awaits Trump after announcing he is mounting a bid to retake the White House in 2024?

According to David Super, a professor of law and economics at Washington’s Georgetown University, Trump faces “serious legal jeopardy.”

Trump is already at “great risk” due to numerous other investigations, including those into attempts to meddle in Georgia's 2020 election results, and his company being found guilty of tax fraud in New York, Super said, stressing that “either of those investigations could ensnare him, largely independent of the January 6 Committee's report.”

But the committee found that the former president was much more intimately involved than had previously been understood in efforts to overturn the election illegally, Super told Anadolu Agency.

“Every indication is that the Justice Department already has far more evidence than the committee did, but the Justice Department generally is not allowed to release that evidence publicly in advance of an indictment,” he added – unlike the committee, which released thousands of pages of interview transcripts and other evidence before it wrapped up its work.

- What does committee report mean in American legal system?

One of the effects of the committee making its findings public is that it will cause “much less shock and resistance” among the general public if Trump is charged by the Justice Department, Super argued.

“Before the committee's hearings and report, the Justice Department might have worried that charging the former president would be too shocking to the country and should be avoided regardless of the evidence,” he said.

The committee’s recommendation is not binding on the Justice Department, and prosecutors will make their own assessment independent of the lawmakers’ report.

For Super, the committee’s findings “may give the Justice Department more freedom to follow the evidence it finds without being perceived as partisan,” he said, citing two Republican representatives who sat on the committee, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, endorsing its work and final report.

Cheney and Kinzinger sacrificed their political careers due to their steadfast criticism of Trump and his movement and through their work on the committee. The latter earned them a censure from the Republican Party, which otherwise refused to take part in or cooperate with the investigation.

Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, left Congress after losing the Republican primary last August against Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman. Kinzinger also won’t be a part of the 118th Congress as he announced last year that he would not seek reelection.

- Republicans retake US House

In the midterm elections last November, Republicans gained a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, which forced the Jan. 6 committee to end its work.

Asked how this will affect the investigation of that fateful day, Super said it “changes little,” since the committee was “largely finished in any event.”

“It seems likely that Republican House committee chairs will try to conduct hearings to distract from the efforts to overturn the 2020 election and may even try to show that prior investigations of those efforts were biased or corrupt in some way,” he said.

“I doubt that will have much impact because at this point, the investigation is in the hands of career prosecutors in the Justice Department, which generally need not be accountable to Congress,” he added.

Some House Republicans have suggested that they would oppose raising the US debt limit unless all investigations of former President Trump are defunded, but Super said those efforts are unlikely to gain traction due to opposition from the business community and “many Senate Republicans.”

- Trump’s inner circle

The committee’s final report also accused Trump and his “inner circle” of engaging in “at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation” targeting state legislators and election administrators to overturn the election results.

Asked about the investigation into Trump’s inner circle, Super said he “strongly suspects” some of them have already been cooperating with the Justice Department “in exchange for reduced charges or immunity from prosecution.”

“For others, I think indictments and criminal trials are likely,” he continued.

Addressing the possible culpability of the former president’s daughter and son-in-law, both of whom served in the White House, Super said: “I strongly doubt that the Justice Department will indict Ivana Trump or Jared Kushner even if it has sufficient evidence to do so. Too much of the public likely would object, even though they voluntarily took senior positions in the administration.

UK

Labour: Government 'admits' failure by imposing anti-strike laws

 Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Pat McFadden, says anti-strike laws imposed by the government are an "admission of failure".

HRW former head denied Harvard fellowship over ‘anti-Israel bias’

Kenneth Roth, the longtime head of Human Rights Watch, had his fellowship offer rescinded because of the organisation’s criticism of Israeli policies, according to The Nation.

Kenneth Roth has been described as the 'godfather' of human rights

 [File: Michael Sohn File/AP Photo]

Published On 6 Jan 2023

The Harvard Kennedy School in the United States rescinded a fellowship offer to the former head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) over the well-respected organisation’s criticism of Israeli government policies, US magazine The Nation has reported.

Kenneth Roth, who spent nearly three decades as the executive director of HRW before announcing his retirement in April, was offered to join as senior fellow by the executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard, a centre he said he had been involved in since its founding in 1999.

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While the approval of the Harvard Kennedy School dean, Douglas Elmendorf, should have been a formality, the prominent human rights advocate was informed after a video conversation in July that his fellowship offer had been withdrawn.

Elmendorf allegedly cited an “anti-Israel bias” and Roth’s tweets on Israel, which he said were of particular concern.

In an article published on Friday by The Nation, Roth, who is Jewish and says he was drawn to the human rights cause by his father’s experience living in Nazi Germany, described the incident as “crazy” and said Elmendorf had “no backbone whatsoever”.

The US magazine reported that the Carr Center is among the smallest and poorest of the school’s subdivisions, with an eight-person staff and 32 fellows, and sits uncomfortably among other institutes at the Kennedy School that deal with defence policy, military strategy, and intelligence gathering.

Among them is the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. “A look at its activities can help explain why Roth was deemed too hot to handle,” Michael Massing wrote in his piece for The Nation.

The centre counts former CIA Director David Petraeus among a long list of former intelligence brass taking part in its highest-profile initiatives. Among the 16 members of the Dean’s Executive Board is also Idan Ofer, son of Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer, and his wife Batia.

After being vetoed by Harvard, Roth accepted a visiting fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.

The New York Times dubbed Roth the “godfather” of human rights in an article that noted how he had been “an unrelenting irritant to authoritarian governments, exposing human rights abuses with documented research reports that have become the group’s specialty”.

Under his leadership, HRW grew its budget from $7m to nearly $100m and went from 60 employees to 550, monitoring more than 100 countries.

The human rights watchdog played a prominent role in establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC) and helped secure the convictions of Charles Taylor of Liberia, Alberto Fujimori of Peru, and the Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

In April 2021, HRW issued a report accusing Israel of practising a policy of apartheid towards the Palestinians, whose findings were echoed by Amnesty International in January 2022. The American Jewish Committee claimed that the organisation’s charges “sometimes border on antisemitism”.

The Kennedy School’s decision over Roth was met with outrage among some Harvard staff members, according to The Nation.

Kathryn Sikkink, the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School, sent an email to Elmendorf, detailing how data showed that “Human Rights Watch does not have a bias at all against Israel” and that to conclude otherwise “is misinformation”.

The dean answered that he had read her email but would not reconsider his decision.

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts again, summit crater glows

Associated Press
January 6, 2023 

Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has erupted again for the second time in less than. a year.

Hawaii’s Kilauea began erupting inside its summit crater Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, less than one month after the volcano and its larger neighbor Mauna Loa stopped releasing lava.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory detected a glow in webcam images indicating Kilauea had begun erupting inside Halemaumau crater at the volcano’s summit caldera, the agency said.

Kilauea’s summit is inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and away from residential communities.

Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey raised the alert level for Kilauea due to signs that magma was moving below the summit surface, an indication that the volcano might erupt.

Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. It last erupted for 16 months starting in September 2021. For about two weeks starting Nov. 27, Hawaii had two volcanoes spewing lava side by side when Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in 38 years. Both volcanoes stopped erupting at about the same time

.

Images of Kilauea volcano spewing lava on Jan. 5, 2023.AP

During the twin eruption, visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park were able to see lava from both eruptions at the same time.

“It was a beautiful eruption, and lots of people got to see it, and it didn’t take out any major infrastructure and most importantly, it didn’t affect anybody’s life,” said Ken Hon, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s scientist in charge.

Mauna Loa lava didn’t pose a threat to any communities, but got within 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) of a major highway connecting the east and west sides of the island. A 2018 Kilauea eruption destroyed more than 700 residences.

The observatory planned to continue monitoring the volcanoes for signs of renewed activity. Hon previously said there is generally a three-month “cooling off” period before scientists consider an eruption to be complete.

The alert level for the volcano was raised due to magma moving below the surface of the mountain’s summit.

It was unclear what connection there could be to the volcanoes stopping their eruptions around the same time. The volcanoes can be seen at the same time from multiple spots in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park near Kilauea’s caldera.

What do you think? Be the first to comment.

Scientists planned to look at data to study the relationship between the two volcanoes, Hon previously said.

For Native Hawaiians, volcanic eruptions have deep cultural and spiritual significance. During Mauna Loa’s eruption, many Hawaiians took part in cultural traditions, such as singing, chanting and dancing to honor Pele, the deity of volcanoes and fire, and leaving offerings known as “hookupu.”

 

Summit crater glows as Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts again

6 January 2023, 07:54

Hawaii-Volcano. Picture: PA

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory detected a glow in webcam images.

Hawaii’s Kilauea has begun erupting inside its summit crater, the US Geological Survey said – less than one month after the volcano and its larger neighbour Mauna Loa stopped releasing lava.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory detected a glow in webcam images, indicating Kilauea had begun erupting inside Halemaumau crater at the volcano’s summit caldera, the agency said.

Kilauea’s summit is inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and away from residential communities.

Hawaii’s Kilauea began erupting inside its summit crater on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said (US Geological Survey/AP)

Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. It last erupted for 16 months starting in September 2021. For about two weeks starting on November 27, Hawaii had two volcanoes spewing lava side by side when Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in 38 years. Both volcanoes stopped erupting at about the same time.

Earlier on Thursday, the US Geological Survey raised the alert level for Kilauea due to signs magma was moving below the summit surface, an indication the volcano might erupt.

During the twin eruption, visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park were able to see lava from both eruptions at the same time.

“It was a beautiful eruption and lots of people got to see it and it didn’t take out any major infrastructure and, most importantly, it didn’t affect anybody’s life,” said Ken Hon, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s scientist in charge.

Mauna Loa lava did not pose a threat to any communities but got within 1.7 miles of a motorway connecting the east and west sides of the island. A 2018 Kilauea eruption destroyed more than 700 homes.

The observatory plans to continue monitoring the volcanoes for signs of renewed activity. 

Mr Hon previously said there is generally a three-month “cooling off” period before scientists consider an eruption to be complete.

It was unclear what connection there could be to the volcanoes stopping their eruptions at around the same time. The volcanoes can be seen at the same time from multiple spots in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park near Kilauea’s caldera.

Scientists planned to look at data to study the relationship between the two volcanoes, Mr Hon previously said.

For Native Hawaiians, volcanic eruptions have deep cultural and spiritual significance. During Mauna Loa’s eruption, many Hawaiians took part in cultural traditions, such as singing, chanting and dancing to honour Pele, the deity of volcanoes and fire, and leaving offerings known as “hookupu”.

By Press Association

Boat Trippers Witness Bloody Birth Of Baby Gray Whale

Boat trippers in California were treated to a rare event Monday when their whale-watching tour happened upon a gray whale giving birth to a calf.


GRETCHEN CLAYSON

CONTRIBUTOR

January 04, 2023

Initially, the passengers of Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Safari boat tour believed they had stumbled upon a scene of carnage as they spotted blood in the ocean waters before them, the Orange County Register reported. Horror soon turned to amazement as one by one the onlookers realized they were witnessing the birth of a gray whale.

“The range of emotion couldn’t have been more extreme,” Capt. Gary Brighouse with Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari told the Orange County Register. “It went from horror to pure joy and astonishment. It moved me to my core,” he continued.

Brighouse emphasized how lucky they were not only to witness the rarely seen event and catch it on camera, but to come away unscathed.  As the calf came up to the surface to take its first breath, it reportedly got so close passengers could see its nostrils. 

(RELATED: Video Shows Whale Land On Bow Of 19-Foot Boat While Breaching)

“We were like, ‘Wait a minute, don’t come too close. That mom wants to protect you,’” Brighouse said, adding the mother was much larger than his 24-foot inflatable boat. As she positioned herself between the boat and the calf, she rubbed up against the raft and lifted it out of the water which Brighouse said, “was a little unsettling.”

“I was screaming my head off, I was super excited,” passenger Stacie Fox told the outlet. “I definitely thought that it was something I would not see unless I was going down to the lagoon. It’s once-in-a-lifetime type stuff.

Groups file complaint over latest proposal for stored hydro projects on Navajo land

By Ron Dungan

Published: Wednesday, January 4, 2023 - 

The Center for Biological Diversity and two Navajo activist groups have filed a complaint wit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over proposals for three stored hydro projects on the Navajo Nation.

The projects would cover nearly 40,000 acres on Black Mesa, located southeast of Kayenta.

The groups say they would damage an area that has already felt the impacts of decades of coal mining.

But pumped hydro storage uses water to create electricity, and the region doesn’t have much water.

Taylor McKinnon of the Center for Biological Diversity says the region’s groundwater supplies were stretched by the mines, and the Colorado River is over allocated.

“These proposals are predicated on a massive amount of water that doesn’t exist, that’s not available, either in the rivers or in the aquifers,” McKinnon said.

A Phoenix firm has proposed similar projects on Navajo land but has withdrawn two of them.

Given the Choice Between Free Money or Sicker Residents, Republicans Chose Sickness

Their refusal to expand Medicaid is making it impossible for rural hospitals to stay in business.

By Charles P. Pierce

ESQUIRE

PUBLISHED: JAN 4, 2023

DragonImages//Getty Images


One of the great disappointments of my political life came with the passing of the Affordable Care Act, which included FREE MONEY! for the states through the expansion of Medicaid. Then John Roberts came stumbling in and ruled that states could decline the FREE MONEY!—and almost immediately it became a point of pride for Republican governors and Republican majority state legislatures to turn down the FREE MONEY! because, you know, liberty!

Having grown up in Massachusetts, watching local and state politicians turn down FREE MONEY! from the federal government rocked my political consciousness. Heavens to Jaime Curleo, what kind of politicians were we raising these days? No respect for the classics! And that was not even to mention the fact that the FREE MONEY! would vastly improve the lives of our poorer fellow citizens because, as Adam Serwer warned us, the cruelty is the point.

Now, the proof is stacking up. Hospitals are closing by the bushel, many of them in rural areas where the healthcare facilities are few and far between. From Beckers Health Care:
"While many hospitals and health systems are facing unprecedented challenges, those faced in rural America are unique," AHA president and CEO Rick Pollack said in a statement. "We must ensure that hospitals have the support and flexibility they need to continue to be providers of critical services and access points for patients and communities."...Seventy-four percent of rural closures between 2010 and 2021 occurred in states where Medicaid expansion was not in place or had been so for less than a year.

One of those states was (inevitably) Mississippi, where now the shuttering of rural healthcare facilities has long passed the crisis stage. From the Mississippi Free Press:

“The lack of access to healthcare for many Mississippians is currently a crisis, not a new crisis, but one that has been fermenting—and is getting worse,” the Mississippi State Medical Association said in a press release this morning. “As hospitals close across Mississippi, access to life-saving medical care becomes a real threat to all Mississippi. While the debate rages on as to why our hospitals are closing, the immediate crisis progressively engulfs us.” Across the state, several hospitals have closed or cut services in recent months. During a hearing with lawmakers in November, Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney warned that 38 of Mississippi’s rural hospitals, or about 54%, could close. Mississippi is already the poorest state with some of the worst health outcomes, including during the pandemic.

For years, health-care professionals, including those at MSMA, have said that the State’s refusal to expand Medicaid to more working Mississippians has contributed significantly to hospital closures. Medicaid expansion was part of former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, giving states funds to expand Medicaid access to people who make too much money for traditional Medicaid, but who do not earn enough to afford private insurance and are not eligible for ACA subsidies[...]Since 2013, Mississippi’s Republican leaders have rejected more than $10 billion from the federal government that could have been used to expand Medicaid, even with the federal government offering to pay between 90% and 100% of the cost.

And the Mississippi legislature not only is opposed to the FREE MONEY!, it's also opposed to anything that looks remotely like FREE MONEY!
While neither chamber of the House has voted to pass any version of Medicaid expansion, the Senate under Hosemann has passed bills twice since 2021 that would have extended postpartum care for new mothers from 60 days to 12 months. Both times, however, Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn killed the legislation, falsely conflating it with Medicaid expansion earlier this year and telling the Associated Press that he wants to “look for ways to keep people off (Medicaid), not put them on.” Gunn is a past chairman and a current board member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative organization that provides template legislation to statehouses across the U.S.

The prion disease has many manifestations among its thousands of human hosts. Some of them are garish and public, like the one taking place on television in the House of Representatives; but most of them take place far from the spotlight. Small epidemics with big body counts.

American Healthcare Is Failing Rural Communities

CHARLES P. PIERCE


Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.

CALIFORNIA

A wetland area in Hermosillo has officially received protected status

By Kendal Blust

Published: Wednesday, January 4, 2023 

The Los Jagueyes lagoons in Hermosillo are now a Natural Protected Area.

The Sonoran capital Hermosillo has a new protected area, after the status was made official for wetlands on the western extreme of the city.

The lagoon system known as Los Jagueyes has been designated as a Natural Protected Area Restoration Zone.

Located in an area where the Sonora river once flowed through the city, the artificial wetlands are fed by treated wastewater. Officials say the wetlands provide habitat to nearly 200 plants and animals, including more than a dozen protected species, and will be a place both locals and tourists can visit for recreation and bird watching.

Sergio Muller, conservation coordinator with the nonprofit Caminantes del Desierto, called the new protections a step in the right direction, helping to secure funds and resources for restoration. The designation is also the culmination of efforts by a coalition of local conservations that recognize the ecological importance of the lagoons.

Still, Muller said, Los Jagueyes is just a small section of a larger biological corridor with other important wetland sites that conservation groups hope will receive similar protections.

The protected status was initially approved by Sonora’s municipal council in June 2021, but wasn't officially published until the end of last year. That means the process of securing funds for restoration is just getting under way, Muller said.

Class action charging Tesla with racial discrimination will proceed in California


The appellate court decision means workers can make Tesla face class action discrimination claims rather than hiding behind "overbroad" arbitration agreements.

NATALIE HANSON / January 4, 2023

Vehicles are seen parked at the Tesla car plant Monday, May 11, 2020, in Fremont, Calif. The parking lot was nearly full at Tesla's California electric car factory Monday, an indication that the company could be resuming production in defiance of an order from county health authorities. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — Tesla must face a class action alleging racial discrimination against Black workers at its Fremont factory in California — after losing an appeal of a decision to deny its ability to compel arbitrating workers' claims.

The outcome stems from an appeals court panel upholding a county court’s ruling that the company can’t force employees to arbitrate discrimination allegations only within the period they worked through a staffing agency.

The First Appellate District panel’s ruling released Wednesday upholds Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo’s decision to exclude from arbitration claims based on conduct occurring during periods plaintiffs were employed by staffing agencies, rather than directly by Tesla. The panel concluded that Grillo properly declined to mandate arbitration of plaintiffs’ request for a public injunction, and rejected Tesla’s primary contentions.

Tesla appealed the denial of its motion to compel arbitration of discrimination claims brought by Monica Chatman and Evie Hall. The plaintiffs worked for Tesla through staffing agencies before signing employment letters in July 2017 and alleged discrimination occurred before and after the letters were signed.

In November 2017, Marcus Vaughn filed a complaint alleging he suffered a racially hostile work environment at the Fremont factory and he never signed an offer letter or arbitration agreement with Tesla. For that reason, the trial court denied Tesla's motion to compel arbitration of Vaughn’s claims. Joining Vaughn’s complaint in 2017, Chatman and Hall seek to represent a subclass of workers who worked for staffing agencies for a portion of the time they worked at the company's factory, seeking relief for discrimination claims.

Tesla argued in 2021 that the plaintiffs’ claims distinguished between the time they were employed by staffing companies and the time they were directly employed, and argued that the Arbitration Provision mandated arbitration. Tesla also argued plaintiffs could not seek a public injunction under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

The plaintiffs argued that they were not obligated to arbitrate claims based on conduct before employment began in 2017, and that they had the right to seek a public injunction in court outside of arbitration.

Grillo handed down a mixed ruling, saying the arbitration clauses require plaintiffs to arbitrate disputes that arise on or after August 2017. He also concluded, “any claims based on alleged wrongs before (8/2/17) are not within the temporal scope of the agreements.” The trial court also denied the motion to compel arbitration to the extent that Plaintiffs sought a public injunction.

The panel said in a ruling by Justice Mark Simons — with Justices Gordon Burns and Rebacca Wiseman concurring — that injunctions sought under the Fair Employment and Housing Act may be considered “public injunctions.” The ruling added that the Federal Arbitration Act does not preempt the California rule prohibiting waiver of the right to seek such injunctions.

“It is clear that ‘employment’ as used throughout the Arbitration Provision and specifically in the phrase ‘arising from or relating to your employment’ refers to the period of direct,contractual employment, not prior periods during which plaintiffs were employed by staffing agencies and assigned to work at defendant’s factory,” the panel said. “Defendant is mistaken in suggesting the Arbitration Provision must be applied to pre-contract disputes in order to give meaning to the inclusion of the words ‘relating to’ in addition to ‘arising from.’” They said Tesla’s proposed wording lacks support and would expand application of the Arbitration Provision “beyond the reasonable expectations of the parties.”

Plaintiffs seek a public injunction to prevent Tesla from further violations of the FEHA with race discrimination and harassment against Black workers. The prayer for relief asks for implementation of policies to prevent and correct race harassment, mandatory training regarding harassment for all employees and a public declaration that Tesla’s “widely- known racist practices” contravene California law.

The panel said Tesla’s claim that the trial court erred because the Act “does not authorize plaintiffs to obtain public injunctions” failed, as did their claim that the FAA preempts California’s rule against contractual waivers of the right to seek a public injunction.

“We reject Defendant’s argument that requests for injunctive relief under the statues … may have ‘the primary purpose and effect of’ prohibiting unlawful acts that threaten future injury to the general public but an injunction sought under FEHA may not,” the panel wrote.

The plaintiffs’ attorney Bryan Schwartz said in an interview that this means the plaintiffs can proceed with a class action and seek a public injunction. The panel wrote that any conflict between PAGA and the FAA “derives from the statute’s built-in mechanism of claim joinder,” which permits joinder of the claims of a multitude of other employees to the individual plaintiff’s claims.

“A public injunction claim presents no such possibility. Whether adjudicated in a judicial forum or arbitration, a request for a public injunction is based on the evidence presented in support of the plaintiff’s claims and does not require adjudication of the claims of other parties,” the panel added.

Schwartz said the decision makes clear that Tesla cannot compel individuals to arbitrate claims not covered by arbitration agreements, and protects them from having their statutory rights stripped through an “overbroad arbitration agreement.”

He said his clients hope to make an example of Tesla to other corporations, through this case. The electric vehicle giant has faced many lawsuits alleging discrimination at the Fremont factory for years, including from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Schwartz alluded to the claims in that case of Black workers facing discriminatory treatment, hearing and seeing slurs and finding racist messages "on the walls."

“We can now start to litigate the real issues at stake in this case, which are whether this mega corporation can permit rampant racial harassment unchecked at its factory,” Schwartz said. “Tesla for years has sought to avoid responsibility for their egregious, widespread and despicable racism at the Fremont factory. This case has been pending for more than five years, and they stalled the majority of that time by making frivolous arguments about arbitration agreements instead of confronting head on that racial epithets are widely heard throughout the Fremont factory."

“It’s time for Tesla to face the music,” he added.

Lawyers for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.

BAPTIST PRESS SAYS:
Congress remains largely Christian despite societal trends

By Diana Chandler, 

posted January 4, 2023

in National News



WASHINGTON (BP) – Congress remains a largely Christian institution, bucking two societal trends of declining Christianity and waning religious affiliation, Pew Research said Jan. 3. More than a fifth of Congressional Protestants are Baptists.

At least 88 percent of Congress – 469 of the 534 members – identified as Christian in the poll of the current 118th legislative body that is predominantly Protestant, Pew said in its analysis of poll results gathered by Congressional Quarterly’s Roll Call, with only one member identifying as religiously unaffiliated.

The percentages contrast with a U.S. population, which has dwindled from 78 percent Christian to 63 percent Christian since 2007, Pew said, and is 30 percent religiously unaffiliated.

Among the 303 Protestants in the body are 67 Baptists of various denominations, including approximately 20 Southern Baptists, according to analyses.

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a member of Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, Calif., is vying for the top seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who identified himself as Baptist in the CQ Roll Call tally, attends Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., and formerly was a longtime member of a Southern Baptist congregation.

The 303 Protestants include six additional members above those counted in the previous Congress, and marks the first time since the 2015-2016 session that the number of Protestants has surpassed 300. Congress includes 148 Catholics, a decline of 10 since the 117th Congress. A handful described themselves as Unitarian Universalists or Humanists, and about 20 refused to answer or said they didn’t know.

Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna from Florida is the first Congress member to identify as a Messianic Jew.

Southern Baptist ethicist Hannah Daniel commended the Christian predominance of the body.

“We desire to see believers live out their faith in all corners of the public square, certainly including in the halls of Congress,” Daniel, policy manager in the D.C. office of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told Baptist Press. “As so many Christ followers have taken up this call of public service, it is always our hope that they perform their duties on behalf of our nation in a manner consistent with Christ’s call to love our neighbors.”

Beyond Catholics and Protestants in Congress, there are 34 Jewish members, nine members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, eight Orthodox Christians, three Muslims, two Hindus, and two Buddhists.

Southern Baptist senators, all Republican, are John Boozman, Arkansas; Roger Wicker, Mississippi; Sam Graves, Missouri; James Lankford, Oklahoma; Lindsay Graham, South Carolina, and Ted Cruz, Texas.

Other Southern Baptists serving in Congress include Republican representatives Barry Moore, Alabama; Rick Crawford and Steve Womack, Arkansas; Matt Gaetz, Daniel Webster, Vern Buchanan and Austin Scott, Florida; Harold Rogers, Kentucky; Mike Johnson, Louisiana; Sam Graves, Missouri; and Frank Lucas, Oklahoma.

Pew’s analysis of 534 elected officials includes voting members of Congress sworn in Jan. 3. Virginia’s 4th District is not included. Congressman-elect Donald McEachin of the 4th District died before the swearing-in ceremony.