Former Vice President Joe Biden told a pro-gun worker he was “full of s***” during a testy exchange after speaking at an auto plant in Detroit.

William Cummings, USA TODAY•March 10, 2020

Michigan could redefine Democratic primary

Former Vice President Joe Biden got into a heated exchange with a worker over gun rights during a tour of a Detroit auto plant on Tuesday.

The worker, among a group surrounding Biden in their hardhats at the Fiat Chrysler plant, accused Biden of "actively trying to end our Second Amendment right" and "take away our guns" in the exchange, which was caught on video.

"You're full of ----," Biden responded. "I support the Second Amendment." He then appeared to tell an aide who was trying to end the conversation to "shush."

Biden went on to explain that he believes there are limits to the Second Amendment. He compared it to the limits on the First Amendment right to free speech, such as the famous example of not being able to yell "fire!" in a crowded theater.

The former vice president told the man he owned shotguns and that his sons were hunters.

"I'm not taking your gun away at all," Biden said.

The man repeated his accusation that Biden had pledged to take away peoples' guns.

"I did not say that," Biden said, his voice rising.

The man replied that there was a "viral video" of him saying he would.

"It's a viral video like the other ones they've been putting out that are simply a lie," said Biden. A recent video clip of remarks by Biden that was retweeted by President Donald Trump was labeled "manipulated media" by Twitter and "partly false" by Facebook.

"I support the Second Amendment," Biden adds while vising under-construction auto plant in Detroit. @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/sueOSBaY9P
— Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) March 10, 2020

A video of Biden meeting with former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who supports a mandatory buyback program, after O'Rourke endorsed him has been shared as evidence that Biden plans to confiscate guns. But FactCheck.org determined that such spin on that video was "misleading."

In the video, Biden expresses admiration for O'Rourke's positions on assault weapons and climate change and warns O'Rourke's wife, Amy, that if he wins the election he is "coming for him," presumably to work under a Biden administration. Some conservative sites have shared the video with the implication that Biden was saying, "I'm coming for them," referring to guns.

After denying the claim that he wanted to confiscate guns, an agitated Biden then waved his finger in the man's face and mistakenly referred to "AR-14s."

The two men exchanged more words at that point, which were difficult to discern in the video.

"You're working for me, man," the worker then tells Biden, as the audio becomes clear again.

"I'm not working for you," Biden said. "Give me a break, man. Don't be such a horse's ---."

"Here's the deal. Are you able to own a machine gun?" Biden asks the worker.

"Machine guns are illegal," the man replies. Biden argues AR-15s should be illegal for the same reason before the man is led away by other workers.

Fact check: O’Rourke Endorsement Triggers False Posts on Biden’s Gun Policy
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden meets workers as he tours the Fiat Chrysler plant in Detroit, Michigan on March 10, 2020.

According to the platform laid on his website, Biden favors a ban on the sale and manufacture of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. Those already in possession of such weapons would have a choice between selling them as part of a voluntary government buyback program, or registering them with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

He also endorses expanded background checks, "red flag laws" aimed at keeping guns away from people suffering from mental illness, limits on how many guns people can buy and expanding the list of prohibited buyers.

Six states are voting in the Democratic presidential race on Tuesday, and of those Michigan has the most pledged delegates up for grabs. Polls have suggested Biden is the strong favorite to carry Michigan, though Sen. Bernie Sanders defied the polls and defeated Hillary Clinton there in 2016.

Biden has had other clashes with voters on the campaign trail.

Last month, he called a New Hampshire voter a "lying dog-faced pony soldier" after she asked him a question about his fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.

In December, he called a man at an event in Iowa a "damn liar" when the man accused Biden of selling access to Ukraine. And at a New Hampshire campaign event later that month he called a heckler "an idiot."

'Manipulated media': Twitter uses label for first time after Trump retweets edited video clip of Biden

Contributing: Saranac Hale Spencer, FactCheck.org; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Biden has heated gun control exchange with Michigan worker

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Published: March 10, 2020 at 2:25 p.m. ET

By 

Shawn Langlois

Joe Biden says he’s got no intention of confiscating guns.

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‘You’re full of sh—. ... Don’t tell me that, pal, or I’m going to go out and slap you in the face. ... Don’t be such a horse’s ass.’

That’s presidential hopeful Joe Biden at a campaign stop in Michigan firing back at a construction worker who accused him of trying to confiscate Americans’ guns.

“You are actively trying to end our Second Amendment right and take away our guns,” the man told Biden, adding that the former vice president vowed to do just that in “a viral video.”

The worker was likely referring to a clip that recently racked up clicks with the Facebook FB, +5.12% headline, “Joe Biden says if he wins he’s coming for our guns”. FactCheck.org determined the video was “used as fuel for misinformation” about Biden’s gun policy.

“I support the Second Amendment,” Biden explained. “I have a shotgun, I have a 20-gauge, a 12-gauge. My sons hunt. ... I’m not taking your gun away at all.”

Here’s a clip of the exchange in Detroit, via CBS News:

Biden was on hand to tour the Fiat Chrysler FCAU, +4.36% FCA, 2.498% assembly plant, where he was reportedly greeted warmly by hundreds of IBEW members before the spat.

“You’re the best damn workers in the world,” Biden said. “I promise you if I become your president you will never have a better friend in the White House. I’m union from, as my — I won’t say what my grandfather used to say — but from belt buckle to shoe sole, man.”

According to CBS, Biden was scheduled to meet with the leaders of a gun-control advocacy organization in Columbus, Ohio, later in the day. 

20 leading economists just signed a letter arguing Medicare for All would generate massive savings for American families

Business Insider•March 10, 2020

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks while introducing health care legislation titled the "Medicare for All Act of 2019" with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), during a news conference on Capitol Hill, on April 9, 2019 in Washington, DCMore

Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images


Twenty of the nation's leading economists argued in favor of Medicare for All in an open letter that Business Insider first published on Tuesday.

They argue that existing research suggests there would be massive savings and it would reduce waste in healthcare.

"There's been too much loose talk that Medicare for All is unaffordable. What's really unaffordable is the current system," signatory Gerald Friedman said in an interview.

Twenty of the nation's leading economists argued in support of Medicare for All in an open letter first published by Business Insider on Tuesday.

"We believe the available research supports the conclusion that a program of Medicare for All (M4A) could be considerably less expensive than the current system, reducing waste and profiteering inherent in the current system, and could be financed in a way to ensure significant financial savings for the vast majority of American households," the economists wrote in the open letter.

"Most important, Medicare for All will reduce morbidity and save tens of thousands of lives each year," the group of economists said.

The letter was provided by Business for Medicare for All, an advocacy group pressing for universal healthcare in the US.

The economists aren't coming out in favor of a specific candidate, though some have individually consulted with Democratic presidential campaigns (at least one has endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders).

Instead, they're making the case that a government-run health insurance system would slash wasteful spending and generate massive savings for most Americans.

Dr. Gerald Friedman, a professor at the University of Massachussetts Amherst, told Business Insider that the best argument for a universal healthcare system is its potential ability to rein in the skyrocketing costs of healthcare.

"There's been too much loose talk that Medicare for All is unaffordable," Friedman said. "What's really unaffordable is the current system. We spend about twice the average for affluent countries in the OECD on healthcare," referring to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

Friedman also noted that increased spending often leads to worse health outcomes compared to other developed nations.

Among the letter's signatories are prominent progressive economists like former Labor secretary Robert Reich; Jeffrey Sachs, a leading expert on poverty; Gabriel Zucman and Emmanuel Saez, two professors at the University of California, Berkeley, who laid out plans for a wealth tax; and Darrick Hamilton, a professor of economics at the Ohio State University and a pioneer in economic inequality research.

Medicare for All is the signature plan of Sen. Bernie Sanders, the remaining progressive candidate in the Democratic primary. It would set up a new government health insurance system that provides comprehensive benefits to Americans and toss out deductibles, co-pays, and out-of-pocket spending. Private insurance would be eliminated as well.

Estimates for a system that ensures benefits on the scale Sanders is seeking is upwards of $30 trillion over 10 years. A recent study from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning organization, suggested it could increase the wages of workers and boost the development of small businesses.

The proposal turned into an ideological faultline in the primary, dividing moderates like former Vice President Joe Biden who sought incremental measures to expand coverage and progressives such as Sanders calling to replace the existing system with something entirely new.

In addition to Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren also rolled out a plan to achieve universal healthcare within four years before dropping out of the race.

Skeptics of Medicare for All argue it's a progressive pipe dream that won't be achieved anytime soon. They note it'd be an enormous lift politically even among Democrats, most of whom don't support the idea, The New York Times reported.

An ongoing poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that while a slim majority of the public supports Medicare for All, backing flips when respondents learn they could lose their private health insurance or pay more in taxes.

The economists in the letter, though, say that "shifting the burden" onto taxation of wealthier households would "magnify savings."

"A system that cuts costs and shifts financing to income and wealth taxes will dramatically lower this burden, producing significant savings for workers and businesses," they write.

HOW TO PAY FOR MEDICARE FOR ALL 

CUT MILITARY ENTITLEMENTS

A Look at the Complete Works of Antoni Gaudí

His investigation into classical architecture extended to Barcelona’s Parc Güell, where Doric-inspired columns fill the market hall. But in signature Gaudí style, the ceiling is decorated with colorful mosaics. The park was built between 1900 and 1914.

An earlier project constructed between 1878 and 1888, Casa Vicens in Barcelona has wrought-iron balconies that display similarities to many Art Nouveau structures. But its colorful mosaic-clad façade is definitively Gaudí.

Built between 1883 and 1885, the El Capricho house in the town of Comillas in Northern Spain has a minaret inspired by the Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran.

Gaudí was known for using some unusual building materials—the finials shown here, found in Parc Güell, are decorated with mosaics made from broken coffee cups.

Fed Will Trap U.S. Economy in Recession With 0% Interest Rates

W. E. Messamore, CCN•March 9, 2020

If the Fed cuts rates to zero like markets believe it will, that will put the U.S. in the same boat as the rest of the world.

Markets are pricing in near-100% odds the Federal Reserve will drive interest rate targets down to zero percent next week.

If that happens, the Fed will trap itself between a recession and runaway inflation should prices skyrocket while GDP falls.

That is a horrific situation for the economy to be in: stagflation. It happened in the U.S. before, and it could easily happen again.

Earlier today, the market’s confidence that the Federal Reserve will slash its benchmark interest rate target to zero by next week temporarily soared to nearly 95%.

But if the Fed cuts interest rates all the way to zero, there’s a real danger of inflation making the financial crisis worse

The market briefly priced in a 93% probability of a massive interest rate cut that would take the Fed’s target down to zero. | Source: CME

Because the economy could slip into recession despite monetary intervention with record-low interest rates.

‘Let’s persist together’: Elizabeth Warren staffers endorse Bernie Sanders on crucial primaries day

Chris Riotta

,

The Independent•March 10, 2020

Getty Images

A group of nearly 40 staffers who worked for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign has endorsed Bernie Sanders in an open letter, calling on their supporters to "persist together" in the battle for the White House.

In a letter published to Medium.com on Tuesday titled “Team Warren for Bernie Sanders”, the group of organisers and campaign directors stated their goals included working “to consolidate those who are ready to jump from Warren to Sanders immediately and build a community to facilitate the transition”.

The campaign staffers also said they wanted to reach out to Ms Warren’s supporters and urged them to support the Vermont senator in his bid against former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination.

Those new forms of outreach, the letter stated, would use the foundation built by Ms Warren’s campaign and “the grassroots networks that we have cultivated” throughout the Democratic primaries.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The letter comes just five days after Ms Warren, once considered a potential frontrunner in the Democratic primaries, dropped out of the race. It was published as voters in six battleground states participated in primaries across the country following last week’s Super Tuesday — with Mr Sanders fighting to maintain his campaign against Mr Biden’s newfound frontrunner status.

“Elizabeth ran a campaign on intersectional policy issues like Medicare for All, a Wealth Tax, a Green New Deal, cancelling student loan debt, providing universal free college, expanding Social Security, legalising marijuana at the federal level and erasing convictions, and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” the letter read. “Now that Elizabeth has told us that her campaign is concluded, we know that she is considering how to best continue the fight for big, structural change. We respect that process and trust that she, as she always does, will do what is best to advance this movement.”

It continued: “We also understand and respect that many Warren supporters are still processing their feelings as well. We urge them to take care of themselves first and we stand ready to welcome them back into the fight when they are ready.”

The organisers said they ultimately made the decision to endorse Mr Sanders after Ms Warren dropped out of the race, writing: “We know that we won’t beat Donald Trump by simply talking about a return to business as usual.”

Ms Warren herself has declined to endorse anyone since dropping out of the race. If she were to choose Mr Sanders, her support could be seen as a boost of energy to his campaign after the former vice president raked in endorsements from previous Democratic presidential hopefuls just before last week’s vote.

If she chooses Mr Biden, that could potentially signal Mr Sanders’ campaign is dead in the water, according to some analysts.

35 former Warren staffers (and counting) just officially endorsed @BernieSanders and it’s honestly the most #NotMeUs thing I’ve even seen! 😭

Read their endorsement letter here: https://t.co/Agv8GHwaq2

h/t @People4Bernie for this wonderful solidarityforever graphic pic.twitter.com/S5bLVSnUga

— Bhavik Lathia (@bhaviklathia)

March 10, 2020

In announcing the end of her campaign, Ms Warren said she would need time before potentially making an endorsement during a press conference with reporters outside of her home in Cambridge.

"I need some space around this," she said, "and I want to take a little time to think a little more."

‘Let’s persist together’: Elizabeth Warren staffers endorse Bernie Sanders on crucial primaries day

Chris Riotta, The Independent•March 10, 2020

Getty Images

A group of nearly 40 staffers who worked for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign has endorsed Bernie Sanders in an open letter, calling on their supporters to "persist together" in the battle for the White House.

In a letter published to Medium.com on Tuesday titled “Team Warren for Bernie Sanders”, the group of organisers and campaign directors stated their goals included working “to consolidate those who are ready to jump from Warren to Sanders immediately and build a community to facilitate the transition”.

The campaign staffers also said they wanted to reach out to Ms Warren’s supporters and urged them to support the Vermont senator in his bid against former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination.

Those new forms of outreach, the letter stated, would use the foundation built by Ms Warren’s campaign and “the grassroots networks that we have cultivated” throughout the Democratic primaries.

The letter comes just five days after Ms Warren, once considered a potential frontrunner in the Democratic primaries, dropped out of the race. It was published as voters in six battleground states participated in primaries across the country following last week’s Super Tuesday — with Mr Sanders fighting to maintain his campaign against Mr Biden’s newfound frontrunner status.

“Elizabeth ran a campaign on intersectional policy issues like Medicare for All, a Wealth Tax, a Green New Deal, cancelling student loan debt, providing universal free college, expanding Social Security, legalising marijuana at the federal level and erasing convictions, and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” the letter read. “Now that Elizabeth has told us that her campaign is concluded, we know that she is considering how to best continue the fight for big, structural change. We respect that process and trust that she, as she always does, will do what is best to advance this movement.”

It continued: “We also understand and respect that many Warren supporters are still processing their feelings as well. We urge them to take care of themselves first and we stand ready to welcome them back into the fight when they are ready.”

The organisers said they ultimately made the decision to endorse Mr Sanders after Ms Warren dropped out of the race, writing: “We know that we won’t beat Donald Trump by simply talking about a return to business as usual.”

Ms Warren herself has declined to endorse anyone since dropping out of the race. If she were to choose Mr Sanders, her support could be seen as a boost of energy to his campaign after the former vice president raked in endorsements from previous Democratic presidential hopefuls just before last week’s vote.

If she chooses Mr Biden, that could potentially signal Mr Sanders’ campaign is dead in the water, according to some analysts.

35 former Warren staffers (and counting) just officially endorsed @BernieSanders and it’s honestly the most #NotMeUs thing I’ve even seen! 😭
Read their endorsement letter here: https://t.co/Agv8GHwaq2

h/t @People4Bernie for this wonderful solidarityforever graphic pic.twitter.com/S5bLVSnUga
— Bhavik Lathia (@bhaviklathia)

March 10, 2020

In announcing the end of her campaign, Ms Warren said she would need time before potentially making an endorsement during a press conference with reporters outside of her home in Cambridge.

"I need some space around this," she said, "and I want to take a little time to think a little more."

Taliban fought IS with 'limited' US military support, US general reveals
AFP•March 10, 2020

Marine Corps General Kenneth F. McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, said that the Taliban has shown the "capability" of defeating jihadists with the Islamis State group (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)More


Washington (AFP) - The Taliban has shown that it can fight and defeat Islamic State group jihadists in Afghanistan, a top US general said Tuesday, revealing for the first time that it had done so in recent months with "very limited" US military support.

"It was a bloody mess, but they did it," General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, said of the Taliban's virtual defeat of IS in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province in recent months.

McKenzie disclosed the US military support for the Taliban operation in congressional testimony, but provided few details on the role played by US forces.

He was called to testify about the situation in Afghanistan following a peace deal that the United States signed with the Taliban February 29 in Doha

Under the agreement, the United States committed to the withdrawal of all foreign fores within 14 months in return for a Taliban pledge to tackle jihadists such as the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda, and hold peace talks with the Afghan government.

"Over the last several months in eastern Afghanistan we've watched the Taliban compress and crush the ISIS presence on the ground in southern Nangarhar province, and they've been very effective doing that," McKenzie said, using an alternate acronym for Islamic State.

"There was very limited support from us," he said, without elaborating further on the role US forces played.

"They have demonstrated a capability to do it. It was a bloody mess, but they did it," the US general said.

"ISIS really now no longer holds ground in Nangarhar province."

McKenzie, however, said he was "less optimistic" about the Taliban taking on Al-Qaeda, the jihadists who plotted the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States from their base in then Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

"That's something they're going to have to demonstrate that has not yet been demonstrated," McKenzie said.

McKenzie reminded lawmakers that the Taliban must meet its commitments for there to be a withdrawal.

"We don't need to trust them, we don't need to like them, we don't need to believe anything they say, we need to observe what they do," McKenzie said.

McKenzie said that the US military has yet to prepare a military plan for a total withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Guatemalan migrant dies in U.S. custody after gallblader operation

Reuters•March 9, 2020

Guatemala seeks to limit migrants returned under U.S. agreement

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - A Guatemalan migrant who had passed a key hurdle in her bid to win asylum in the United States has died in U.S. custody after a gallbladder operation, the Guatemalan government said on Monday.

Maria Ochoa, 22, from the poor San Marcos region near Guatemala's border with Mexico, died on Sunday in a hospital in Houston, Texas, months after she was detained at the border by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September.

Ochoa, whose two brothers live in the United States, had an operation on her gallbladder in the neighboring state of Oklahoma on Feb. 7 and spent a week in hospital afterwards, Guatemala's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Weeks earlier, she had passed the "credible fear test", the statement said, which is among the first tests U.S. asylum seekers must pass before they are allowed to press their case while remaining in the United States.

A surge of mostly Central American migrants have made the perilous journey north to try to enter the United States in recent years, many with children in tow and most fleeing rampant violence and extreme poverty in their home countries.

Several have died in U.S. custody in recent months.

A young Guatemalan woman is the eighth person to die in ICE custody in 6 months

INSIDER•March 9, 2020

US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

A Guatemalan woman, 22, died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sunday.

Her passing marks the eighth ICE-detainee death since October 1, when the 2020 fiscal year began six months ago.

A total of eight immigrants died while in ICE detention the previous year.

A 22-year-old Guatemalan woman died in a Texas hospital after several months in detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Buzzfeed News reported Sunday.

The woman, who was arrested and detained by ICE after crossing the Mexico-Texas border last September, had passed her "credible fear" screening, demonstrating that she was escaping a credible threat of persecution or violence in Guatemala, according to Buzzfeed News' source, who spoke anonymously.

The woman is the eighth person to die in ICE custody since October 1, which marked the beginning of the fiscal year 2020. In the previous fiscal year, a total of eight detainees died in ICE custody.

She was in detention at an ICE facility in Oklahoma when, in early February, she was taken to a hospital in the state and had her gallbladder surgically removed. The day after the operation, she was taken back to the Oklahoma facility and then moved to another ICE detention center in Texas.

Five days later, on February 18, she began experiencing abdominal pain. She was taken to a Texas hospital for care, where she stayed until her death on Sunday.

Since President Donald Trump took office, more than two dozen immigrants have died in ICE custody. A recent Buzzfeed News expose found that ICE's health branch "has systematically provided inadequate medical and mental health care and oversight to immigration detainees across the U.S.," according to a whistleblower who corresponded with Buzzfeed News.

The whistleblower provided Buzzfeed News with an internal ICE memo that showed a trend of inadequate medical care, which led to the preventable death of three detainees.

The memo also revealed that immigrants were given the wrong medications. One man was given Advil despite having thin blood. Detainees that suffered from addiction withdrawal were not given proper treatment, according to the whistleblower.

"This is significant and very damning," the whistleblower, a former official, told Buzzfeed News. "It blows up a lot of the ICE responses to allegations of poor medical care and about how it provides 'the highest care of detainees.' This makes that seem pretty false, which it is."

An ICE spokesperson told Buzzfeed News at the time that the agency "is committed to ensuring that those in our custody reside in secure, humane environments and under appropriate conditions of confinement."

The statement went on to say: "The agency takes very seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care, including those who come into ICE custody with prior medical conditions or who have never before received appropriate medical care. It also uses a multi-layered inspections program to ensure its facilities meet a certain threshold of care as outlined in our contracts with facilities, as well as the National Detention Standards and the Performance Based National Detention Standards."

In December, the House Oversight and Reform Committee launched an investigation into ICE's medical-care apparatus, citing numerous detainee complaints of "inadequate medical treatment."

Olive Garden employee, 16, to file lawsuit after customer requested white server, reports say

Michael Doyle, Evansville Courier & Press,USA TODAY•March 9, 2020

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – An Olive Garden employee who made headlines last week when a customer singled her out in an incident of racial discrimination has decided to sue the restaurant.

According to a Facebook post Saturday from Indiana law firm Danks and Danks, Amira Donahue, 16, decided to quit her position at the restaurant because of what she said has become a hostile work environment.

"After Amira spoke up about being discriminated against by an Olive Garden customer, she has been harassed by and retaliated against by her coworkers and superiors," the post reads. "Amira told her superiors about the harassment and retaliation by her coworkers, and Olive Garden failed to stop it from continuing.

"Amira did her best to overcome the adversity at Olive Garden, but her environment had become intolerable. The final straw happened yesterday evening when Amira overheard a coworker say, 'black people will do anything for money' and 'I don’t like her,’" the Facebook post continues.

Previously: Olive Garden customer reportedly refused service from a black server and the manager complied

As first reported by the USA TODAY Network's Evansville Courier & Press on March 2, Donahue was working her shift as a host at Olive Garden in Evansville on Feb. 29 when a customer requested a white server instead of the server already assigned to the table. Both Donahue and the server are black.

The manager of the restaurant granted the customer's request. That manager was later “separated” from the company, according to Olive Garden corporate management.

"We have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind, and the manager involved no longer works for our company," an emailed statement from the company said.

Customers at the restaurant corroborated Donahue's account of what happened the next day.

"A few white people come in (and) says that they refuse service from a 'colored' server and asks to speak with the manager," wrote Maxwell Robbins, who told the Courier & Press he went to dinner at the restaurant. "The manager without hesitation ensures that they will not receive service from a person of color."

Danks and Danks issued a statement saying the firm was "proud to join Amira in this fight."

Attorney Brandon Danks told local news outlet WEVV that the firm is "anticipating litigation" and expects to "eventually file something."

"We stand with Amira and fully support her decision," the firm's Facebook post concluded. "She has been strong in facing adversity and brave for exposing it.

"We will continue the fight for Amira and hold Olive Garden responsible for its treatment of employees."

As part of an outpouring of support on social media, Paparazzi Glamour & Gowns, an Evansville formal wear store, said Donahue's prom gown, which she purchased on a payment plan, would be free.

The store went a step further, also offering her a new job.

"Your prom dress is here waiting for you – as is a sales associate position with a management team and co-workers who support you in your fundamental right to be amazing, if you ever choose to take us up on it!" a post on the store's Facebook page reads.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Olive Garden employee Donahue to sue after racist incident: reports

McDonald's hourly workers in U.S. demand paid sick leave as virus spreads

Reuters•March 10, 2020


(Reuters) - Hourly wage workers at McDonald's Corp on Tuesday sought paid sick leave for those working at its U.S. restaurants and an update to the safety protocols as coronavirus cases in the United States rise.

The burger chain has not trained or given any guidelines on the epidemic, McDonald's cooks and cashiers associated with labor group Fight for $15 and a Union said in a statement.

Maurilia Arellanes, a McDonald's worker in California, said on a media call organized by the labor group that she cannot afford to take a day off if she is sick.

"McDonald's needs to step up and do everything it can to make sure workers like me are safe and that if we do get sick, we can take time off to get better without falling behind on our bills," she said.

The labor group asked the company to pay workers for any missed shifts if its restaurant shuts down due to the spread of COVID-19. McDonald's hourly pay for workers varies from $7.25 to $15 based on the state.

"As we proactively monitor the impact of the coronavirus, we are continuously evaluating our policies to provide flexibility and reasonable accommodations," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

Restaurant workers have for long complained about poor pay and working conditions, drawing support from politicians and Fight for $15, which has regularly targeted McDonald's calling for higher pay and union rights for workers.

Their demands come close on the heels of Darden Restaurants, the owner of Olive Garden and Bahama Breeze chains, saying it would provide its hourly workers paid sick leaves starting Tuesday.

Separately, retailer Walmart Inc said an employee in Kentucky tested positive for the coronavirus, adding that employees would receive up to two weeks of pay in case of infection or if their store, club, office or distribution center were quarantined.

Over 600 cases and 26 deaths have been reported in the United States due to the coronavirus. However, McDonald's has not issued an update on the potential financial impact on its home.

When the outbreak was first reported in China late last year and the company said in January it does not see a big financial hit as it only collected royalty fees from China.

It last week decided to cancel its biennial in-person worldwide convention, attended by operators from around the world and set to take place in a few weeks. It will now hold a digital convention.

"The company canceled a meeting of executives and franchisees, but it's not making any plans for us frontline workers, who cannot afford to take a day off without pay if we get sick," said Fran Marion, a McDonald's worker in Kansas City, Missouri.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Arun Koyyur)