Monday, July 23, 2012
Dearborn's Henry Ford Community College is under fire for kicking out a student with a record.
Henry Ford Community College is being sued by a convicted sex offender who believes he was wrongfully kicked out of the Dearborn school. According to CBS Detroit, Detroit resident Michael Branch was kicked out of HFCC last year when the school learned of his police record. The 38-year-old student was convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old girl in 2004. The civil rights lawsuit, filed on July 17 in Michigan's Eastern District Court, asks that Branch be reinstated as a student at the school. The suit was also filed against HFCC Vice President of Student Affairs Lisa Jones-Harris. According to WXYZ, Branch said he had a 3.7 GPA at the school. He is off parole, and his parole officer OK'd his attendance at HFCC. Branch was pursuing a …
Friday, June 29, 2012
Video released this week by the Bible Believers shows several members of the group being hit with various items, and some claim arrests should have been made.
A video from Dearborn's Arab International Festival is making the rounds online this week, and some are saying it's a clear sign that assault took place and went unpunished by Wayne County officers. Originally posted to YouTube by a group known as Itching Ears Ministry, the video shows raw footage taken at the festival during a protest by the Bible Believers. In the video, numerous attendees at the festival are shown shouting obscenities and throwing various items at the protesters–including water bottles, Frisbees, eggs and even milk crates. Members of the group are heard mentioning being hit by several of the items. One man even says he was hit in the head by a "piece of concrete." The Wayne County Sheriff's Department, which oversaw …
Thursday, April 5, 2012
A federal judge has issued an order stating her belief that the city's hold harmless agreement is unconstitutional.
Terry Jones will demonstrate in Dearborn on Saturday, and his lawsuit against the city will move forward, the Thomas More Law Center confirmed Thursday. The lawsuit, filed Monday by the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor on behalf of Jones and Associate Pastor Wayne Sapp, alleges that the city has violated the two men's free speech rights. The claim is based on the fact that the city has asked Jones to sign a "hold harmless" agreement releasing the city of any responsibility for damage to his property or personal injury during his Saturday afternoon protest. The city agreed to waive the hold harmless agreement, with the stipulation that the lawsuit would be dropped. TMLC President and Chief Counsel Richard Thompson said, however, that …
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
As the Quran-burning preacher prepares for a Saturday demonstration in Dearborn, he has filed a lawsuit over free speech rights.
Just days before his planned Saturday protest in front of Dearborn's Islamic Center of America, Quran-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones has filed a lawsuit against the city of Dearborn. The suit, filed Monday by the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor on behalf of Jones and Associate Pastor Wayne Sapp, alleges that the city has violated the two men's free speech rights. The claim is based on the fact that the city has asked Jones to sign a "hold harmless" agreement releasing the city of any responsibility for damage to his property or personal injury during his Saturday afternoon protest. The city will not grant a permit to hold the protest on city grounds without the signed document. "Plaintiffs should not be forced to sign a one-sided, …
Friday, March 23, 2012
Lawyers on behalf of the 19th District Court and Judge Mark Somers hope to prove that the city has to pay the $732,000 settlement awarded to a former employee of the court.
Lawyers working for the 19th District Court and Judge Mark Somers met Thursday with Dearborn legal counsel and city leaders to continue the discussion about who is responsible for payment of $732,361 awarded in July to a former employee who sued Somers for wrongful termination. Julie Pucci, a former administrator in the 19th District Court, claimed in the lawsuit that her due process was violated when her job was eliminated without cause or warning. A federal jury agreed, awarding her the settlement in July 2011. In addition, the jury backed Pucci’s claim that Somers retaliated against her when she filed a complaint with the State Court Administrative Office. Somers appealed the judgment and requested a stay without bond, assuring the …
Friday, February 10, 2012
The civil rights complaint filed Wednesday is requesting $250,000 in physical and property damages.
A Dearborn resident is suing the city and Dearborn Police Department in U.S. Federal District Court over what she claims was a wrongful arrest in 2008. According to legal documents released Friday by Dearborn lawyer Scott Murdoch, his client Christine Schmidt is asking for $250,000 in physical and property damages for an incident she said led to stress and anguish so bad they required hospitalization, as well as the loss of her residence. The lawsuit filed Feb. 8 explains that Schmidt was arrested at 1:30 a.m. on March 15, 2008, for trespassing at her rented home on Mead Street. The call to police was made by her landlord, Nabil Hawily, who was denied entry into the home when he came there asking Schmidt to pay her rent. Schmidt was taken …
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Judge Mark Somers' wages will be garnished to fund a $1.2 million lawsuit judgment in favor of former court employee Julie Pucci.
A Dearborn district judge will see his wages garnished due to the court's denial of his motion to stop the enforcement of payment of a $1.2 million lawsuit judgment pending his appeal to a higher court. Following a June 2011 jury decision to award former 19th District Court employee Julie Pucci a total of $732,000 plus court costs after she was fired from the court, Dearborn judge Mark Somers appealed the judgment and requested a stay without bond, assuring the court that the City of Dearborn held responsibility for payment of the lawsuit. However, the court denied the request on Dec. 16, finding that the "demonstrated resistance by the City of Dearborn to acknowledge any responsibility for Judge Somers' conduct or the resulting liability …
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Speculation over a sex discrimination lawsuit filed against the City of Dearborn may be a difficult battle to win, according to some.
An employment discrimination lawsuit filed against the City of Dearborn on Nov. 23 still has no trial date set, but speculation as to how the case will turn out is bubbling. The suit, filed on behalf of Southfield resident John Benitez Jr., accuses the city of sex discrimination for firing Benitez from the city’s health department in 2010. The department has since closed, due to budget cuts made earlier this year. However, Benitez's suit requests relief for lost wages and benefits, legal fees, as well as the reinstatement of his position with the city. Benitez is represented by Bloomfield Hills employment attorney Deborah Gordon. The federal lawsuit alleges that Benitez, a registered nurse, was fired from the Dearborn Health Department for…
Friday, October 21, 2011
Dearborn citizen group says it created the website to inform the public about the controversial ballot proposal and encourage people to vote against it.
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Friday, October 21, 2011
A group of Dearborn citizens has launched a website to rally support against a ballot proposal to terminate the city's civil service system, a set of rules, regulations and governing commission that oversee the hiring, firing and promotions of city employees. The group's website, SaveCivilService.com, was created to help ensure that voters are able to make an informed decision about Proposal 3, which is on the ballot for the Dearborn's Nov. 8 election, according to a release from the group. The website includes the Proposal 3 ballot language, which proposes elimination of Dearborn’s Civil Service System. It also includes information about the role of the Civil Service Commission and potential issues if it is eliminated. “I’m encouraging …
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
A former chair of the Civil Service Commission says the city's reasons for eliminating the system center around ousting her and the human resources director from their positions.
A lawsuit filed this month against the city of Dearborn could result in the removal of the ballot proposal to terminate the city's civil service system, a set of rules, regulations and governing commission that oversee the hiring, firing and promotions of city employees. Former Civil Service Commission Chair Marjorie Powell filed a lawsuit Oct. 6 seeking to obtain a court-ordered injunction that would remove the proposed charter amendment from November's ballot. Powell has been in a heated court case with the city since last year after she was forced out of the commission for not taking her oath of office in a timely manner. Her current lawsuit claims that ousting both her and current Human Resources Director Valerie Murphy-Goodrich is the…
anonymous
4:05 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Oh TMZ. I got it sorry didnt mean to come across as querulous, just wondered the validation of the facts. Should know better after it is on the net right??? Thanks again for replyning off topic more ›