Journal de La Reyna (World News Today): discrimination

Showing posts with label discrimination. Show all posts

Monday, October 05, 2015

An Un-American Apparel!

American Apparel location in Cincinnati, Ohio.

A famed clothing company is filing for bankruptcy today. It's a sign that shoppers aren't finding any interest in American Apparel. I couldn't be any more happier of the news.

I've never bought anything from that company. I've never applied for a job there. I've always had a feeling that they would use discriminating tactics in hiring. AA founder's Dov Charney, a Canadian-American business mogul was fired out the cannon after he was caught up in a sexual harassment and discrimination scandal.

The company once held a gold standard of hiring practice. They didn't want any "trashy Black women" ever hired at their stores. Watch "the ones" who may shoplift from the store. Look for the "right types of customers". You know "the ones" who got money.

AA was having that going on at their stores.

So now the company will focus on trying to bring back customers. AA want to restart the company under Standard General, an American based hedge firm.

The company, which has seen spiraling sales and an ever-sinking stock price since the management upheaval began, proposed a plan that would keep its 130 U.S. stores open and maintain its Los Angeles manufacturing operation, the Times reported. No layoffs were mentioned in the Chapter 11 petition, which was approved by American Apparel’s board, and filed in Delaware, the newspaper said. The plan requires approval by the federal bankruptcy court, it added.

American Apparel’s shares closed at 11 cents each last week.

American Apparel’s brand recognition has far exceeded its sales numbers over the past decade with its “Made in the USA” ethos, provocative advertising, and colorful, scandal-ridden founder Dov Charney.

Charney didn't go quietly. He mounted a civil war within the board.

Notice something about this picture!

The new CEO Paula Schneider is facing mounting criticism. She promised a turnaround. It's a little too late for the turnaround. Schneider is considered inept among the shareholders.

American Apparel saw new legal fees, a workforce moving towards unionization, plummeting sales, and wider losses. It announced layoffs earlier this year, as well as store closures. Questions have been swirling around the company’s ability to pay a major interest payment later this month.

The bankruptcy, if approved, will mean just that. It will also wipe out Charney’s stake in the company, according to the Los Angeles Times. Standard General and other creditors will gain full control of American Apparel if the plan is approved.

“Not having the nuisance lawsuits, not having this massive debt, these are all extremely important things for the company to thrive,” Schneider told the Times in a Sunday interview.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Pregnant Woman Fired Out The Cannon After Employer Wanted Her To Pay The Armed Robber's Loot!

Good food Bayou. The New Orleans based Popeye's is doing damage control after one of its franchises fired a pregnant woman after she was told to payback the loot a robber stole.

Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits are company owned and franchised. The one that fired a woman out of the canon after an armed robbery was franchised. The controversy in suburban Houston managed to make the news.

A pregnant woman was told to pay up the loot after she was robbed at gunpoint at a Channelview Popeye's. According to her, her managers wanted her to fork up the $$$ after she was held up.

She refused and a few days later, she got fired out the cannon. Now she's telling her story to the junk food media and the public is none too happy about it.

Yeah, I understand that no one wants to be a part of an armed robbery. The victims are usually traumatized once they see the silver revolver in their face.

Yeah, companies may have the right to fire you based on work performance.

Obviously, most employers that have register operators tell them to keep it short. Because if you have more than $200 in your register, you're inviting yourself to an armed robbery.

Register operators are often naive on the rule. Say it was a busy day, they were holding a whole lot of $5s and $10s in their register but eliminated the larger denominations. Rather than keep it low, they keep enough of the smaller bills. So if you have over $200 in smaller bills, you're still giving an opportunity to a robber. You could get fired for it.

Marissa Holcomb got fired out the cannon after she got the silver in her face. Her bosses wanted her to payback the loot and she refused to comply.

Understanding that having too much money in your register automatically assures that you not focused on the safety of you and the liability of the company. They understand you were robbed but if you gave them a reason to be robbed, then they focus on your responsibilities as register operator.

It's not fair but it's a part of the economic food chain in capitalism.

Marissa Holcomb was the evening manager at Popeye's when the sliver was pointed in her face during a busy March 31 sales period.

Holcomb, who is a mother of three with a fourth child on the way, had a meeting with Z & H Foods owner Amin Dhanani on Wednesday, a day after our original story aired of her firing.

"He just apologized and pretty much offered me if I wanted to go back to his business and work there again," she said.

Dhanani argued she was fired because she broke policy multiple times by leaving too much money in the register.

Holcomb argued it was a busy Tuesday when they offer a 2-piece chicken meal for $1.19 and she moved money as fast as she could.

The unidentified robber got away with nearly $400.

Will Marisa take the job back?

Of course, this controversy managed to put Popeye's in a negative light. Usually most companies don't like the negative publicity coming from the social media when it comes to a social ill (i.e women, minorities and the disabled).

Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Where's Waldo?

Florida city is infamous for traffic citations.

The state of idiocy has once again gotten some negative attention. A small city about 65 miles from Jacksonville is under fire for being a notorious speed trap and the police are taking advantage of the motorists.

The city has speed limit in urban areas 35 but it jumps from 45 to 55 and lowers down again numerous times. It's among the controversies that merits the Florida State Attorney to investigate the quotas.

Florida cities such as Tampa, Orlando, Ft. Walton Beach, Pensacola, Jacksonville, Miami, West Palm Beach, Lake City and Naples have traffic cameras at certain intersections. Some other cities require officers to be in a heavy traveled area where it's known for potential accidents.

The city of Waldo requires drivers to speed up and slow down six times: 65mph becomes 55mph; 55 becomes 45; then goes back to 55; then back down to 45; to 55 again; and, eventually, 35mph. AAA has named it one of only two "traffic traps" nationwide. Now Waldo faces a scandal following allegations that the town victimizes motorists to turn a profit. Two police chiefs have been suspended, the police department has rebelled, and the state is investigating possible wrongdoing. The situation simmered for years until last month, when Chief Mike Szabo was suspended, apparently in response to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into suspected improprieties in the way officers write tickets.

Weeks later at a Waldo City Council meeting, a group of police officers said they had been ordered by Szabo to write at least 12 tickets per 12-hour shift or face repercussions. In 2013, Waldo's seven police officers filed 11,603 traffic citations, according to records obtained by the Gainesville Sun. That compares with 25,461 citations in 2013 for much larger Gainesville, which has 300 officers and 128,000 residents, including thousands of college students. The fines paid by motorists are a big moneymaker. According to the city's 2013 budget, about half of its $1 million in revenue came from "court fines" from tickets issued. The State Attorney's Office in Alachua County says it's waiting for the FDLE to finish its investigation of ticket quotas and other wrongdoing before deciding whether to file charges.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Ohio Woman Fired After Voting For Obama!

The rust city of Dayton, Ohio is in the news again. I've talked about the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority and their fight against the nearby suburb of Beavercreek, Ohio. The suburb refuses bus access to the area businesses because of fears of urban violence. The conservative government constantly refuses access to the area. This will continue as an ongoing story.

Today this story is about a woman being fired for her political views. It's been picked up by the political blogs and today I will talk about it!

This lawsuit from a woman has generated buzz. She is suing her employer after she was terminated for supporting President Barack Obama.

Patricia Kunkle is suing her former employer Q-mark, a military defense contractor. The lawsuit alleges she was fired for voting for President Obama, a charge the company denies.

The Dayton Daily News and Associated Press reports that Kunkle’s lawsuit claims Gentile threatened employees with termination last year if President Obama was re-elected and that Obama supporters would be the first to be terminated if he were re-elected. Kunkle’s suit said her voting preferences came up in conversation the day after the election and that she was fired Nov. 9 for what the suit claims Gentile said was in the “best interest of the company.”

“Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, taking it to the extreme of impairing somebody’s career because they disagree with your political choices is just wrong,” said Kunkle’s attorney, Karen Dunlevey.

“We’re hoping that the court will recognize that and adopt a public policy exception for her.”
Gentile’s attorney, Brian Wildermuth, disputed the lawsuit’s premise.

“Ms. Kunkle was laid off for economic reasons – nothing more,” Wildermuth wrote as part of a prepared response to the Dayton Daily News. ” I am sure you and your readers are familiar with the ongoing uncertainties regarding defense spending, and thus the economic environment confronting defense contractors. The allegation that Q-Mark discharged Ms. Kunkle because of her vote is simply false.”

Wildermuth said Kunkle’s position was not filled.

The suit claims Kunkle started as a temporary worker with the small company in April 2012 and became full-time in May 2012. It also says she performed her duties “efficiently and effectively,” never received any disciplinary action or negative performance evaluations. The suit also said Kunkle was paid $12 per hour, was not paid overtime for hours she worked in excess of 40 hours and is not exempt from OT pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The suit also said Gentile engaged Q-Mark employees in conversations aimed at discovering employees’ political affiliations and repeatedly disparaged Obama supporters.

Dunlevey said she typically represents employers in employment litigation but made an exception for this case, which pits at-will employment against Ohio Revised Code 3599, which guards against employers’ intimidation, coercion and retaliation involving elections.

“This case, if they find in our favor, will be making new law,” Dunlevey said. “But there is what’s called wrongful termination/violation of public policy in employment law cases.”

University of Dayton School of Law professor Richard Saphire said that if the plaintiff can successfully argue that she wasn’t fired due to economic reasons that there is a question involving Ohio limiting the scope of the at-will employment doctrine.

“It’s just a question of if you have a statute that affects, or to some extent, modifies, an employment relationship and what does the statute say and does the statute apply in this situation and can she claim the protection of the statute,” Saphire said. “She either can or she can’t. The court’s going to interpret the statute in light of what it sees as the relevant facts in this case and decide one way or the other.”

Defense attorneys have until mid-March to respond to the case that was randomly assigned to Judge Dennis Langer.

Since it's picked up on The Drudge Report, Mediaite, The Huffington Post and Raw Story it's become viral.

Here's some of the most nastiest online comments from The Columbus Dispatch. It was a link from The Drudge Report.

This is the audience of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, Bill O'Reilly, Matt Drudge, Michael Savage and Fox News. This is the Republican Party today!

This is why Republicans are doomed for political failure!