Latest news with #PennsylvaniaHumanRelationsAct
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
FedEx employee fired for attending Alcoholics Anonymous meeting claims ‘anti-white' discrimination
A recovering alcoholic working at a FedEx facility in rural Pennsylvania claims she got fired for leaving early to attend an AA meeting, and contends her termination came about, to a significant degree, because her boss was prejudiced against white people. In a federal lawsuit filed Monday and obtained by The Independent, Margaret Fiander, 64, alleges violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which proscribes race-based discrimination. On top of allegedly failing to accommodate her disability, Fiander's former supervisor at FedEx 'discriminated against [her] because she is Caucasian and not Hispanic,' according to her complaint, which says Latino employees were given 'preferential treatment,' while whites were 'treated… less favorably.' Reached by phone on Tuesday, Fiander told The Independent, 'This would've been settled and resolved by now, it shouldn't have gone this far. I still wanted to work, I didn't want it to get to this.' Fiander said management 'singled me out and targeted me for things that everybody else got away with.' This, she lamented, kept her from advancing professionally, and today she remains out of work. 'I had trouble getting jobs after that,' Fiander said, emphasizing that she believes her whiteness was in fact a detriment at FedEx. A FedEx spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. Fiander hired on at FedEx in December 2020, assigned to FedEx's 970,000 square-foot regional sorting center in Breinigsville, a town of 8,000 near Allentown, where she worked as a package handler, according to her complaint. 'You'll work in a fast-paced warehouse-like environment taking responsibility for tracking shipments and working safely and efficiently while sorting, processing, loading, and unloading packages,' the official job description reads. 'You may be called upon to use equipment such as hydraulic conveyor belts in your work.' Although she at one point had substance abuse issues, Fiander, who had an attorney file her initial complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but is now representing herself in court, says she has been clean for more than two decades. 'Plaintiff is an alcoholic and has attended weekly Alcoholics Anonymous ('AA') meetings on Mondays for 21 years and has maintained sobriety for 21 years,' her complaint states. In March 2021, Fiander asked her then-manager if she could leave early on Mondays so she could make her regular meeting, the complaint continues. It says he told Fiander that doing so 'would not be an issue.' 'Thereafter, [Fiander] left at approximately 4:00 pm every Monday to attend AA meetings,' the complaint says. Fiander would always inform whatever supervisor was on duty of the arrangement, and for the next two years, 'no manager objected,' the complaint states. 'I never had documentation in writing that I could leave at 4 o'clock, but I should have,' Fiander told The Independent. 'I said, 'Should I just get this in writing?' And they said, 'No, just let them know.' It got to the point where everybody knew. I mean, common sense – you don't walk off the job without permission.' On August 7, 2023, Fiander reminded the shift manager that she would be leaving at 4 p.m. for her meeting, to which the manager replied, 'OK,' the complaint goes on. The next day, according to the complaint, Fiander received an alert on the FedEx scheduling app, informing her that all of her shifts for the rest of the week, as well as the following week, had been canceled. Confused, Fiander reached out to the HR department but wasn't able to get anyone on the phone at the time, the complaint states. However, she soon discovered that the app allowed her to reclaim at least some of the lost shifts, which the complaint says Fiander promptly did. But, on August 9, the shift manager who two days prior had given Fiander a green light to leave early called and fired her, according to the complaint. He told Fiander that she had 'violated company policy' by leaving work early on August 7, 'despite this being her long-standing accommodation that had been approved and in place for over two years,' the complaint states, calling the manager's claim 'a pretext.' In actuality, the complaint alleges, Fiander was fired 'because of her disability and/or in retaliation for requesting and utilizing a reasonable accommodation,' and asserts that her supervisors were bigoted against whites. Fiander's higher-ups 'considered [her] race in denying [her] reasonable accommodation and in terminating [her] employment,' according to the complaint. 'They wanted to get rid of me, I have no idea why,' Fiander told The Independent. 'There was somebody there that had it in for me.' So-called reverse discrimination lawsuits have become more and more common in the age of Donald Trump, and the Supreme Court may soon make it easier for members of majority groups to bring bias cases. Last month, a judge in Michigan paved the way for a terminated IBM employee to sue the company over alleged discrimination because he is a white male. In 2024, Sony settled a pending lawsuit claiming discrimination against white job applicants. On the flip side, more diverse companies tend to be more profitable than ones that are less so, according to McKinsey & Company. Further, reverse discrimination suits can also flop. A federal judge recently ruled against a white man who sued 3M after he was fired for using his cellphone on the production floor, arguing that management let slide a pair of similarly situated Black female employees for the same infraction. Similarly, a federal judge last year threw out a suit by an NYU law student who claimed the school's law review was biased against white males. Fiander is seeking a court order prohibiting FedEx from 'discriminating against employees or prospective employees based on their disability and/or need for an accommodation,' and wants back pay and future lost earnings. She is also asking for liquidated and punitive damages significant enough 'to punish [FedEx] for their willful, deliberate, malicious, and outrageous conduct and to deter… [them] from engaging in such misconduct in the future,' plus damages for emotional distress and pain and suffering to be decided by a jury, in addition to court costs and attorneys' fees.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Realtors advocate for fair housing
Although Realtors are committed to fair housing practices year-round, April is when they commemorate the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968. 'The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was monumental,' said Reading-Berks Association of Realtors President Dave Snyder. 'The act protects people from discrimination when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance or engaging in other housing-related activities. 'It prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex — including gender identity and sexual orientation — familial status and disability. In our state, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act also protects against housing discrimination based on age, ancestry and usage, handling or training of assistance animals for persons with disabilities.' Although more people have opportunities to achieve homeownership than before, discrimination still occurs throughout every step of the homebuying process, from the initial search and securing financing to the final closing, based on race, gender, socioeconomic status and other factors. As members of the National Association of Realtors, Realtors are required to complete fair housing and anti-bias training upon becoming members, and every three years thereafter, coinciding with their Code of Ethics training timeline. 'Regardless of identity or background, everyone deserves to be treated fairly and equally throughout the entirety of the homebuying process,' Snyder said. 'Homeownership offers individuals a foundation for security and an opportunity to build long-term and generational wealth. 'As Realtors, we subscribe to NAR's Code of Ethics and are committed to adhering to the Fair Housing Act. Every day, we strive to promote equal housing opportunities for all and help people achieve their homeownership dreams.' Homebuyers and sellers can seek products, services and prices from multiple companies to ensure that they're receiving fair treatment. If consumers believe they've experienced a fair housing issue, they should contact the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission at
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Suit claims Pa. Human Relations Commission's LGBTQ+ protections are unconstitutional
An LGBTQ+ pride flag. Two school districts and a group of parents are suing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission over its expansion of the prohibition on sex discrimination to include LGBTQ+ people. The lawsuit was filed last week in Commonwealth Court by the Thomas More Society, a conservative Catholic public interest law firm. It alleges the PHRC violated the state constitution when it 'created a heretofore unimagined meaning of 'sex' within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.' The commission, which enforces state laws against discrimination, announced new regulations in June 2023 under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) and the Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act (PFEOA). The regulations clarified the definition of 'sex' to include 'sex assigned at birth, gender identity or expression, differences in sex development and affectional or sexual orientation,' consistent with the broad definitions used by federal and state courts. 'Gov. Josh Shapiro's and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission's radical redefinition of 'sex' undermines our state constitution, parental rights, and the fair and equal treatment of every Pennsylvanian — male or female,' Thomas More Society attorney Tom King of Butler, said in a statement. 'This regulatory redefinition of reality is a blatant example of government bureaucrats overstepping their authority to push gender ideology.' A spokesperson for the PHRC said the agency was referring requests for comment to Gov. Josh Shapiro's office. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX At an event touting his energy plan Wednesday, Shapiro responded to a question, saying had not read the lawsuit but believes it is his responsibility as governor to carry on the vision of William Penn to make Pennsylvania 'a place that would be warm and welcoming for all people.' 'I understand that there are those who want to try and score cheap political points by bullying a trans kid or making it harder for someone to marry who they love,' Shapiro said. 'That's just not where I am, and that's certainly not where I think the vast majority of Pennsylvanians are. The people I meet every day are people who are welcoming, people who are tolerant, and I think we need to continue to be welcoming and tolerant here in this Commonwealth.' At least 24 states and dozens of cities and other municipalities across the United States have extended anti discrimination laws to protect LGBTQ+ people. In May 2023, the state House passed House Bill 300, which would have statutorily included LGBTQ+ people as a protected class under the Human Relations Act. The measure, which had bipartisan support in the chamber, was never considered in the state Senate. The legislation, called the Fairness Act, was first introduced in 2001 by Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), but only passed in the House 22 years later, after Democrats won a one-vote majority. After the House returned to session this past January, the House LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus responded to an executive order by President Donald Trump recognizing only male and female sexes, saying 'the ground has shifted under the feet of transgender people in the wake of President Donald Trump's executive orders and speeches, which denied their very existence.' 'These actions are hateful, ignorant, and dangerous—they threaten to unravel decades of progress our society has made toward fairness and equality,' the caucus, chaired by Rep. Jessica Benham (D-Allegheny), said in a statement. 'Gender identity and expression cannot be delegitimized by the stroke of a pen. Attempts to do so are shameful.' The caucus said its members would pursue and exhaust all legislative avenues 'through the Fairness Act and beyond' to safeguard transgender people in Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the South Side Area and Knoch school districts in Beaver County and the parents of children enrolled in public schools in Chester, Delaware, Lawrence and Montgomery counties. Rep. Barbara Gleim (R-Cumberland) is also a plaintiff. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The suit notes that while the state constitution permits the legislature to delegate the authority to administer and execute laws, the 'basic policy choices' and standards to guide and restrain administration of laws must be established by the legislature. The plaintiffs claim the legislature did not give the PHRC authority to expand the definition of 'sex' or 'gender.' It also claims the PHRC regulations conflict with a recent state Supreme Court decision that referred to a 1968 Random House Dictionary definition of 'sex' based on reproductive functions and physical characteristics. In that decision, the court declared the state's ban on Medicaid-funded abortions 'presumptively unconstitutional.' The PHRC's regulations usurp the legislature's authority, the suit claims, under the Public School Code. Under it, school boards have the power to regulate their schools and student activities. However, under the PHRC regulations, school boards that choose to divide school rest rooms, sports and other activities by male and female genders are engaging in prohibited discrimination, the suit says.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Yahoo
Civil Rights Outreach Division to hold community meeting in Carlisle tonight
CARLISLE, Pa. (WHTM) — The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) Civil Rights Outreach Division is holding a community response meeting at Dickenson College tonight to discuss hate incidents that have occurred in the greater Carlisle area. The event will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Dickenson College Stern Center Great Room, located at 208 West Louther Street, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Guests can register online, but registration is not required to attend the event. The event will feature multiple guest speakers from the PHRC and a bystander intervention training session with YWCA Carlisle & Cumberland County Vice President of Programs Lily Duarte-Evans. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Other speakers include PHRC Civil Rights Outreach Director Sheryl Meck and PHRC Civil Rights Outreach Coordinator Omar Henriquez, according to a press release. The outreach team will have information about rights provided under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and will also gather instances of discrimination that guests may have experienced in the community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
