The Flash Report No. 1096 of 25 January 2011, entitled

"Comprehensive Bill for Equal Treatment and non discrimination tabled",

reported the introduction of a new anti-discrimination bill to the Parliament

and noted its importance as it aimed at filling the existing gaps in antidiscrimination

law in Spain. The bill showed three features: it provided

guarantees for individuals as mechanisms to ensure the exercise of rights

were introduced, the law was general as it redressed deficiencies and

imbalances in various fields and was comprehensive as it covered all

grounds and fields

Dina Bakst, in her Jan. 31 Op-Ed article, “Pregnant, and Pushed Out of a Job,” to my disappointment made no mention of New York City’s Human Rights Law, one of the strongest civil rights laws in the nation, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights, the agency charged with enforcing that law.

Under the New York City Human Rights Law, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations for their disabled employees, and that includes those who are pregnant. The accommodation allows them to perform the requisites of their job.

To be reasonable to the employer, the accommodation must not create an undue hardship. If Ms. Bakst’s client had come to the Commission on Human Rights with her claim, the outcome would have been quite different.

The commission has filed 127 pregnancy discrimination claims against employers since 2002, and we resolved many others before a formal complaint was filed. For those cases that were filed, in addition to job reinstatement, the commission obtained more than $350,000 in damages for complainants.

The group said the Saudi delegation should be kept out of this summer’s London Olympics unless it included a female athlete.

Saudi Arabia is one of three established Olympic nations that have yet to send a female athlete to the Games. In its report, Human Rights Watch describes systematic discrimination against women in sports by restricting their access to physical education and sports clubs and by having an “effective ban” on women competing at a national level.

“The I.O.C. should really be mindful that Saudi Arabia is an outlier in the international sporting community, and that it’s a black eye to the sporting community to have such an outlier participate in the upcoming Olympics,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch, in a telephone interview from Los Angeles.

Teresa Culpepper says she called police to report that her truck had been stolen in August. But when they showed up at her home, they arrested her for aggravated assault committed by another Teresa.

"All she has is the same first name. The only descriptions that match are 'Teresa' and 'black female,'" Culpepper's attorney, Ashleigh Merchant told The Lookout. Culpepper didn't have the same address, birth date, height, or weight as the Teresa who was supposed to be arrested.

Attorneys from both sides are scheduled to meet with Judge Robert Blink today to determine the coming schedule for the case of Pippen vs. State of Iowa, a lawsuit alleging that the state essentially failed to police its hiring bureaucracy and allowed racial bias to affect decades of hiring and promotion decisions in nearly 40 agencies and departments.

The suit seeks $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Rosenthal, who served as CFO for over fifteen years, from 1992 to 2008, filed the lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

On June 21, 2011, Smith pleaded guilty in federal court to violating the civil rights of two women for photographing parts of their unclothed bodies under the false pretense that those photographs were necessary for an official investigation.  Smith also pleaded guilty to making material false statements to federal investigators.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Unemployed workers are facing a new hurdle in their effort to find a job.

There are reports that some companies are putting in their job listings that they'll only accept applications from people who are currently employed.

However, one local legislator is hoping to make that illegal.

When you think of employment discrimination race, religion, gender probably come to mind.

She's been unemployed almost two and a half years. She's been a bus driver for public and private schools.

She says she's applied for more than 100 jobs.

Nelson was on the job at an American Fork hair salon when he said two or three people began beating him up and yelling anti-gay slurs at him.

The 32-year-old was taking out the garbage at the salon near Center Street and 100 North at 12:45 a.m. when the assault began. Nelson said he is gay and that he believes that was why the attackers, whom he did not know, targeted him.

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice challenged the state of Alabama’s recently passed immigration law, H.B. 56, in federal court today.  

The US Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is planning to update decades old regulations related to sexual harassment early next year.  

"We need sex discrimination regulations that reflect the current state of the law in this area," explains OFCCP Director Patricia Shiu, adding that the existing regulations are more than 30 years old. "Employer policies and practices and the nature and extent of women's participation in the labor force have also changed significantly since the guidelines were put in place."

At issue in the case was whether the Arizona law is preempted by existing federal immigration laws, and is therefore invalid. In a majority opinion authored by Chief Justice Roberts and joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Alito, and, for the most part, Thomas, the Court determined that, although the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) expressly preempts “any State or local law imposing civil or criminal sanctions (other than through licensing and similar laws) upon those who employ, or recruit or refer for a fee for employment, unauthorized aliens,” the Act falls within the definition of those “licensing and similar laws,” and therefore, it is not expressly preempted by IRCA.