93 Year Old Nurse Sues for Age Discrimination

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Miami last month, a 93 year old woman sued Miami Behavioral Health Center, Inc. for age discrimination. Our law firm, Coane and Associates, represents the woman, Rosa Lopez.

In the lawsuit, our client alleges that her supervisor told her that because of her age and health, she should retire. The ADEA (Age Discrimination and Employment Act of 1967) prohibits employment discrimination against anyone at least 40 years of age , such discrimination can be in the form of termination, layoffs, wages and promotions.

In the case of our client, her supervisor allegedly added new job duties which interfere with her scheduled patients making it seem that she is not capable of fulfilling her work. She was terminated in October 2010, and then filed an age discrimination complaint with the EEOC. Her lawsuit was filed last month, and a trial date has yet to be set.

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Bruce Coane is a leading lawyer with 30 years of experience in the field of immigration law and employment law. He may be reached via email at houstonlaw@aol.com or his website at Coane and Associates.

1995 Business Week Magazine article

In 1995, I represented a woman named Gloria J. Cruz for a dispute she had with her former employer, Southwest Airlines. The link to the article is here.

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Bruce Coane is a leading lawyer with 30 years of experience in the field of immigration law and employment law. He may be reached via email at houstonlaw@aol.com or his website at Coane and Associates.

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Remembering Joe Paterno

With the death this weekend of my favorite college football coach, Joe Paterno, it caused me to remember my one brush with greatness. I had the honor of personally meeting Joe.

I was in my last semester at Penn State, in the summer of 1979.

I had just finished my golf class and was walking back from the golf course towards Rec Hall, on the Penn State campus. It was a very quiet, peaceful walk, as the huge campus is very empty during the summer. I heard that Joe’s office was in Rec Hall and I got the crazy idea of stopping by his office. I was going to be graduating in a few weeks, and thought to stop by to see if his staff might have a photo of Joe that I could take with me after I graduate.

I found his office in Rec Hall and was greeted by his secretary. I told her I was graduating and moving south for law school in a few weeks. I asked for a photo of Joe and she told me to have a seat. She left to go to a back room, and when she returned, she told me to wait another minute as she could do even better than a simple photo. Soon after, Joe Paterno came up to greet me, and he had a big photo of himself and offered to autograph it for me. He chatted with me for a couple of minutes, asked me where I was planning to go to law school, and signed the photo, wishing me good luck in law school.

As a Penn State student, meeting the revered coach, one-on-one in his office, was an amazing experience. That was more than 30 years ago, but I still remember  it as if it was yesterday. I join the tens of thousands of former students , athletes and friends in mourning Joe’s passing.

photo from: Rollingout.com
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Bruce Coane is a leading lawyer with 30 years of experience in the field of immigration law and employment law. He may be reached via email at houstonlaw@aol.com or his website at Coane and Associates.

Settlement of Discrimination cases

I was closing out a file last night, where my client sued for sex harassment and retaliation under Title VII of the federal civil rights act. As I was closing the file, I came across some early correspondence in the case.

The case was against a giant national company, and I had written to them before filing the lawsuit. I explained that they wrongfully fired my client and suggested that they give him a fair severance package. Their in-house company lawyer wrote back and told me my client’s case was worthless, and completely without merit, and they were within their rights to fire him. The company lawyer invited me to sue, refused mediation and offered zero to settle the case.

Fast forward about 9 months to the end of 2011, and they are writing a check for $60,000 following mediation, to settle the case. Of course , by then, they had wasted tens of thousands of dollars in lawyer fees, and probably could have settled for much less, had they paid a reasonable severance package earlier.

I often wonder why companies don’t do the right thing and offer to resolve employee grievances early-on. In most countries around the world, the law REQUIRES severance pay, but not in the United States. Many American companies, however, offer severance packages to terminated employees because it’s the right thing to do, and it probably serves to avoid lawsuits.

Coane and Associates is a law firm with office in Texas and Florida, and we represent employees in all matters of employment law.

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Bruce Coane is a leading lawyer with 30 years of experience in the field of immigration law and employment law. He may be reached via email at houstonlaw@aol.com or his website at Coane and Associates.

Race Discrimination Case Against Kroger Set for June Trial

Our law firm, Coane and Associates, PLLC is currently representing a black female who has worked for over 15 years in one of the largest retail food companies in the United States, Kroger Co., LLP. When our client became an employee of Kroger in 1995, she was well qualified for the position and had been a productive and competent cashier at the Kroger store in Sugar Land, Texas.

Our client’s lawsuit alleges that she has experienced a hostile work environment, discrimination and sex and racial harassment from a co-worker. Our client alleges that the co-worker (now fired) would call her names (including the “N” word) and stalk her before and after work. What’s worse is that when she reported it to the general manager of the Kroger store, the management still did not take any action about it, claiming that the man was a “special needs” employee, and she should ignore his harassment.

Our client’s complaints, which she filed on February 2009, include violation of Title VII and Retaliation, and Negligence. She states that she was retaliated against when her work schedule unexpectedly changed to a later shift and her original shift was given to employees with less seniority.

Interestingly, our client continues to work at the Kroger store in Sugar Land, Texas, notwithstanding her federal court lawsuit against the company. Perhaps the fact that she is a member of a union, allows her job to be protected during the litigation. Trial is set for June 2012 in Houston, Texas.

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Bruce Coane is a leading lawyer with 30 years of experience in the field of immigration law and employment law. He may be reached via email at houstonlaw@aol.com or his website at Coane and Associates.

Deportation and the 2012 Election

President Barack Obama hasn’t quite received the satisfactory rating he had with the Hispanic voters in 2010, but a recent survey from the Pew Hispanic Center shows that many Hispanic voters still favor him in the 2012 elections.

This survey was done with 1,220 Latino adults from all 50 states and the District of Colombia. The results that this survey got may not be conclusive, even though a lot of Hispanics are most likely to vote for him again, the percentage of the poll are divided into the way the Obama administration is handling the country’s general problems and the immigration and deportation problems specifically.

Obama’s current approval rating among the general population is 46% which is 3% lower than what he received from the Pew survey’s 49%, but in 2010, he received a rating from the Latinos 9% higher at 58%. So what does this say?

The respondents are aware that the Obama administration deports illegal immigrants faster than the previous administration did, and 77% of those who are aware of this object to the current deportation policies.

However, high and low the ratings for Obama go, 91% of the respondents are in full support of broad immigration reform, including the naturalization of undocumented residents brought to the US as children, and the DREAM Act.

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Bruce Coane is a leading lawyer with 30 years of experience in the field of immigration law and employment law. He may be reached via email at houstonlaw@aol.com or his website at Coane and Associates.

Detainee Hotline Created By US Immigration Agency

In the midst of increasing reports of deportation of US citizens or detained citizens they suspect to be illegal immigrants, and with many states passing controversial laws about immigration, the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency has created a hotline to make sure the rights of innocent people are protected.

One of the states with the most radical anti-immigration laws is Arizona where everyone, including those who are registered immigrants, are required to carry along with them their documentation since police officers can randomly check for their immigration status even during routine traffic stops.

The Obama administration already says that this law interferes with the federal government’s authority over immigration policy.

This detainee hotline will answer questions and other queries from those detained by state or local law enforcement agencies if they “believe they may be U.S. citizens or victims of a crime”, stated by the ICE.

ICE personnel will be in charge of the hotline, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The ICE also said in their statement that “ICE personnel will collect information from the individual and refer it to the relevant ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field office for immediate action”.

The toll-free hotline is: (855) 448-6903.

photo from: blog.tropo.com
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Bruce Coane is a leading lawyer with 30 years of experience in the field of immigration law and employment law. He may be reached via email at houstonlaw@aol.com or his website at Coane and Associates.

Depositions Continue in Carnival Cruise Lines Race Discrimination Case

This week, I will be in New Orleans to take a witness deposition for my client in his race discrimination case against Carnival Cruise Lines. My client was a lead singer/dancer aboard Carnival ships, and he alleges in this lawsuit that his contract was not renewed and that he was treated unfairly because of his race (black).

In this case, the witness is a fellow performer at Carnival, and is leaving his Carnival ship in New Orleans, where it is docked, for the deposition.

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Bruce Coane is a leading lawyer with 30 years of experience in the field of immigration law and employment law. He may be reached via email at houstonlaw@aol.com or his website at Coane and Associates.