RIEFING Vol. CXI No. 126 Attorney ... · Under the court’s new standard, the justices defined...
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INSIDE D AILY B RIEFING Official Newspaper: City of Detroit • Wayne Circuit Court • U.S. District Court • U.S. Bankruptcy Court Mediation/Arbitration Law Seminar planned by Paralegal Section News you cannot get anywhere else 75 Cents Vol. CXI No. 126 Abandoned Car Auctions .........5 Calendar .....................................3 City Request for Bids................5 Classified Ads ...........................4 ICLE Calendar ...........................3 Legal Notices .............................5 Legal People ............................38 Mortgages ..................................4 New Corporations ...................31 Monday June 26, 2006 ■ Data Breaches Victims of data breaches need to monitor their credit. Page Two ■ Kevorkian Pardon Michigan parole board rejects Kevorkian’s request to commute his sentence. Page Three ■ Eminem’s Divorce Divorce proceeding for Eminem held behind closed doors. Back Page The Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association (DMBA) Paralegal Section will host a Media- tion/Arbitration Law Seminar on Tuesday, July 11, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Smart Conference Center in Detroit. Donald E. Walker will present such issues as: • Duties in Arbitration. • Code of Ethics for Arbitrators in Com- mercial Disputes. To register, contact Marilyn Hobbs, moder- ator, at (313) 224-8486 or e-mail [email protected]. Detroit plans to sell suburban golf course to build housing DETROIT (AP) — The city of Detroit has announced plans to sell a 120-acre suburban golf course. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick wants to sell the Rackham Golf Course in Huntington Woods to developers in a no-bid deal for at least $5 million or potentially up to $12 million if the developers can build houses on it by getting around deed restrictions, The Detroit News reported. Detroit has owned the property since 1924 when Horace and Mary Rackham deeded the site to the city, as long as it remained a public golf course. However, a lawyer for the Rack- ham heirs says the descendants may lift the deed restrictions. “They’re sitting back to see if they get an offer they can’t refuse,” Jeffery Meek, the lawyer for Katherine and Joanne Rackham, told the Detroit Free Press. The City of Huntington Woods on Tuesday filed a complaint against the city of Detroit asking an Oakland County court to determine if the deed restrictions on the land can be lifted. The Detroit City Council, which would have to agree to the sale, debated the issue last Wednesday and asked Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams to go through the offers and come back with the best deal. Members are scheduled to discuss the issue again on Monday. In observance of Independence Day, the Wayne County 36th District Court will be closed Tuesday, July 4. Only felony arraign- ments will be conducted. MARYLIN E. ATKINS Chief Judge, 36th District Court • • • • The Wayne Third Judicial Circuit Court Civil, Criminal, and Family Divisions will be closed Tuesday, July 4, in observance of Inde- pendence Day. MARY BETH KELLY Chief Judge, Third Judicial Circuit Court • • • • Please be advised that the Wayne County Probate Court will be closed Tuesday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day, and will reopen on Wednesday, July 5, at 8 a.m. MILTON L. MACK JR. Chief Judge,Wayne County Probate Court www.legalnews.com Notices of courts and public places Attorney honored for promoting growth of diversity BY CHRISTINE L. MOBLEY Legal News The Michigan Minority Business Develop- ment Council (MMBDC) awarded its 7 GEMS Award to attorney Arthur Dudley II on Thursday, June 1, at Automation Alley in Troy. This is the third year that the award has been given by the MMBDC’s Minority Input Committee (MIC) to the Supplier Diversity Manager or Purchasing Agent who has demonstrated, through relationship building and support, exceptional commitment to the growth of minority business enterprises (MBE). There are seven key characteristics that the award winner should possess, they are: being responsive, proactive, interactive, involved, committed, a leader, and approach- able. “I feel honored,” Dudley, an attorney and shareholder with Butzel Long in Detroit, said. “I felt honored that people thought enough of what we were doing to give an award.” Dudley has been a member of the MMBDC for the past 14 years and serves on its board. He is currently chair of the Profes- sional Services Sector. “I thought this year I had a little bit of an unfair advantage (being chair of the Profes- sional Services Sector),” he said. “The two sectors come together and have monthly meetings and we hosted them here (at Butzel Long), so they got to see me every month.” And through seeing Dudley’s performance and dedication in promoting supplier diversi- ty, the MIC bestowed the 7 GEMS Award on him. “Our sector felt that he was one of the cor- porate professionals that supported MBEs and he demonstrated the Seven Key Attribut- es for the award,” Pamela Murff-Jackson of PLM Staffing Systems, and Minority Busi- ness owner and MMBDC member, said. “We’re proud to have awarded him with this award – he definitely stands out amongst his colleagues in the business.” Dudley pointed out that while the MMBDC gets a lot of support from manufac- turing/auto related companies, that they don’t get that level of support from any place else. It is his hopes that more law firms would get involved. “I’d like the (legal community) to be more aware about how important supplier diversity is,” he added. “(Supplier diversity) is really a catch- phrase which really identifies the efforts that a business makes to diversify their supplier base,” Dudley explained. “It’s an attempt to broaden the base of companies that you use to supply you with goods and services and make it more representative of the communi- ty that you live in.” While stressing the importance of supplier diversity, Dudley said that it should be an economic choice for businesses, not just a moral one. “Certainly, businesses like to be good cor- porate citizens and support various things that benefit the surrounding community, but I think supplier diversity is one of those things that if you’re going to do it you should do it because you think it’s in your economic best interest because if it’s not, it’s hard to be con- sistent and have the appropriate level of sup- port for that kind of program. “I would support minority businesses as an individual, because I think it’s the right thing to do, but a firm should support it because it makes good business sense to do so.” –––––––––– For more information on the MMBDC, visit the MMBDC at www.MMBDC.com. THE MICHIGAN TRIAL LAWYERS ASSOCIATION (MTLA) conducted its 7th annual state-wide Helmet Safety Campaign on Sat- urday, June 3, with an event at Hamtramck High School. This year the MTLA hosted 13 events all over the state. Pictured are some of the hardwork- ing volunteers in Ham- tramck who worked on the bike safety rodeo, inspect- ed and repaired bikes, and fitted 500 helmets—bring- ing the total to 13,500 since the campaign began. Photo by John Meiu Helmets given out BY TONI LOCY Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court made it easier last Thursday for workers to show they suffered retaliation after accusing employers of discrimination. By a 9-0 vote, the justices said that Sheila White, a railroad forklift operator, was improperly punished when her employer suspended her for 37 days over a Christmas holiday and reas- signed her to more physically demanding duties as a yard worker. She had accused a supervisor of sexual harassment. The ruling significantly eases the legal standard for showing retaliation and could lead to more litigation against companies. “It’s a slam dunk,” said Eric Schnapper, a University of Washington law professor who represents White. Under the court’s new standard, the justices defined retalia- tion as any action taken by an employer that would intimidate “a reasonable employee” into backing off from a discrimina- tion complaint. White was the only woman working in the rail yard for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway in Memphis, Tenn., when she was hired because of her experience operating a forklift. A company investigation of White’s sexual harassment alle- gations led to a foreman’s suspension and enrollment in sensi- tivity classes. But the railroad simultaneously transferred White to work as a regular track worker, a more physically demanding job. The railroad eventually cleared White of insubordination charges that also were lodged against her. A jury rejected the sex discrimination charge but found in her favor on the retaliation claim, awarding her $43,000. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that even though White did receive back pay, she and her family had to live 37 days without any income, not knowing when or if she would return to work. “Many reasonable employees would find a month without a paycheck to be a serious hardship,” Breyer wrote, adding that “an indefinite suspension without pay could well act as a deter- rent, even if the suspended employee eventually received back pay.” Breyer said the court’s ruling doesn’t immunize employees who complain of discrimination from “those petty slights or minor annoyances that often take place at work and that all employees experience.” He said it will be up to trial courts to determine on a case- by-case basis whether reasonable employees would have been intimidated by actions taken by employers. “Context matters,” Breyer wrote. A schedule change may not bother many workers, he said, but it may matter greatly to a young mother with small chil- dren. Or, Breyer said, a supervisor’s failure to invite a worker to lunch might seem trivial unless the luncheon was a weekly training session crucial to the employee’s advancement. Had the justices upheld a stricter standard favored by the railroad and the Bush administration, “It would have created a hole in civil rights protections big enough to drive a forklift through,” said Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center. Joel Rice, an attorney who represents businesses in employ- ment disputes, said there could be good reasons for schedule changes or for dropping an employee off a lunch guest list. “It opens up a Pandora’s box of potential claims based upon relatively minor slights,” he said. Over the past decade, retaliation claims by employees have more than doubled, making up more than 30 percent of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s caseload. Daniel P. Westman, another attorney who represents busi- nesses in such disputes, said the ruling probably will result in more jury trials of retaliation complaints and reflected grow- ing concern in the courts about protecting witnesses from Justices side with female worker in retaliation case ALL AGREE: The Supreme Court unanimously supported a jury award for a woman whose employers retaliated after she filed a sexual harassment suit. WHAT’S NEW: The decision used the Civil Rights Act to shift the balance of power toward employees by relaxing the standards for proving retaliation. FUTURE CASES: Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that future claims must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, since what counts as retaliation could differ. By The Associated Press (See RETALIATION CASE, Page Two) Holiday schedule The offices of the Detroit Legal News will be closed Tuesday, July 4, in obser- vance of Independence Day. This requires the following deadline for the submission of legal notices: Notices for publication on July 4th and 5th must be received by Friday, June 30, by 5 p.m. The regular office schedule and legal publication deadlines resume Wednesday, July 5. THE MICHIGAN MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Council (MMBDC) pre- sented its 3rd Annual 7 GEMS Award on Thursday, June 1, at Automation Alley in Troy. Congratulating winner Arthur Dudley (center) of Butzel Long in Detroit are fellow Butzel Long attor- neys (left to right) Keefe Brooks and Carl Rashid Jr. Photo by John Meiu Jun26 6/23/06 2:40 PM Page 1
Transcript of RIEFING Vol. CXI No. 126 Attorney ... · Under the court’s new standard, the justices defined...
INSIDE
DAILY
BRIEFING
Off icial Newspaper: City of Detroit • Wayne Circuit Court • U.S. District Court • U.S. Bankruptcy Court
Mediation/ArbitrationLaw Seminar planned by Paralegal Section
News you cannot get anywhere else 75 CentsVol. CXI No. 126
Abandoned Car Auctions .........5Calendar.....................................3City Request for Bids................5Classified Ads ...........................4ICLE Calendar ...........................3Legal Notices.............................5Legal People ............................38Mortgages..................................4New Corporations ...................31
MondayJune 26, 2006
� Data BreachesVictims of data breaches need to monitor their credit.
Page Two
� Kevorkian PardonMichigan parole board rejectsKevorkian’s request to commutehis sentence. Page Three
� Eminem’s DivorceDivorce proceeding for Eminemheld behind closed doors.
Back Page
The Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association(DMBA) Paralegal Section will host a Media-tion/Arbitration Law Seminar on Tuesday,July 11, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at SmartConference Center in Detroit.
Donald E. Walker will present such issues as:• Duties in Arbitration.• Code of Ethics for Arbitrators in Com-
mercial Disputes.To register, contact Marilyn Hobbs, moder-
ator, at (313) 224-8486 or [email protected].
Detroit plans to sell suburban golf course to build housing
DETROIT (AP) — The city of Detroit hasannounced plans to sell a 120-acre suburbangolf course.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick wants to sell theRackham Golf Course in Huntington Woodsto developers in a no-bid deal for at least $5million or potentially up to $12 million if thedevelopers can build houses on it by gettingaround deed restrictions, The Detroit Newsreported.
Detroit has owned the property since 1924when Horace and Mary Rackham deeded thesite to the city, as long as it remained a publicgolf course. However, a lawyer for the Rack-ham heirs says the descendants may lift thedeed restrictions.
“They’re sitting back to see if they get anoffer they can’t refuse,” Jeffery Meek, thelawyer for Katherine and Joanne Rackham,told the Detroit Free Press.
The City of Huntington Woods on Tuesdayfiled a complaint against the city of Detroitasking an Oakland County court to determineif the deed restrictions on the land can be lifted.
The Detroit City Council, which wouldhave to agree to the sale, debated the issue lastWednesday and asked Deputy Mayor AnthonyAdams to go through the offers and comeback with the best deal.
Members are scheduled to discuss the issueagain on Monday.
In observance of Independence Day, theWayne County 36th District Court will beclosed Tuesday, July 4. Only felony arraign-ments will be conducted.MARYLIN E. ATKINSChief Judge, 36th District Court
• • • •The Wayne Third Judicial Circuit Court
Civil, Criminal, and Family Divisions will beclosed Tuesday, July 4, in observance of Inde-pendence Day.MARY BETH KELLY Chief Judge, Third Judicial Circuit Court
• • • •Please be advised that the Wayne County
Probate Court will be closed Tuesday, July 4,in observance of Independence Day, and willreopen on Wednesday, July 5, at 8 a.m.MILTON L. MACK JR.Chief Judge, Wayne County Probate Court
www.legalnews.com
Notices of courts
and public places
Attorney honored for promoting growth of diversityBY CHRISTINE L. MOBLEY
Legal News
The Michigan Minority Business Develop-ment Council (MMBDC) awarded its 7GEMS Award to attorney Arthur Dudley II onThursday, June 1, at Automation Alley inTroy.
This is the third year that the award hasbeen given by the MMBDC’s Minority InputCommittee (MIC) to the Supplier DiversityManager or Purchasing Agent who hasdemonstrated, through relationship buildingand support, exceptional commitment to thegrowth of minority business enterprises(MBE). There are seven key characteristicsthat the award winner should possess, theyare: being responsive, proactive, interactive,involved, committed, a leader, and approach-able.
“I feel honored,” Dudley, an attorney andshareholder with Butzel Long in Detroit, said.“I felt honored that people thought enough ofwhat we were doing to give an award.”
Dudley has been a member of theMMBDC for the past 14 years and serves onits board. He is currently chair of the Profes-sional Services Sector.
“I thought this year I had a little bit of anunfair advantage (being chair of the Profes-sional Services Sector),” he said.
“The two sectors come together and havemonthly meetings and we hosted them here(at Butzel Long), so they got to see me everymonth.”
And through seeing Dudley’s performanceand dedication in promoting supplier diversi-ty, the MIC bestowed the 7 GEMS Award onhim.
“Our sector felt that he was one of the cor-
porate professionals that supported MBEsand he demonstrated the Seven Key Attribut-es for the award,” Pamela Murff-Jackson ofPLM Staffing Systems, and Minority Busi-ness owner and MMBDC member, said.“We’re proud to have awarded him with thisaward – he definitely stands out amongst hiscolleagues in the business.”
Dudley pointed out that while theMMBDC gets a lot of support from manufac-turing/auto related companies, that they don’tget that level of support from any place else.It is his hopes that more law firms would getinvolved.
“I’d like the (legal community) to be more
aware about how important supplier diversityis,” he added.
“(Supplier diversity) is really a catch-phrase which really identifies the efforts thata business makes to diversify their supplierbase,” Dudley explained. “It’s an attempt tobroaden the base of companies that you useto supply you with goods and services andmake it more representative of the communi-ty that you live in.”
While stressing the importance of supplierdiversity, Dudley said that it should be aneconomic choice for businesses, not just amoral one.
“Certainly, businesses like to be good cor-
porate citizens and support various things thatbenefit the surrounding community, but Ithink supplier diversity is one of those thingsthat if you’re going to do it you should do itbecause you think it’s in your economic bestinterest because if it’s not, it’s hard to be con-sistent and have the appropriate level of sup-port for that kind of program.
“I would support minority businesses as anindividual, because I think it’s the right thingto do, but a firm should support it because itmakes good business sense to do so.”
––––––––––For more information on the MMBDC,
visit the MMBDC at www.MMBDC.com.
THE MICHIGAN TRIALLAWYERS ASSOCIATION(MTLA) conducted its 7thannual state-wide HelmetSafety Campaign on Sat-urday, June 3, with anevent at Hamtramck HighSchool. This year theMTLA hosted 13 events allover the state. Picturedare some of the hardwork-ing volunteers in Ham-tramck who worked on thebike safety rodeo, inspect-ed and repaired bikes, andfitted 500 helmets—bring-ing the total to 13,500since the campaignbegan.Photo by John Meiu
Helmets given out
BY TONI LOCY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court made it easierlast Thursday for workers to show they suffered retaliation afteraccusing employers of discrimination.
By a 9-0 vote, the justices said that Sheila White, a railroadforklift operator, was improperly punished when her employersuspended her for 37 days over a Christmas holiday and reas-signed her to more physically demanding duties as a yardworker. She had accused a supervisor of sexual harassment.
The ruling significantly eases the legal standard for showingretaliation and could lead to more litigation against companies.
“It’s a slam dunk,” said Eric Schnapper, a University ofWashington law professor who represents White.
Under the court’s new standard, the justices defined retalia-tion as any action taken by an employer that would intimidate“a reasonable employee” into backing off from a discrimina-tion complaint.
White was the only woman working in the rail yard for theBurlington Northern Santa Fe Railway in Memphis, Tenn., whenshe was hired because of her experience operating a forklift.
A company investigation of White’s sexual harassment alle-gations led to a foreman’s suspension and enrollment in sensi-tivity classes. But the railroad simultaneously transferredWhite to work as a regular track worker, a more physicallydemanding job.
The railroad eventually cleared White of insubordinationcharges that also were lodged against her.
A jury rejected the sex discrimination charge but found inher favor on the retaliation claim, awarding her $43,000.
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that even though White didreceive back pay, she and her family had to live 37 days withoutany income, not knowing when or if she would return to work.
“Many reasonable employees would find a month without apaycheck to be a serious hardship,” Breyer wrote, adding that“an indefinite suspension without pay could well act as a deter-rent, even if the suspended employee eventually received backpay.”
Breyer said the court’s ruling doesn’t immunize employeeswho complain of discrimination from “those petty slights orminor annoyances that often take place at work and that allemployees experience.”
He said it will be up to trial courts to determine on a case-by-case basis whether reasonable employees would have beenintimidated by actions taken by employers.
“Context matters,” Breyer wrote.A schedule change may not bother many workers, he said,
but it may matter greatly to a young mother with small chil-dren. Or, Breyer said, a supervisor’s failure to invite a workerto lunch might seem trivial unless the luncheon was a weeklytraining session crucial to the employee’s advancement.
Had the justices upheld a stricter standard favored by therailroad and the Bush administration, “It would have created ahole in civil rights protections big enough to drive a forkliftthrough,” said Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of theNational Women’s Law Center.
Joel Rice, an attorney who represents businesses in employ-ment disputes, said there could be good reasons for schedulechanges or for dropping an employee off a lunch guest list.
“It opens up a Pandora’s box of potential claims based uponrelatively minor slights,” he said.
Over the past decade, retaliation claims by employees havemore than doubled, making up more than 30 percent of theEqual Employment Opportunity Commission’s caseload.
Daniel P. Westman, another attorney who represents busi-nesses in such disputes, said the ruling probably will result inmore jury trials of retaliation complaints and reflected grow-ing concern in the courts about protecting witnesses from
Justices side with female worker in retaliation caseALL AGREE: The Supreme Court unanimously supported
a jury award for a woman whose employers retaliated aftershe filed a sexual harassment suit.
WHAT’S NEW: The decision used the Civil Rights Act toshift the balance of power toward employees by relaxing thestandards for proving retaliation.
FUTURE CASES: Justice Stephen Breyer wrote thatfuture claims must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis,since what counts as retaliation could differ.
By The Associated Press
(See RETALIATION CASE, Page Two)
Holiday scheduleThe offices of the Detroit Legal News
will be closed Tuesday, July 4, in obser-vance of Independence Day.
This requires the following deadline forthe submission of legal notices:
Notices for publication on July 4th and5th must be received by Friday, June 30,by 5 p.m.
The regular office schedule and legalpublication deadlines resume Wednesday,July 5.
THE MICHIGAN MINORITY BUSINESSDEVELOPMENT Council (MMBDC) pre-sented its 3rd Annual 7 GEMS Awardon Thursday, June 1, at AutomationAlley in Troy. Congratulating winnerArthur Dudley (center) of Butzel Longin Detroit are fellow Butzel Long attor-neys (left to right) Keefe Brooks andCarl Rashid Jr. Photo by John Meiu
Jun26 6/23/06 2:40 PM Page 1
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