Tag Archives: lawsuit

Federal Judge Rules Against LGBT YouTuber Content Creators In 'Censorship' Lawsuit

Federal Judge Rules Against LGBT YouTuber Content Creators In ‘Censorship’ Lawsuit

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A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender YouTube content creators who said the company violated their First Amendment rights by “censoring” their clips.

In a decision issued Wednesday, U.S. District Court Magistrate Virginia DeMarchi in San Jose ruled that Google and YouTube are “private entities,” as opposed to government officials, and therefore are not bound by the First Amendment’s prohibition against restricting speech. “Plaintiffs do not state a claim … for violation of the First Amendment because defendants are not state actors,” – Judge Virginia DeMarchi

MediaPost

The lawsuit brought by the  Divino Group — which distributes GNews! via YouTube — and other LGBT content creators. claimed that YouTube “censored” them by preventing ads from running in some of their videos, placing age restrictions on clips, and tagging other clips with a “restricted mode” aka “mature” audiences designation.

Judge DeMarchi dismissed the claim that Google violated the users’ free speech rights with prejudice — meaning that Divino and the others can’t redraft their complaint and bring that claim again citing a ruling that a federal appellate court sided with Google last year, in a similar lawsuit brought by the anti-LGBT Prager University.

READ MY LIPS: Deaf Man Sues PornHub for Lack of Closed Captioning

READ MY LIPS: Deaf Man Sues PornHub for Lack of Closed Captioning

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A deaf man in Brooklyn, NY has filed a class-action lawsuit against the adult website PornHub alleging the site is in violation of federal law because he can’t fully enjoy the porn videos the site provides because they don’t provide closed captioning.

Yaroslav Suris claims that the popular porn site has violated his and others’ rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act because the deaf and hearing-impaired can’t understand the audio portion of the skin flicks.

Suris claime that he had tried to watch and could not fully enjoy titles that included ‘Hot Step Aunt Babysits Disobedient Nephew,’ ‘Sexy Cop Gets Witness to Talk’ and ‘Daddy 4K ,’ but couldn’t get through the dialogue in the flicks for lack of subtitles.

The lawsuit claims: “The websites are ‘places of public accommodation’ which deny equal access to their video content which is available to hearing individuals and violates the ADA,” according to the lawsuit.

The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in areas of “employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government programs and services,” according to the US Department of Labor.

PA Man Sues U.S. Postal Service For Being Fired Because He Is Gay

PA Man Sues U.S. Postal Service For Being Fired Because He Is Gay

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A former postal worker identified as John Doe to protect himself from retribution, filed a lawsuit on Friday in federal court alleging that he was discriminated against and subjected to harassment at the hands of his co-worker and was fired from his job because he’s gay.

Via MetroWeekly:

The lawsuit claims Doe was a letter carrier in Hanover Township, Pa., for the U.S. Postal Service for 12 years before he was fired on Aug. 19.

According to the lawsuit, one of his co-workers relayed several gay slurs used by co-workers to describe Doe, including a “sick faggot.” Another worker called him “Glinda,” a reference to the “Good Witch” from The Wizard of Oz. Still other co-workers complained that his shorts were too tight. And one supervisor allegedly said, “I fucking swear to God I’m gonna get his ass fired.”

According to the lawsuit, the mailman was fired for allegedly kicking a co-worker, Lisa Williams. Doe claims Williams lied about the incident. He was charged with harassment for the alleged incident, but the charge was dismissed. 

After he was fired, another co-worker told Doe that Williams said “I’m so glad they finally got rid of that fruitcake.”

Williams waited four to six days before reporting the kicking incident to police. Supervisors then waited 40 days after the alleged incident before conducting a pre-disciplinary interview with the letter carrier and waited 53 days before issuing a “notice of removal.”

“Defendants acceded to Ms. Williams’ discriminatory bias and hate by wrongfully terminating Doe,” the lawsuit claims.

John Doe is asking to be reinstated in his job and be paid for the time since he was terminated, as well as damages for pain, suffering, and embarrassment suffered as a result of his firing. Dow who is HIV+ has fallen into a deep depression , because without his employment and insurance it’s unclear how he’ll be able to pay for medication and medical care to manage his condition.

It is unknown whether or not his co-workers or employer knew about his HIV status.

Gay Employee Comes Out, His Salary Was Cut in Half to Be Equal With Other 'Females in the office' Then Fired

Gay Employee Comes Out, His Salary Was Cut in Half to Be Equal With Other ‘Females in the office’ Then Fired

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A former employee of the international New York based events company Eventique claims he was degraded and his play was slashed to match “other females in the office,” once his boss learned he was gay. 

In a lawsuit filed this week, Wesley Wereneck says he was abused. suffered discrimination. rampant homophobia, and was fired from his position at Eventique – which stages promotional events for companies including Nike, Twitter And Amazon.

“Wesley was personally recruited by this employer to be a senior producer, and once he learned he was gay, the employer began shutting him out of the business,” said Wernecke’s lawyer, Anthony Consiglio

Wesley says a week after being hired in June, co-workers made snide comments about his engagement ring, calling it “girly”. When asked if his wife wore a similar ring, Wernecke told them his partner, Evan, did.

After that he was excluded from meetings and social events, passed over for assignments with large commissions and subjected to discriminatory anti-gay remarks.

Finally, Wesley claims he was called into CEO Henry Liron David s office and told his salary was being cut by more than 50 percent, from US$145,000 to $70,000.

“I couldn’t sleep at night thinking that you were being paid so much more than the other females in the office,” David allegedly to have told Wernecke. The CEO, the complaint alleges, “simply could not bear the thought that Eventique would continue to be represented by a gay man”.

Not long after, Wesley discovered that David had lowered his salary even more, to $58,000 or 40 percent less than the starting salary he was promised when he left his former job, the lawsuit says.

He was then fired two weeks later.

Henry Liron David’s lawyer, Gena Zaiderman, claimed that he denies the ‘shocking and baseless’ allegations.

‘Mr. David firmly stands by his long-standing reputation for fairness and professionalism. We expect that the facts will be revealed in due course,’ the lawyer said in a statement.  

Gay Comcast Executive Files LGBT Discrimination Lawsuit Against Media Giant

Gay Comcast Executive Files LGBT Discrimination Lawsuit Against Media Giant

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A gay Comcast executive who’s the telecommunications company’s LGBTQ liaison filed a 45-page federal lawsuit filed last week, claiming that he has “been subjected to discriminatory conduct” because he doesn’t conform to “traditional sex and/or gender based stereotypes.”

Klayton Fennell is Comcast Corp.’s senior vice president of government affairs and the company’s highest-ranking openly gay employees. Fennell also serves as the company’s key contact with LGBT advocacy organizations.

In the lawsuit Fennell atets that he was denied promotions by his bosses who told him “on more than one occasion, in essence, that his sexual orientation and manner was the reason he was not promoted.” Also that on more than one occasion he had been called a “faggot” and “high-pitched,” and sent to an “executive coach” when he was told he was “too gay and too flamboyant” for the company’s “conservative” culture.

Fennell complained about the discriminatory conduct, but Comcast failed to investigate the allegations and the company “allowed the hostile environment to persist.” He then filed a complaint of discrimination with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, which resulted in further retaliation against him, he says.

Since he started working for Comcast in 2001, the company wanted to present him as “an example of their non-discriminatory or ‘inclusive’ environment in an effort to bolster their public image and further their business as a media company,” Fennell alleges in the suit. But senior executives have consistently subjected him to discriminatory treatment because of his sexuality, he claims.

Comcast denies the discrimination claims.

Fennel is seeking unspecified damages, including back-pay, front-pay, compensatory damages and lawyer fees, according to the suit.

Comcast is rated 100% by the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and is a donor to many LGBT organization including the NLGJA : The Association of LGBTQ Journalist.

Indiana High School Sued Over Not Allowing The Words "Gay", "Lesbian" "GSA", or “Gay-Straight Alliance” for School Group

Indiana High School Sued Over Not Allowing The Words “Gay”, “Lesbian” “GSA”, or “Gay-Straight Alliance” for School Group

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There is a gay-straight alliance at Leo Jr. Sr. High School in Allen County, Indiana. but you wouldn’t know it because the school has banned all descriptive words words that can be used to name it.. Instead only permitted to refer to itself as a “Pride Alliance.”, BUT the “Pride” in its name is not allowed to refer to LGBT Pride. Instead the group is  required to be used as a reference to an a common school acronym: “Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diligence, and Excellence.”

ACLU Indiana is suing the school on the student groups behalf.

Via The Daily Beast:

“There is a lot of language policing,” Ken Falk, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, told The Daily Beast, but it may go well beyond that, too, according to the complaint, filed at the end of November in U.S. District Court.

The ACLU of Indiana’s complaint alleges the Leo Pride Alliance is treated differently from other extracurricular clubs at the school, claiming that it is “not allowed to meet outside of a single classroom,” that it is barred from participating in school fundraisers, and that it can only put up a bulletin board “if members performed community service outside of the school, a requirement not imposed on any other club.”

Other clubs, by contrast, are reportedly allowed to host activities outside of their regular meetings.

According to the complaint, the Leo Pride Alliance has been in existence for two years and now boasts over 30 members. The lawsuit alleges that Leo Jr. Sr. High School staff have told the GSA that it can’t even use terms like “gay” or “lesbian” or “queer” in its advertising—terms that would help LGBT students understand the club’s purpose of providing support and community.

Falk states that denying a GSA its full name not only violates the First Amendment but also sends a potentially damaging message to LGBT youth, many of whom are in early and potentially vulnerable stages of coming out.

The complaint also alleges that the Leo Pride Alliance’s faculty advisor “is required to send a list of all club members to all faculty”—and that no other clubs are required to follow this protocol.

There are currently over 4,000 GSAs in the United States and court cases have repeatedly upheld both their right to exist under the federal Equal Access Act and their right to call themselves “gay-straight alliances” rather than something more euphemistic. The Equal Access Act, passed in 1984, requires schools that allow extracurricular clubs to treat them fairly.

 “This is our fourth GSA case [in Indiana], and the law in this area seems to be pretty much settled but yet we keep coming back to it.”

An East Allen County, Indiana Schools spokesperson said, “We take the rights of our students seriously. We are looking into this matter.”

Yeah right.

Gay NYC Fireman Sues NYFD Over Sexual Discrimination and Harassment

Gay NYC Fireman Sues NYFD Over Sexual Discrimination and Harassment

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Jason Johnson, a former National Guardsman, filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan on Monday claiming his hopes of being on an elite FDNY rescue squad were over when his co-workers began suspecting he is gay.

Johnson who made it on a Special Operations Command unit in 2016, only to be kicked off the team several months later following a bizarre crotch-grabbing incident while riding a firetruck, which resulted in Johnson being branded as “gay.”

Via the NY Post:

During the ride — and “while being watched by other firefighters” — firefighter Jason Ribisi, who is now retired, “grabbed Johnson’s penis” in an apparent effort to harass the newcomer, the lawsuit alleges.

Johnson responded by trying to kiss Ribisi in an effort to make him feel “equally uncomfortable,” the suit says, but the maneuver completely backfired.

“For the remainder of the ride, Ribisi and another firefighter made repeated disparaging remarks about Johnson’s perceived homosexual orientation, saying excitedly, ‘You’re gay, you’re gay, we have confirmation!’” according to the suit.

“You weren’t supposed to kiss him. You were supposed to punch him! No straight guy would have kissed him,” another firefighter allegedly said.

The teasing, taunting and harassment continued until Johnson was ultimately removed from the elite rescue unit in March 2017, he says in the suit.

Examples of the harassment alleged in the suit include:

  • Johnson was once photographed without his permission while changing. The picture was doctored to include a thought bubble above Johnson’s head reading “hey boys,” and shared with his squad.
  • After Johnson posted a video on Facebook of himself standing on a street “which happened to have a rainbow flag in the background,” he was subjected to discriminatory comments including, “Now we have official confirmation he is gay,” and “it’s your birthday and you’re a homo.”
  • When Johnson ate salads, his co-workers would say, “only gay guys would order salad.” He began isolating himself to avoid scrutiny, including eating in the bathroom, but that only prompted more teasing including from someone who asked him if he was “shame eating.”
  • When he arrived at work sweaty from jogging or biking to work, his Squad 18 firefighters would make snarky comments, such as “Did you run through west village to say hi to your gay friends?” or “Did it rain outside because you look like you were in a wet t-shirt competition?”

In recent years the FDNY has been the target of numerous lawsuits over discrimination and bullying, 

Man Sentenced to 20 years For Brutal Murder of Gay Man in Detroit

Federal Court Rules Democrats Lawsuit Against Trump Can Proceed

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Via The Washington Post:

A federal judge on Friday gave the go-ahead to a lawsuit filed by 200 congressional Democrats against President Trump alleging he has violated the Constitution by doing business with foreign governments while in office. The lawsuit is based on the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bars presidents from taking payments from foreign states.

Trump’s business, which he still owns, has hosted foreign embassy events and visiting foreign officials at its downtown D.C. hotel. The decision opens up yet another legal front for the president, who is now facing an array of inquiries into his business, his campaign and his charity.

Trump is already facing a separate emoluments suit filed by the attorneys general of Washington, D.C. and Maryland that is moving forward. In addition, he is contending with the ongoing special counsel investigation into Russian interference, a lawsuit from the New York Attorney General that alleged “persistently illegal conduct” at his charitable foundation and a defamation lawsuit brought by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos.

California City Bans Flying of Rainbow Pride Flag At City Hall After Bigoted Residents Descend On Council Meeting

Appeals Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Congressman’s Displaying of Gay Pride Flag

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A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit brought against Rep. Susan Davis for hanging a rainbow gay pride flag outside her Washington office.

Chris Sevier, a anti-LGBT activist and lobbyist who has filed numerous lawsuits, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington in July 2017 against Davis and Reps. Alan Lowenthal, Donald Beyer and Earl Blumenauer.

In his suit, Sevier described homosexuality as a “sect/denomination of the ‘sex-based self-asserted’ religion of ‘western postmodern expressive individualism moral relativism’m so therefore the rainbow flag should not be put on display.  “Sevier also said he believes GLBT advocates have sought to persecute and indoctrinate others who do not share their views”

 The original suit was dismissed in March by Judge Randolph D. Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia: “If the mere acceptance of homosexuality — or support for gay rights—constitutes a ‘religion’ for Establishment Clause purposes, then the same conclusion would presumably follow for any value judgment about how people should or should not live their lives,” Moss wrote in an opinion filed Monday. “The Establishment Clause’s meaning is not so capacious.”

Moss further wrote, “The gay rights movement bears no trappings of ‘religion’ as that concept is widely understood, and Sevier has not plausibly alleged that a reasonable person would perceive the display of the rainbow flags as religious in nature.” He added, “Common sense … forecloses Sevier’s claim.”

Sevier appealed. However, the appeals court dismissed the suit again when Sevier failed to follow through on his appeal.

Sevier also in the past lost a lawsuit in which he sought the right to marry his laptop computer, clearly a stunt aimed at undermining marriage equality and recently has pushed anti-pornography bills in various states. A bill he persuaded Rhode Island legislators to introduce would block all online pornography unless a user paid a $20 fee. The bill is nicknamed the “Elizabeth Smart law,” after the Utah kidnapping victim who was forced to watch porn during her captivity. Smart has sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding that her name not be used in connection with the legislation.

Anti-Gay "Christian" Sues City For Not Being Allowed To Troll PRIDE Festival

Anti-Gay “Christian” Sues City For Not Being Allowed To Troll PRIDE Festival

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Timothy J. Brown filed the suit last month in U.S. District Court against the city of Cookeville, TN and one of its police officers for allegedly violating his rights to freedom of speech.  During last year’s Pride festival when police asked him to move 50 feet away from the festival because he was holding up a sign with anti-gay Bible verses and  saying offensive things to festival attendees.

Brown, calls himself an “equal opportunity preacher,” 

In the suit, Brown says he was “exercising his constitutional rights and free exercise of religion by peacefully sharing his Christian message in a public park in the city,” and that he was threatened with arrest under the city’s code.

“Plaintiff sought, and continues to seek, to discuss issues from a religious perspective, to distribute religious literature, to display signs and to engage in religious speech through sharing his faith,” part of what the 25-page suit states. “Plaintiff was deprived of his right under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to engage in free exercise of religion activities prohibited by the code, as interpreted and enforced by defendants.”

Brown also alleges that the city’s code “unconstitutionally compels plaintiff to move out of a traditional public forum.” despite the fact that the Pride festival organizers paid a fee to rent a portion of the park.

The suit says Brown has suffered injuries and damages as a result of being deprived of his rights, requests a trial by jury and asks that the city be prevented from enforcing the city’s code against Brown, who also asks for “nominal and/or compensatory and/or special and/or punitive damages” against the city and attorney’s fees.

Cookeville City Attorney Dan Rader said there will be a case management hearing conference July 12, regarding the suit.