News Releases
MALDEF DEFEATS REPEATED EFFORTS BY NATIONAL AIRLINE CLEANING COMPANY TO AVOID TRIAL IN EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION CASE
LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, MALDEF defeated yet another effort by the national airline cleaning company Gate Gourmet, Inc. to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the company’s unlawful employment practices. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Gate Gourmet, contracted to clean for Delta Airlines at LAX, prohibited employees from using Spanish during work hours, including rest and meal breaks, all in violation of California Government Code sections 12951 and 12940.
MALDEF FILES LAWSUIT CHALLENGING TEXAS IMMIGRANT HARBORING LAW
SAN ANTONIO, TX – Today, MALDEF filed a legal challenge to Texas House Bill 11’s immigrant harboring provision, which targets workers at immigrant shelters and landlords who rent to undocumented immigrants. HB 11 creates a new felony offense of immigrant harboring under which individuals can be arrested and prosecuted for providing shelter or renting a home to undocumented immigrants.
AS COUNSEL FOR THE ONLY INTERVENORS IN TEXAS V. UNITED STATES, MALDEF WILL CONTINUE TO DEFEND CLIENTS AS SUPREME COURT REVIEWS IMMIGRATION CASE
WASHINGTON, DC -Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review Texas v. United States, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the initiation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA). MALDEF’s clients, three mothers from South Texas, were the only parties granted intervention, joining the Obama Administration in defending the case as it moved through the Supreme Court.
COURT ALLOWS DISCRIMINATION SUIT AGAINST KERN COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION TO PROCEED
BAKERSFIELD, CA – On December 31, 2015, the Kern County Superior Court ruled that Latino and Black Plaintiffs may proceed against the Kern County Office of Education and Superintendent Christine Lizardi Frazier with their claims that the agency and Superintendent failed to take steps to ensure that students in the Kern High School District (KHSD) and alternative schools run by the Kern COE were not subjected to discrimination and denied equal educational opportunity. Parents and students enrolled in the Kern High School District and community activist organizations Dolores Huerta Foundation, National Brotherhood Association, and Faith in Action Kern County brought the action against the State as well as the Kern High School District and Kern County Office of Education; plaintiffs are represented by a coalition of civil rights legal advocates and pro bono counsel, including MALDEF, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., Equal Justice Society, and Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, Inc., and Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.
ACCESS TO IN-STATE GRANTS FOR TEXAS IMMIGRANT YOUTH SECURED AS SUIT DISMISSED
HARRIS COUNTY, TX – Late last week, in a resounding victory for Texas students, anti-immigrant advocates dropped a lawsuit that sought to deny state college aid to undocumented youth. In Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IRCOT) v. Texas, IRCOT asked the court to strip immigrant students of their right to access in-state tuition and grants, despite a Texas law (HB 1403) that provided for educational access to all Texas students, regardless of immigration status.
MALDEF DEMANDS THAT THE CITY OF PLACENTIA CHANGE ITS UNLAWFUL AT-LARGE CITY COUNCIL ELECTION SYSTEM
PLACENTIA, CA – Today, MALDEF sent a letter to the City of Placentia, demanding that it convert its at-large elections system to a district-based system that affords Latino voters an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to the Placentia City Council, in accordance with the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (“CVRA”). Placentia’s population is 36% Latino, but there are currently no Latino members on the five-seat council, and there has been only one Latino councilmember in the last two decades. Placentia’s at-large election system has prevented Latinos from being fairly represented on the city council. MALDEF demands the system be changed to a district-based system.
MALDEF STATEMENT ON THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT OF 2015
MALDEF WARNS CITY OF ANAHEIM THAT IT RISKS LIABILITY FOR VIOLATION OF LATINO VOTING RIGHTS
LOS ANGELES, CA – MALDEF and the California League of United Latin American Citizens (“CA LULAC”) today sent a letter to Anaheim, California Mayor Tom Tait warning that delaying the election in the only district designed to provide a voting rights remedy to Latino voters puts the city at risk for liability under the federal Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
MALDEF ANNOUNCES SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS AND RELEASES 2015-2016 LAW SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION
MALDEF CLIENTS WILL JOIN OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AS PARTIES DEFENDING DACA/DAPA AS CASE MOVES TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order allowing MALDEF’s clients, three mothers from south Texas who intend to apply for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), to participate as parties in the appeal recently decided by a Fifth Circuit panel. The women will therefore have party status, with all rights of parties, including briefing, argument, and participation in all case-related matters, as the case moves to the Supreme Court. Today, the United States Department of Justice filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the case on President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. As the appeals process moves to the U.S. Supreme Court, MALDEF will advocate on behalf of the three mothers in Texas v. United States, adding a human dimension to this pivotal case.
MALDEF CLIENTS GRANTED INTERVENTION AS APPEAL ON EXECUTIVE ACTION ON IMMIGRATION MOVES TO U.S. SUPREME COURT
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Late last night, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted MALDEF’s clients the right to intervene in Texas v. United States, a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the expansion of the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and the creation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA). As the appeals process moves to the U.S. Supreme Court, MALDEF’s clients, three mothers from south Texas who intend to apply for DAPA, will participate as parties in the case, with all of the rights of parties, including briefing, argument, and participation in all matters. The Court ruled against the Obama Administration on a 2-1 vote, upholding a lower court’s preliminary injunction against implementing expanded DACA and DAPA. The United States has indicated that it will seek review by the Supreme Court.
MALDEF AND LATINOJUSTICE PRLDEF FILE U.S. SUPREME COURT BRIEF ON BEHALF OF LATINO ORGANIZATIONS ADDRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF CAMPUS DIVERSITY IN FISHER V. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) and LatinoJustice PRLDEF filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court last Monday in Fisher v. University of Texas on behalf of 25 Texas and national Latina/o organizations, including UT students in support of the race-conscious college admissions plan.
MALDEF AND TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT AGREE ON PROPOSAL TO GIVE MAGNET SCHOOLS NEEDED SUPPORT AND TO DEFER ANY WITHDRAWAL OF MAGNET STATUS
TUCSON, AZ – On Friday of last week, a stipulation to provide Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) magnet schools needed support was filed in the historic desegregation case, Mendoza v. Tucson Unified School District. Under the court-adopted Unitary Status Plan (USP) developed by the parties and Special Master to resolve the 40-year old case, magnet schools are to strengthen their students’ academic achievement and increase integration. Following several magnet schools’ failure to meet integration benchmarks, MALDEF, together with co-counsel Lois D. Thompson, Partner at Proskauer Rose LLP, advanced a proposal to delay any recommendations of magnet status withdrawal and to have TUSD provide magnet schools with additional needed support, including financial support and the filling of teacher vacancies, to close the achievement gap between magnet schools’ white students and their Latino and African American students, and to improve recruitment of students.