San Diego, CA — A San Diego hotel clerk with autism won a settlement from Comfort Suites regarding his disability discrimination lawsuit on Monday.  The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claimed that the clerk was denied a reasonable accommodation and was fired in 2008 due to his disability.  Comfort Suites Mission Valley Hotel agreed to pay $132,500 to settle the suit.  The clerk had worked at a different hotel previously and earned a positive review.  When he was hired by Comfort Suites, he asked for a free job coach from …

Sacramento, CA –Occupy Sacramento protestors have filed suit against the City of Sacramento in federal court, claiming that the rights of supporters to free speech and freedom of assembly have been violated.  They have also requested a temporary restraining order to allow demonstrators to remain in Cesar Chavez Park overnight. Since Oct. 6, seventy-nine people have been arrested on suspicion of violating the 11:00 p.m. curfew law in the parks.  A conviction carries a penalty of up to 6 months in jail or a $1,000 fine.  Pro bono attorneys filed …

Fairfax — An attorney has been ordered to pay $456,000 in damages to a woman who he negligently represented in her divorce settlement.  Kathleen P. Whyard sued James G. Kincheloe Jr. claiming that she was not represented properly and that the attorney’s poor work cost her.  The settlement between Kathleen Whyard and her then husband, Charles E. Whyard II, stipulated Kathleen would get $171,500 for a “one-half” share of assets that included Aruba timeshares, the sale of a boat, equity in a home and other properties.  …

COVINA, CA– A man and his supporters attending a meeting of the Charter Oak Unified school board Thursday to protest his termination.  Mitch Stein, a former water polo coach claims he he was fired for being gay.  Stein was an assistant coach for the boy’s junior varsity water polo team when a parent discovered allegedly inappropriate photos on his Facebook and Myspace accounts and mailed the photos to the Charter Oak High Principal Kathleen Wiard.  One photo showed Stein posing with two drag queens and the other showed him about …

Houston, TX — Police charged Manuel Alvarado, a nursing assistant, with the sexual assault of an elderly female patient at the Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center.  On May 3, the elderly woman was admitted to the medical center after feeling ill.  Alvarado entered the woman’s room and told her he was going to change her adult diaper and clean her up.  He removed her diaper and then sexually assaulted her, despite her pleas for him to stop.
Afterwords, Alvarado allegedly placed a diaper on the patient and removed the pad she had …

Georgia –An 80-year-old woman died and 8 others became sick when carbon dioxide leaking from soft drink machine tanks permeated the women’s restroom at a McDonalds in Pooler, Ga.  Anne Felton of Ponte Vedra, Fla. and Carol Barry, 56, of Jacksonville, Fla. were found unconscious in the restroom.  The line used to funnel the excess carbon dioxide out of the restaurant became disconnected and was going through the wall into the bathroom instead of going outside.

Nine people, three firefighters, a McDonald’s employee and a family of three from Savannah who …

Brooklyn, NY — A Verizon worker was electrocuted Wednesday while working on elevated cables from inside a bucket truck.  Douglas Lalima, 37, came into contact with power lines and witnesses say they heard a pop and then his body caught on fire.  A 911 call was placed to the Fire Department at 11:31 a.m. and an ambulance arrived within minutes, but Lalima was pronounced dead at the scene.  Mr. Lalima had worked for Verizon for 15 years.  Witnesses said Lalima’s coworker was in his car on his cellphone at the …

Michigan — A lawyer, who has represented business clients in commercial and employment disputes and also maintained a family law practice representing clients in divorce, was injured along with his two sons when a bomb placed on his car exploded. Erik G. Chappell, 42, was driving his sons to football practice when a bomb exploded near the center of his car.  Chappell’s sons ages 11 and 13 were seriously injured but are expected to recover.
Federal, state and local authorities are involved in the investigation and …

Eugene, OR — After losing her baby during a home birth attended by two unlicensed midwives, a woman is pushing for a mandatory licensing law in Oregon.  Margarita Sheikh, 32, said that after eight days of labor and two days after her water broke, her son was born with no heartbeat.  The midwives did not have the skill or equipment necessary to resuscitate the baby.
Sheikh is calling for legislators to pass a law requiring midwife certification.  Some midwives and other medical practitioners also agree that certification is necessary. At this …

TWIN PEAKS, CA –Joshua Robb was found about a mile and a half away from the school he disappeared from over 24 hours earlier.
The 8-year-old boy with severe autism ran away from Grandview Elementary School in Twin Peaks around 11 a.m. on Monday.  It is thought that he slipped through a gate when he was at the school’s playground.
About 60 searchers aided by dogs and helicopters, searched the area for the boy. The boy was dressed in only a polo shirt, shorts, and sandals which was a concern due to …