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Sexual Orientation Discrimination Under Title VII in the 2nd Circuit: A Work in Progress
Posted on: May 11th, 2017	by Art Leonard	No Comments
As the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ponders three petitions asking for en banc consideration of the question whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 can be interpreted to ban sexual orientation discrimination as a form of sex discrimination, a federal trial judge in Manhattan has ruled that "in light of the evolving state of the law," it would be "imprudent" for the court to grant a motion to dismiss a gay plaintiff's sexual orientation discrimination claim.
Senior District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, appointed by Bill Clinton in 1998, issued his ruling in Philpott v. State University of New York on May 3, the day after the third en banc petition was filed. An en banc hearing in the 2nd Circuit involves participation by all eleven active judges in the circuit, plus any senior judges who participated in a three-judge panel decision that is being reheard en banc. Appeals are normally heard by three-judge panels, which are bound to follow existing circuit precedents. Only an en banc panel (or the Supreme Court) can reconsider and reverse such precedents.
The 2nd Circuit ruled in 2000, in the case of Simonton v. Runyon, that Title VII could not be interpreted to forbid sexual orientation discrimination. This holding was reiterated by a second panel in 2005, in Dawson v. Bumble & Bumble, and yet again this year on March 27 in Christiansen v. Omnicom Group. However, the 2nd Circuit's Chief Judge, Robert Katzmann, who was sitting as a member of the panel in Christiansen, wrote a concurring opinion, joined by one of the other judges, arguing that the issue should be considered en banc in "an appropriate case." Katzmann's discussion basically embraced the arguments articulated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its 2015 decision holding that David Baldwin, a gay air traffic controller, could bring a sexual orientation discrimination claim under Title VII against the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The first of the en banc petitions was filed on April 19 in Cargian v. Breitling USA, Inc., in which another Manhattan trial judge, George B. Daniels, dismissed a gay watch salesman's Title VII sexual orientation discrimination claim, finding that 2nd Circuit appellate precedents binding on the court rejected sexual orientation claims as a form of sex discrimination. Judge Daniels ruled on September 29, 2016, and Frederick Cargian filed an appeal to the 2nd Circuit. When the Christiansen decision was issued on March 27, it became clear that Cargian's appeal to a three-judge panel would be a waste of time and judicial resources, and the American Civil Liberties Union, representing Cargian along with the New York Civil Liberties Union and solo plaintiffs' attorney Janice Goodman, decided to petition the Circuit to take the case up directly en banc.
The second petition was filed on April 28 by Matthew Christiansen's attorney, Susan Chana Lask. The three-judge panel in Christiansen's case had refused to allow the case to continue on a sexual orientation discrimination theory, but had concluded that it was possible that Christiansen would be able to proceed under a gender stereotype theory. The panel clarified the 2nd Circuit's approach in such cases, rejecting the trial judge's conclusion that if the factual allegations suggest that sexual orientation played a role in the discrimination suffered by the plaintiff, he would be not be allowed to proceed under Title VII. The trial court's approach overlooked an important element of Title VII, an amendment adopted in 1991 providing that a plaintiff is entitled to judgment if sex is a "motivating factor" in his or her case, even if other factors contributed to the employer's discriminatory conduct. The Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that discriminating against an employee because the employee fails to conform to gender stereotypes is evidence of discrimination because of sex. In such a case, the sexual orientation of the plaintiff would be irrelevant, so long as the plaintiff could show that gender stereotyping was a motivating factor in their mistreatment.
At first it appeared that Christiansen would not seek en banc review, despite Judge Katzmann's concurring opinion, as the panel unanimously voted to send the case back to the district court for consideration as a gender stereotyping case. Attorney Lask was quoted in newspaper reports as preparing to proceed to trial on the stereotyping theory. The ACLU's en banc petition changed the game plan, evidently, and Christiansen's en banc petition was filed on April 28.
Meanwhile, on April 18, a different panel of the 2nd Circuit decided Zarda v. Altitude Express, once again holding that a gay plaintiff could not advance a sexual orientation discrimination claim under Title VII. Gregory Antollino, an attorney for an executor of the Estate of Donald Zarda, a gay skydiving instructor who had died in a skydiving accident after the being discharged from his employment, filed a petition for en banc rehearing on May 2, with Stephen Bergstein of Bergstein & Ullrich as co-counsel representing a co-executor.
The very next day Judge Hellerstein issued his ruling, allowing Jeffrey Philpott, the gay former Vice President of Student Affairs at the State University of New York's College of Optometry to pursue his Title VII sexual orientation discrimination, hostile environment and retaliation claims. Judge Hellerstein rejected the defendant's alternative argument that even if sexual orientation discrimination is covered by Title VII, Philpott's factual allegations were insufficient to support his claims. However, Judge Hellerstein joined with several other district judges within the 2nd Circuit in ruling that an employee of an educational institution may not bring an employment discrimination claim under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1992, which bans sex discrimination by educational institutions that receive federal money. Although the plain language of Title IX can be interpreted to cover employment discrimination claims, Hellerstein agreed with other courts that have found that Congress did not intend to supplant Title VII, with its specific time deadlines and administrative exhaustion requirements, for employees of educational institutions who have sex discrimination claims.
After briefly describing the 2nd Circuit precedents, Hellerstein noted defendant's argument that the court must dismiss the sexual orientation claims, and also Philpott's request for leave to file an amended complaint focused on gender stereotyping. "Neither relief is appropriate," wrote the judge. "The law with respect to this legal question is clearly in a state of flux, and the Second Circuit, or perhaps the Supreme Court, may return to this question soon. In light of the evolving state of the law, dismissal of plaintiff's Title VII claim is improper."
Hellerstein then provided a summary of Judge Katzmann's Christiansen concurrence, which he referred to more than once as a "majority concurrence" as it was signed by two of the three panel members. Hellerstein pointed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals en banc decision in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, issued on April 4, in which "the Seventh Circuit became the first Court of Appeals to unequivocally hold that 'discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination' and therefore cognizable under Title VII."
"Among other reasons," wrote Hellerstein, "the Seventh Circuit made this ruling 'to bring our law into conformity with the Supreme Court's teachings.' The Seventh Circuit was also compelled by 'the common-sense reality that it is actually impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation without also discriminating on the basis of sex.'"
Hellerstein asserted that because Philpott "has stated a claim for sexual orientation discrimination, 'common sense' dictates that he has also stated a claim for gender stereotyping discrimination, which is cognizable under Title VII. The fact that plaintiff has framed his complaint in terms of sexual orientation discrimination and not gender stereotyping discrimination is immaterial. I decline to embrace an 'illogical' and artificial distinction between gender stereotyping discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination, and in so doing, I join several other courts throughout the country."
A few days after Hellerstein's ruling, another panel of the 2nd Circuit avoided dealing with the same question in Magnusson v. County of Suffolk, an appeal from a May 2016 ruling by District Judge Sandra Feuerstein in the Eastern District of New York (Long Island). Judge Feuerstein had rejected Arline Magnussen's sexual orientation harassment Title VII claim on alternative grounds: that 2nd Circuit precedent does not allow sexual orientation claims, and that the employer could not be held liable under Title VII because Magnussen had unreasonably failed to invoke the employer's internal grievance procedure to deal with her harassment complaint. In a short memorandum signed by the Clerk of the Court, the 2nd Circuit ruled on May 11 that it need not address the Title VII interpretation issue in light of the district court's finding that the employer could not held liable for whatever harassment the plaintiff might have suffered.
In terms of en banc review, in both Cargian and Zarda the court would face a case where the only stereotyping claim that would be viable would be that as gay men the plaintiffs did not conform to the stereotype that men should be attracted to women, so it would have to deal directly with the question whether sexual orientation is, as the EEOC stated and the 7th Circuit accepted, "necessarily" sex discrimination. In Christiansen, the appellate panel found that the plaintiff might invoke other gender stereotype issues to make a viable claim under Title VII under the Circuit's existing precedents, thus providing a less certain vehicle for getting the Circuit to confront the central legal issue.
If the 2nd Circuit grants the Christiansen or Cargian petitions, the en banc panel would consist of the eleven active members of the court. If it grants the Zarda petition, those judges could be joined by two senior judges, Robert Sack and Gerard Lynch, who sat on the three-judge panel. Of the eleven active judges, a majority were appointed by Democratic presidents: three by Clinton and four by Obama. If the senior judges are added, a thirteen-member panel would include four appointed by Clinton and five appointed by Obama. It is not clear from the Circuit's published rules whether the senior judges could participate if the Circuit decides to consolidate the cases for rehearing en banc, but it is possible that they could only participate in deciding the Zarda case.
2nd Circuit Panel Rejects Sexual Orientation Discrimination Claim Under Title VII, but Revives Sex-Stereotyping Claim by Gay Man
Posted on: March 27th, 2017	by Art Leonard	No Comments
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, based in Manhattan, has issued a mixed ruling concerning a gay man's claim that he was sexually harassed in his workplace in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In a per curiam opinion in Christiansen v. Omnicom Group, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 5278, 2017 WL 1130183, the court ruled on March 27 that plaintiff Matthew Christiansen could not sue under Title VII on a claim of sexual orientation discrimination because of existing circuit precedents, but that he could maintain his lawsuit on a claim that he was the victim of unlawful sex stereotyping by his employer. Thus, the case was sent back to U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla (S.D.N.Y.), who last year had granted the employer's motion to dismiss all federal claims in the case and to decline to exercise jurisdiction over state law claims; see 167 F. Supp. 3d 598.
The ruling on this appeal, which was argued on January 20, was much awaited because it was the first time for the 2nd Circuit to address the sexual orientation issue since the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reversed its position, held for half a century, and ruled in 2015 that sexual orientation discrimination claims should be treated as sex discrimination claims subject to Title VII, which prohibits discrimination "because of sex."
In a separate concurring opinion, Chief Judge Robert Katzmann, joined by U.S. District Judge Margo K. Brodie, suggested that if the full 2nd Circuit bench, which can change a circuit precedent, were to consider the question, Katzmann and Brodie would find that sexual orientation discrimination claims can be litigated under Title VII. The other member of the panel, Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston, did not join the concurring opinion.
Christiansen, described in the opinion as "an openly gay man who is HIV-positive," worked at DDB Worldwide Communications Group, an advertising agency based in New York that is a subsidiary of Omnicom Group. He alleged that his direct supervisor subjected him to humiliating harassment "targeting his effeminacy and sexual orientation." This began in the spring and summer of 2011, a time when marriage equality in New York was much in the news as the legislature prepared to vote upon and pass the marriage equality bill. The supervisor, who is not named in the opinion, "drew multiple sexually suggestive and explicit drawings of Christiansen on an office whiteboard." These graphic drawings "depicted a naked, muscular Christiansen with an erect penis, holding a manual air pump and accompanied by a text bubble reading, 'I'm so pumped for marriage equality.'"
There was another picture that "depicted Christiansen in tights and a low-cut shirt 'prancing around.'" Yet another showed his "torso on the body of 'a four legged animal with a tail and penis, urinating and defecating.'" Later in 2011, the same supervisor "circulated at work and posted to Facebook a 'Muscle Beach Party" poster that depicted various employees' heads on the bodies of people in beach attire," including Christiansen's head "attached to a female body clad in a bikini, lying on the ground with her legs upright in the air in a manner that one coworker thought depicted Christiansen as 'a submissive sissy.'"
The supervisor also made remarks about "the connection between effeminacy, sexual orientation, and HIV status," and allegedly told other employees that Christiansen "was effeminate and gay so he must have AIDS." The supervisor made other references to AIDS in connection with Christiansen, although at the time Christiansen was keeping his HIV-status private. Christiansen included a disability discrimination claim in his complaint, but the district court found that his factual allegations were not sufficient to maintain a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a conclusion that Christiansen did not appeal.
Christiansen filed a complaint with the EEOC in 2014, describing the harassment in detail, and upon receiving the agency's notice of right to sue, filed his lawsuit in the federal court in Manhattan, which the defendants quickly moved to dismiss. Christiansen alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII for his federal claims, and also alleged violations of New York State and city anti-discrimination laws. The employer argued that his claim under Title VII was really a sexual orientation discrimination claim rather than a gender stereotyping claim, and the district judge agreed.
The state of precedent in the 2nd Circuit has frequently been questioned by federal trial courts in the circuit as confusing and difficult to apply. The Circuit has ruled that under Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228 (1989), an employee, including a gay or lesbian employee, can bring a sex discrimination claim involving sex stereotyping, but if the court perceives that the employer's mistreatment of the employee was really due to the employee's sexual orientation, the claim will be rejected. These precedents date from 2000 (Simonton v. Runyon, 232 F.3d 33) and 2005 (Dawson v. Bumble & Bumble, 398 F.3d 211). They predate the Supreme Court's decisions striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (U.S. v. Windsor, 133 S.Ct. 2675) and state bans on same-sex marriage (Obergefell v. Windsor, 135 S. Ct. 2584), as well as the EEOC's 2015 ruling recognizing sexual orientation discrimination claims under Title VII. While none of these later rulings produced a precedent binding on the 2nd Circuit that sexual orientation claims are covered under Title VII, they have "changed the landscape," as Judge Katzmann wrote in his concurring opinion.
The per curiam opinion premised its holding squarely on the rule that circuit precedents can only be revised or reversed by the Supreme Court or the full circuit bench sitting en banc. Thus, the panel ruled that it was precluded from reconsidering Simonton and Dawson.
However, the panel disagreed with Judge Failla's conclusion that there was too much about sexual orientation in Christiansen's complaint to allow him to proceed with a gender stereotyping sex discrimination claim under Title VII. The panel pointed out that the 2nd Circuit has never ruled that gay people may not sue under Title VII when they have substantial evidence of gender stereotyping to present, provided that such evidence is not limited to the argument that sexual orientation discrimination is itself a form of sex stereotyping. That is, the Title VII claim may not based, under current circuit precedent, on the argument that men loving men and women loving men is a violation of gender stereotypes in and of itself. In this case, the panel wrote that there were enough allegations of gender stereotyping as such to survive the employer's motion to dismiss.
"The district court commented that much more of the complaint was devoted to sexual orientation discrimination allegations than gender stereotyping discrimination allegations and that it thus might be difficult for Christiansen to withstand summary judgment or prove at trial that he was harassed because of his perceived effeminacy and flouting of gender stereotypes rather than because of his sexual orientation." But the court pointed out that Christiansen's burden at this initial stage of the litigation was not to show that he would prevail at later stages. Rather, it was enough for him to "state a claim that is plausible on its face" that he was subjected to harassment because of non-conformity to male gender stereotypes.
Judge Katzmann noted in his concurrence that because Christiansen was also alleging violations of state and local laws forbidding sexual orientation discrimination as well as a violation of Title VII, it was to be expected that his factual allegations would cover both kinds of claims. While joining in the per curiam opinion, Judge Katzmann wrote separately to express his view "that when the appropriate occasion presents itself, it would make sense for the Court to revisit the central legal issue confronted in Simonton and Dawson, especially in light of the changing legal landscape that has taken shape in the nearly two decades since Simonton issued."
He went on to identify three theories under which sexual orientation discrimination claims should be treated as sex discrimination claims under Title VII, drawing heavily on the EEOC's 2015 decision. First, he wrote, "sexual orientation discrimination is sex discrimination for the simple reason that such discrimination treats otherwise similarly-situated people differently solely because of their sex." The EEOC has observed, he wrote, that "sexual orientation 'cannot be defined or understood without reference to sex,' because sexual orientation is defined by whether a person is attracted to people of the same sex or opposite sex (or both, or neither)." Thus, according to the EEOC, "sexual orientation discrimination is sex discrimination because it necessarily entails treating an employee less favorably because of the employee's sex."
The second theory follows a 2nd Circuit ruling from 2008, Holcomb v. Iona College, 521 F.3d 130 (2008), where the circuit formally embraced the associational discrimination theory that other courts have applied in race discrimination cases. If an employee suffers discrimination because he is involved in an interracial relationship, the courts will recognize his claim of race discrimination in violation of Title VII. By analogy, discriminating against an employee because of a same-sex relationship is quite simply sex discrimination. In Price Waterhouse, the Supreme Court had commented that Title VII "on its face treats each of the enumerated categories exactly the same." Thus, if employees in interracial relationships are protected from race discrimination, then employees in same-sex relationships should be protected from sex discrimination.
Finally, of course, there is gender stereotyping, including the kind of stereotyping that the 2nd Circuit has not yet accepted as violating Title VII, the stereotype that men should be attracted only to women and women only to men. "Relying on common sense and intuition rather than any 'special training,'" wrote Katzmann, "courts have explained that sexual orientation discrimination 'is often, if not always, motivated by a desire to enforce heterosexually defined gender norms. In fact, stereotypes about homosexuality are directly related to our stereotypes about the proper roles of men and women.'" Katzmann noted that the circuit in Dawson had pointed out that "stereotypical notions about how men and women should behave will often necessarily blur into ideas about heterosexuality and homosexuality." He continued, "Having conceded this, it is logically untenable for us to insist that this particular gender stereotype is outside of the gender stereotype discrimination prohibition articulated in Price Waterhouse," and concluded that this particular stereotype about sexual attraction is "as clear a gender stereotype as any."
At the same time, he rejected the argument, raised by some courts, that because Congress has been considering unsuccessful efforts to pass a federal ban on sexual orientation discrimination since the 1970s, the courts are precluded through interpreting Title VII to ban such discrimination. When the circuit decided Simonton in 2000, it reached the same conclusion that all other federal circuit courts had then reached on this issue. "But in the years since," he wrote, "the legal landscape has substantially changed," citing Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (the sodomy law case) and Obergefell v. Hodges (the marriage equality case), "affording greater legal protection to gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals. During the same period," he observed, "societal understanding of same-sex relationships has evolved considerably." Thus, he wrote, despite the failed legislative proposals, there is "no justification in the statutory language for a categorical rule" excluding sexual orientation claims.
"I respectfully think that in the context of an appropriate case our Court should consider reexamining the holding that sexual orientation discrimination claims are not cognizable under Title VII. Other federal courts are also grappling with this question, and it well may be that the Supreme Court will ultimately address it."
The other cases are in the 7th Circuit, where the full bench heard argument on November 30 on this question, and the 11th Circuit, where a petition for en banc review is being filed by Lambda seeking reversal of a 2-1 adverse panel decision issued a few weeks ago. There is also another panel case argued in January in the 2nd Circuit, although the circuit rule on precedent will likely produce the same result in that case, which does not include a separate gender non-conformity allegation.
Christiansen is represented by Susan Chana Lask, a New York attorney whose Complaint in this case originally cast the federal claim as a sex stereotyping claim. Now that the case is being sent back to the district court to be litigated on the stereotyping theory, the plaintiff need not seek full circuit en banc review to proceed and seek discovery to produce evidence in support of his claim.
The case attracted widespread amicus participation, including a brief filed by the EEOC, another from a long list of civil rights organizations led by the ACLU, and briefs on behalf of 128 members of Congress, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Lambda Legal, all arguing that the court should allow the case to proceed as a sexual orientation discrimination case.
Federal Court in NYC Dismisses Sexual Orientation Discrimination Claim under Title VII
In 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which has appellate jurisdiction over cases in the federal trial courts in New York, rejected the argument that sexual orientation discrimination claims could be dealt with as sex discrimination claims under federal law, but was open to the possibility that a gay litigant who had suffered discrimination because of failure to conform with the employer's stereotypical views of appropriate gender behavior could pursue such a claim. On March 9, a gay litigant informed the 2nd Circuit that he will appeal a Manhattan trial court's dismissal of his federal sexual orientation claim, joining the trial judge in urging the appeals court to reconsider its 2000 decision.
Since the 2nd Circuit decided Simonton v. Runyon, 232 F.3d 33 (2000), the law affecting LGBT rights has drastically changed. In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that gay sex between consenting adults could no longer be outlawed. In 2002, New York State joined New York City in outlawing sexual orientation discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, and the next year New York City extended the local law to gender identity discrimination claims. In 2009 the federal government added sexual orientation and gender identity to the national Hate Crimes Law, and subsequently repealed the "don't ask, don't tell" anti-gay military policy. In 2011 New York passed a Marriage Equality Act, in 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government must recognize same-sex marriages formed under state law, and last year the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to marry and have their marriages recognized by state governments everywhere in the country.
Through all this change, however, the principal federal anti-discrimination law, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, has never been amended to extend explicit protection against discrimination to LGBT people. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency charged with enforcing Title VII, the employment provisions of the Civil Rights Act, has interpreted the federal ban on sex discrimination as extending to gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination, but federal courts are not bound by that interpretation, and federal trial judges have differed about how to handle sexual orientation discrimination claims. So far, no federal appeals court has ruled on the question since the EEOC issued its decision last summer, but cases are pending on appeal in several circuits.
On March 9, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, ruling on an employer's motion to dismiss a Title VII claim filed by a gay man in Christiansen v. Omnicom Group, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29972, found that his attempt to squeeze the case into the sex stereotype theory was unsuccessful and dismissed his claim, concluding that she was bound by the 2nd Circuit precedent to reject a sexual orientation discrimination claim under Title VII. Reviewing the facts alleged by Matthew Christiansen against Omnicom Group (the parent company) and DDB Worldwide Communications (the business by which he is employed in New York), the judge found that all but one of the incidents he described in his complaint related to sexual orientation.
Indeed, Christiansen's allegations clearly state that his supervisor, Joe Cianciotto, was "openly resentful and hostile toward Plaintiff because of his sexual orientation." The various incidents of harassment that Christiansen described in his complaint all involved Cianciotto's expression of such hostility in some form. Only once did he refer to Christiansen as "effeminate," which might have supported a sex stereotype claim, but most of the time Cianciotto's razzing focused on Christiansen's "big muscles" (as described by Cianciotto), pictorial invocations of exaggerated masculinity, and references to gay stereotypes.
Judge Failla focused on the difficulty of distinguishing between sexual orientation and sex stereotyping claims, quoting from several other court decisions illustrating that difficulty, and warning against using passing stereotypical references by a supervisor to "shoehorn" a sexual orientation claim into Title VII coverage.
"The lesson imparted by the body of Title VII litigation concerning sexual orientation discrimination and sexual stereotyping seems to be that no coherent line can be drawn between these two sorts of claims," she wrote. "Yet the prevailing law in this Circuit – and, indeed, every Circuit to consider the question – is that such a line must be drawn. Simonton is still good law, and, as such, this Court is bound by its dictates. Consequently, the Court must consider whether the Plaintiff has pleaded a claim based on sexual stereotyping, separate and apart from the stereotyping inherent in his claim for discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Court finds that he has not."
Christiansen's complaint alleges that Ciancotto told a coworker that Christiansen was "effeminate and gay so he must have AIDS," but this was not enough for Judge Failla. "This is the sole mention of Plaintiff as effeminate or otherwise non-conforming to traditional gender norms in the whole of the [first amended complaint]," she wrote. "It alone cannot serve to transform a claim for discrimination that Plaintiff plainly interpreted – and the facts support – as stemming from sexual orientation animus into one for sexual stereotyping. While Plaintiff provides virtually no support in his [complaint] for an allegation of discrimination based on sexual stereotyping, he provides multiple illustrations of Cianciotto's animus toward gay individuals. The [complaint] notes, for instance, the fact that 'most of the pictures Cianciotto drew were of men fornicating, and they always involved a gay employee'; that he repeatedly expressed a belief that gay men were reckless and disease-prone; and that he commented at a meeting that he did not want an advertisement to be 'too gay.' All of these examples lend further support to the inference that Cianciotto's harassment was motivated by sexual-orientation-based discriminatory animus, not sexual stereotyping."
Failla conceded that she might be able to "latch onto the single use of the word 'effeminate' and the depiction of Plaintiff's head on a woman's body, strip these facts of the context provided by the rest of the [complaint], and conjure up a claim for 'sexual stereotyping.' But while the ends might be commendable, the means would be intellectually dishonest; the Court would obliterate the line the Second Circuit has drawn, rightly or wrongly, between sexual orientation and sex-based claims. In light of the EEOC's recent decision on Title VII's scope, and the demonstrated impracticability of considering sexual orientation discrimination as categorically different from sexual stereotyping, one might reasonably ask – and, lest there by any doubt, this Court is asking – whether that line should be erased. Until it is, however, discrimination based on sexual orientation will not support a claim under Title VII; Plaintiff's Title VII discrimination claim must therefore be dismissed."
Reading Christiansen's factual allegations, one would have to be amazed that a supervisor behaving the way Joe Cianciotto is alleged to have behaved would be tolerated by a socially conscious employer in New York, much less a large advertising agency. As far as society has advanced over the past few decades in treating gay people with simple human dignity, the facts one reads in employment discrimination complaints filed by LGBT suggest that there is still a long way to go.
Christiansen, who is HIV-positive, also asserted an Americans With Disabilities Act claim, but Judge Failla found it was not timely, since the only incident on point occurred more than 300 days before Christiansen filed his charge with the EEOC, and in that charge he didn't even mention the ADA. She also found that his factual allegations would not support a claim under the ADA in any event, since there was scant evidence that he was mistreated by the company because of his HIV status, and that the facts also did not support his claim to have suffered retaliation for filing his discrimination charges. His complaint asserted a "constructive discharge" claim, which he had to withdraw since he was still working for the company when the complaint was filed
However, it is a fair inference from Judge Failla's characterization of the evidence that if she felt Title VII could be construed to cover sexual orientation discrimination, she would not have granted the motion to dismiss. She also granted a motion to dismiss filed on behalf of various supervisory and managerial officials of the employer, as the federal anti-discrimination laws do not pose personal liability on company officials. Having dismissed all the federal statutory claims that Christiansen made, the judge declined to extend jurisdiction over his state law claims, so he should be able to pursue his case further in state court, where the statutes do expressly forbid sexual orientation discrimination.
In the meantime, however, Christiansen's reaction to the March 9 dismissal was immediate, as his attorney filed a notice of appeal with the 2nd Circuit the same day. Little more than a week earlier, the EEOC had advanced its campaign to win judicial acceptance of the agency's interpretation of Title VII by filing its first affirmative sexual orientation discrimination claims against employers in other parts of the country. The EEOC had already intervened as a co-plaintiff in several other pending cases since last year's administrative ruling.
Christiansen is represented by Susan Chana Lask, a New York City trial lawyer.
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Arthur S. Leonard, a professor at New York Law School since 1982, edits the monthly newsletter Lesbian/Gay Law Notes, and is co-author of Sexuality Law (Carolina Academic Press) and AIDS Law in a Nutshell (West Publishing Co.). He writes on legal issues for Gay City News (New York), and serves as a trustee of the Jewish Board of Family & Children's Services of New York.
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On March 21st, the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia approved a new policy regarding the prescribing of monitored drugs.
This policy is effective June 1st, 2014.
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Kirsti Lay (Medicine Hat, 7 de abril de 1988) es una deportista canadiense que compitió en ciclismo en las modalidades de pista, especialista en la prueba de persecución por equipos, y ruta. Está casada con el patinador Mathieu Giroux.

Participó en los Juegos Olímpicos de Río de Janeiro 2016, obteniendo la medalla de bronce en la prueba de persecución por equipos (haciendo equipo con Allison Beveridge, Jasmin Glaesser y Georgia Simmerling).

Ganó dos medallas en el Campeonato Mundial de Ciclismo en Pista, plata en 2016 y bronce en 2015.

En septiembre de 2019 anunció su retirada de la competición después de haber sido madre.

Medallero internacional

Palmarés
2017
 2.ª en el Campeonato de Canadá en Ruta
 1 etapa de la Cascade Cycling Classic

2018
 3.ª en el Campeonato de Canadá Contrarreloj

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Ficha en procyclingstats.com

Ciclistas de pista de Canadá
Ciclistas de Canadá en los Juegos Olímpicos de Río de Janeiro 2016
Medallistas olímpicos de bronce de Canadá
Medallistas olímpicos de bronce de ciclismo
Medallistas olímpicos de bronce de Río de Janeiro 2016

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


A colorful board book that captures the fun and excitement of a day at the beach. Sun, sea, and sand meet bright illustrations and a fun rhyming text in this delightful summer story.
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Karen Roosa is the author of Beach Day, which was named a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year. She lives with her family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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Roosa's happy verse perfectly captures a sunny beach day full of salty splashing and play. . . .With warm, bright watercolor illustrations that are packed with inviting, authentic detail, this book is presents an ideal visit to the shore.


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EditorialFeature ArticlesSwitch
Reviewing the Nintendo DLC on Nintendo Switch so far
Adding extra value
By Chirag Pattni June 27, 2020
Downloadable content (DLC) is hardly a new concept by this point in gaming, whether it's simple cosmetic items or full-blown story expansions. As with most trends in the industry, Nintendo was a little late to this one, but it is undeniably on board with the idea of expanding on its games now. Games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Fire Emblem: Three Houses have received significant additions in the forms of new quests, items, and characters. However, while it's great that Nintendo is now willing to add more content to its games, the DLC can vary in quality with great examples like (Ubisoft's) Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle versus weaker examples like Breath of the Wild. With this in mind, let's review some of Nintendo's most prominent DLC and how it fares.
The two expansions for Breath of the Wild went for an "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" approach. They added more fun items to the sandbox of Breath of the Wild's world, such as a stronger Master Sword and the Master Cycle Zero. New challenge shrines offered more great puzzles, and for many fans, this was a great excuse to jump back into Hyrule. Taken in a vacuum, there's nothing wrong with Breath of the Wild's two DLC expansions.
However, when compared to other open-world games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it's hard not to be a little disappointed. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's expansions offered huge new areas and story quests that were both high-quality and lengthy. Compared to the vast base game of Breath of the Wild, its two expansions are small and offer little in terms of twists to the established formula. In all likelihood, the reason these weren't more ambitious is that Nintendo simply wants to save ideas for the sequel.
Games-as-a-service titles have become a huge deal over this past generation. Games like Fortnite demonstrate how free and frequent updates can keep an online game feeling fresh and exciting at regular intervals. Taking a page from this, Nintendo put its best foot forward with its updates to Splatoon 2, which isn't DLC in the conventional sense, but we're addressing the effort here anyway.
Regular patches to alter the game balance, as well as new weapons and maps, meant that Splatoon 2 players always had something to look forward to on the horizon. If this weren't enough, the Splatfest events that pitted players on two sides of an arbitrary conflict were a great way to bring the community together for a weekend. Splatoon 2 is Nintendo's best effort with an online game, and it's a shame that the updates had to come to an end.
However, Splatoon 2 did receive actual DLC in the form of the surprising Octo Expansion, and — people loved it! It's 80 new solo missions, and they're not perfunctory pushovers. They bring a lot of challenge, an example of DLC with real meat to it — albeit octopus-flavored. This is the kind of DLC that knows exactly what players want and delivers it. The fact that there's a bit more story and unlockable Octolings for multiplayer is just icing on top.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Of all the games on this list, Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle has easily done the best job with its DLC. Donkey Kong Adventure adds an entirely new campaign mode designed specifically for Nintendo's favorite ape and his companions. New characters and weapons appear in a meaty story that is a joy to play through.
It does what any great expansion should do by providing significant content that builds on what makes the original game special while giving players new ways to play. New tactical possibilities become available thanks to abilities like swinging around a map with vines or carrying Rabbid Cranky Kong. In a nutshell, Donkey Kong Adventure lets returning players enjoy a fresh but familiar gameplay experience that reminds them why Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was a great game to begin with.
In fighting games, DLC often comes in the form of new characters and stages. For Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the challenger packs function as an ideal reason to jump back into the game and a perfect way for Nintendo to sustain the hype around it. After all, everyone has been caught up in the hype of theorizing about new characters, and we still will be in the future.
Thanks to outlandish additions like Joker from Persona 5, the sky is the limit for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and it's delivered on this promise time and again thanks to its loving attention to detail. From Joker's "all-out attack" to Terry Bogard's original input commands, you get the sense that Masahiro Sakurai and his team truly care about making every new addition fun and meaningful, and that is the true strength of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's DLC. This happened again recently when Min Min from Arms was revealed.
The Cindered Shadows expansion for Fire Emblem: Three Houses is similar to the DLC for Breath of the Wild in the sense that it is relatively short compared to its base game. Yet, unlike Breath of the Wild's DLC, Cindered Shadows offers Fire Emblem fans almost exactly what they wanted.
It presents players with a new standalone campaign, complete with unique classes and a new group of great student characters to both expand on the lore and get attached to. While it may not have the depth of systems that the core game does, Cindered Shadows introduces some of the game's most difficult combat encounters. A harder challenge and more story content meant that for fans of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Cindered Shadows is one of Nintendo's best DLC offerings.
Much like with Super Mario Odyssey, it's strange that Nintendo hasn't done more with its post-launch content for Luigi's Mansion 3. Both of these games have modular gameplay that can easily accommodate DLC additions. For Super Mario Odyssey, this would have taken the form of new levels to explore, while for Luigi's Mansion 3 this could have been new floors to the hotel or a new side story campaign.
However, rather than adding more content that builds on the great gameplay of Luigi's Mansion 3, Nintendo decided to expand on the game's multiplayer modes instead. While new costumes, mini-games, and co-op levels are welcome, none of these additions build upon the slow, spooky, and fantastic puzzle-based gameplay that made Luigi's Mansion 3 special.
As you can see, Nintendo has had its ups and downs with DLC on Switch, and it was actually Ubisoft that has done some of the best work. On the whole though, things are trending in a positive direction. What is your favorite DLC for a Nintendo game?
Chirag Pattni
Psychologist and long time gamer. Has a love-hate relationship with technology and enjoys all things Japanese.
You can soon get Shiny Galarian Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres in Pokémon Sword and Shield

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This is the regular monthly meeting of the Fredericksburg Songwriters' Circle. The main part of this meeting will be a song-sharing session: bring your notebooks, your pens, and your instruments! For those who write using a keyboard, we will have one available.
In addition to sharing originals, let's each pick a popular song which has really big impact on us, and bring it for analysis. If you can perform it, great -- if not, bring an MP3 on your phone / player (I will have speakers available).


Phylicia did my hair and makeup for my wedding. Not only was she insanely talented and impeccably responsive, she was so fun to work with. As my bridesmaids and I got ready for the big day, laughing, crying, and everything in between, she was right there with us. I tasked her with creating an undo that covered my ears and was flexible enough so that I could take my hair down after the ceremony! ( I really wanted half up, half down, but my wedding was outside and it was 95 degrees.) She did it, and it was perfect! My makeup made me look 5 pounds lighter and who doesn't want that on their wedding day?! Everyone that sees my wedding photos is shocked by how beautiful I look! Ha! I'm not sure how to take that, but it speaks volumes about Phylicia's work. She strives to make you feel beautiful, and she truly outdid herself. She's as wonderful as she is talented. If I could give her ten stars, I would...anyone who needs hair or makeup for anything should be lucky enough to work with her!!! Couldn't recommend her enough, she was my wedding day wizard!
Every bride has things they would go back and change about their wedding day, but one thing I would definitely do all over again is choose Phylicia to do my makeup. She is so talented, she listens to your wants and needs, and she has the kindest heart. I look forward to the next time I need my makeup done by a pro!
I tend to be very picky when it comes to getting my hair and makeup professionally done. I have never loved what I looked like afterwards, except when it comes to Phylicia's work! She does an amazing job. She listens to what you want and adds her professional touch in a beautiful way that makes you just glow! She also uses great products. I have never been happier! Thank you so much Phylicia, you're the best!
Phylicia has been doing my hair since receiving her license. She is always professional and extremely personable. Her knowledge of the latest techniques and styles, consistently leaves me a very pleased customer! The price is right as well! Highly recommended for your next special occasion.
I had the pleasure of working with Phylicia in another professional capacity and saw some of her work. I was extremely impressed and decided to book her to do my hair and makeup for my brother's wedding. She arrived early to allow enough time to set up her station and was respectful of our timeline for the day, ensuring that we were all done in plenty of time to dress for pictures. My makeup and hair looked incredible. I received countless compliments throughout the day. What's more, I FELT amazing. The makeup lasted all day (through hours of dancing and a few happy tears) but didn't require a paint scraper to remove before bed. I wish Phylicia could do my makeup and hair every day! I'll definitely be using her again and will recommend her to anyone who wants to be glommed up for any occasion!
Phylicia is an amazing hairdresser! She really listens to what you want. Honestly, she's given me some of my best haircuts. I wish she lived in NYC!
I work at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown and was working/attending a very important wedding that we were also using as our marketing piece for the hotel so I knew I had to look my best. Ladies, look no further! Phylicia is simply the best. Not only was my makeup flawless and my hair absolutely stunning, but it lasted ALL DAY LONG! I worked from 8:00 AM and attended the wedding as a guest until very late at night and I still looked just as fabulous as when I started. Phylicia is professional, well-educated, and simply put, an artist!
Phylicia is an incredibly talented hairdresser and makeup artist. She has the rare ability to tailor the look to the person. She has done both my hair and makeup on many occasions and I always leave feeling beautiful, while still feeling like I look like myself. Phylicia is my go-to for a regular Saturday night out but also special occasions. There is no one I would trust more to make me look my best on my wedding day than Phylicia.
Phylicia is the most skilled and personable hairdresser I've ever worked with. All you have to do is give her a few details about what you're looking for, and she takes it from there! I have never been disappointed by a haircut or color from Phylicia, and always walk away feeling beautiful. Plus she's a lot of fun! Always an all-around awesome experience.
Working with Phylicia is a dream. She listens to what you want and adds the perfect amount of flair. I trust her for all my major events!
My sister-in-law suggested Phylicia to do my wedding makeup. Phylicia was such a pleasure to work with. She was very flexible with scheduling and came to me for my makeup trial, which was absolutely incredible. I have never had my makeup done professionally, but she was very kind and willing to explain the process of everything. She really tried to get to know my style and thoughts for what I wanted for my wedding day. Phylicia was easy to reach and contacted me to confirm everything the day before my event, which really put me at ease. She showed up early and was incredibly professional throughout the entire process. She did such an amazing job on my makeup, it lasted all day and night! I've never felt more beautiful! Thank you, Phylicia!
Phylicia is my go-to resource for hair and makeup. Not only has she done my hair and makeup on many occasions, she has also given me amazing advice about how to enhance my natural beauty. Love her!
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One of the qualities I love about Phylicia as a hair stylist and makeup artist is that she is super honest. She will work with you to create a beautiful look that works well with your face shape, skin tone, hair texture, etc. However, she is not afraid to try something new and exciting. She is keen on the latest beauty trends and will give you an in-style look that you feel good about!


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Q: Some weebly features don't work when exporting to HTML and hosting on a different server Recently I've been tasked with redesigning a website for the current company I'm working at. I've been using weebly to make the site, and then exporting the HTML to be re-hosted on the company's servers.
However, I've noticed that some functionality in weebly's code has stopped working. I imagine this might be due to weebly hosting some elements on their own servers, but this is merely a beginners best guess.
1. The picture for the logo on the banner does not appear once the HTML is rehosted
For comparison, here's the site while hosted on weebly:
http://mjmacoustique.weebly.com/
and the site on the company's servers:
http://www.mjm.qc.ca/redesign2015/
When weebly hosts, the ''MJM'' image should be on the top left and function as a return to home page button when clicked. However, when it's hosted on the company's server, the image is not found.
2. On Firefox, the background image of the home page is replaced with an all black background
When opened in firefox, it fails to load the background image of the main page.
Any help or solutions to these problems would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

A: I can help with question #1: the logo is hosted on weebly's servers, but in the html it's written in a shortcut method like this example: /uploads/2/6/8/5/26851316/1434298489.png"
the easy workaround would be to keep the weebly version of the site working, in in the html change the src value of the missing images to something like this http://mjmacoustique.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/8/5/26851316/1434298489.png
So you haveto add the http://YOURSITE.weebly.com before all the src values of your images.
otherwise, just load all the images you need on a blank page of the site on your servers, copy image urls of those and replace the urls in the html with that.
Hope that helps?
The firefox issue might also be solved if all your src values are linked correctly but I cannot be sure about that.

A: When I tried exporting a site from weebly, some assets were missing from the zip it produced.  This resulted in some images failing to appear because they simply weren't there.  I don't know how often this happens (or if it happens only for some sites), but weebly's export feature definitely seems to have bugs.
I worked around this by using wget to recursively fetch the content that weebly was hosting.  Then I hand-copied the missing assets (and only the missing assets) from the directory structure saved by wget and merged them into the directory structure from weebly's export zip.  This is time-consuming, but necessary since the directory structure fetched by wget includes dynamically-generated content (meta data for weebly's editor, assets with decorated names, etc) that you probably don't want in the content you host elsewhere.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Non-unanimous juries gets SCOTUS hearing, Oregon watches
by: KOIN 6 News Staff
Posted: Oct 7, 2019 / 01:08 PM PDT
Updated: Oct 7, 2019 / 01:08 PM PDT
Supreme Court hearing a Louisiana case that could affect Oregon
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Since 1934, Oregon has allowed defendants to be convicted by non-unanimous jury decisions. The United States Supreme Court took up a Louisiana case on the first day of their new term that could change that law.
Under the federal constitution, cases are required to be decided by unanimous juries. The case the Supreme Court is looking at, Ramos vs Louisiana, is focused on whether the 6th Amendment should be incorporated to all the states, Lewis & Clark Law Professor Aliza Kaplan told KOIN 6 News.
Until November 2018, Louisiana was the only other state that allowed non-unanimous jury verdicts. But voters overturned that and unanimous juries became the rule in January 2019.
If 'Ramos' is successful, Kaplan — who is also the Director of the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic — said it would affect the cases in Oregon.
In this May 23, 2019 file photo, the U.S. Supreme Court building at dusk on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
US Supreme Court to hear case with Oregon implications
Supreme Court takes up non-unanimous juries
Bill to put non-unanimous juries before voters fails
The state would have to change its law and any future cases would be affected. Additionally those pending cases that have either not gone to a jury or finalized its way through the appeals process would also be affected.
However, Kaplan said, any case previously decided by a non-unanimous jury would not be affected. 'Ramos' would be the law for future or pending cases only.
Both sides presented their arguments to the justices on the Supreme Court Monday and Kaplan told KOIN 6 News a lot of the discussion centered on the legal term stare decisis, that is, following previous decisions. If 'Ramos' is successful it would overturn a 1972 Supreme Court ruling.
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh brought up the fact that defendants convicted by non-unanimous juries would have been acquitted in any other state, Kaplan said. Kavanaugh and others brought up the racist origins of the non-unanimous jury laws, as well.
Oregon switched from unanimous juries to non-unanimous verdicts by ballot measure in 1934, she said.
Even if the Supreme Court rules against 'Ramos,' she said Oregon should change the law. A proposal in the 2018 legislature to put it on the ballot for voters died in the legislature, she said.
A decision on Ramos vs Louisiana is expected sometime between December and February, Kaplan said.
Eye on Northwest Politics
Oregon Saturday: Rain to snow to subfreezing temps


Nine cars towing caravans arrived at the slip of land on Mill Lane, around 100 yards from the Nene Packaging warehouse, yesterday afternoon.
Today, officers for the Countywide Traveller Unit (CTU) have been at the encampment in an attempt to move the group on.
A Northamptonshire County Council spokesman said on behalf of the Countywide Traveller Unit (CTU): "There are currently nine caravans on land off Mill Lane, Northampton. The CTU are monitoring and liaising with the group, who have stated their intention to move on.


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OpEdNews Op Eds 5/11/2017 at 6:24 PM EDT H4'ed 5/11/17
How Many More Fathers Must Die?
By Donald Tenn (Page 1 of 1 pages) 4 comments
Suicide Note
(Image by Donald Tenn) Details DMCA
How many more fathers must die? I ask this question for what should be obvious reasons, at least obvious to those of us being abused by the family courts in the United States and actually in all of our western so-called, civilized society. In the last couple of months, I have been told of 4 deaths of persons, 3 of whom I knew as friends and activists for equal parenting rights in our groups on Facebook and a fourth who worked in my own industry; he was a contractor who installed towers.
Having one's children taken away is without a doubt the most painful event most fathers will experience in their lifetime. I have said this many times but it is again appropriate here... "On the day that a man becomes a father, he realizes his reason for being, it is to care, guide, support, and love his child and family, when the courts take that away, they take away his entire reason for being" -- Donald Tenn
But then, not only is a father's reason for being taken away but via so-called, child support his ability to continue to show the court the truth, he is then stripped of his financial ability to garner legal aid or even support his family or meet his own basic necessary financial requirements. This is a result of so-called child support. I could talk about child support all day long, I know of it all too well, you see; my parents were never divorced, yet they both paid more child support than anyone I know. How could this be? Child support is about both parents sharing equally active roles in the lives of their children, caring, loving, guiding and supporting them in their journey through life.
In today's society we live in a world where for the most part both parents have jobs and educations or at least the will to work, provide and be treated as equals. I support equality and one's right to be treated as such probably more than most, hence this article.
However, all too many fathers are not treated as equals within the family courts and we all know it... Rulings are being made out of a gender-bias against fathers. Rulings are being made out of greed, family court judges impose child-support orders, which many times are far greater than a father can afford. I have seen orders garnering 70% of a father's gross income and more. Rulings are made based on federal incentives such as the federal funding through the Social Security Acts Title IV-d program or as a result of funding via the Violence Against Women Act or, all too frequently attorneys just want to drag a case on for their own financial gain until dad is broken financially, mentally or both. I have heard it, "We are going to teach him a lesson." What lesson and why? Why do parents fall for this? Someone has to be a winner attitude? Our children must always come first and the laws, the lawyers and any and all parties who do not agree, should be exposed for their beliefs and expelled from family law. We must not just state it, we must make it our primary concern, "The best interest of the child" and there are countless studies provided by the greatest minds on our planet but every good mum and dad already know, our children need both of their fit and willing parents in order for them to grow up to become healthy, productive citizens in our society. With that said, "If a father wishes to share equally in his child's life, our government should be tripping over itself to make certain that father is allowed to do so" -- Donald Tenn
Personally, I believe in equally shared parenting and with that being the case, I believe the financial responsibility should follow the child. This should be the case except in matters of health care. Any and all hospital care, dental and such should be mandatory and should be shared equally by both parents.
Is this how a fair and just system should operate? Or, should we continue killing dads and destroying generations of families?
Donald Tenn Social Media Pages:
Father but never a daddy to my children, Christopher Joseph, Leesha Dawn and Madison Nicole Tenn.
As such I have been forced out of the love for my children to become an out spoken Activist, Agitator, Antagonist and Firebrand for our (more...)
Related Topic(s): Children; Equal; Equality; Family; Father; Fathers; Fathers Day; Funding; Judges; Law; (more...) Parenting; Parents; Rights; Work, Add Tags (less...)
Human Rights Activism and Independence Day
"Rob Kall's writings on the "bottom-up" revolution have real potential to show people that they can hold power accountable and improve justice. A book on this subject could help to repair the economic, legal, social, and political fabric of the United States."
Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, former editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Scripps Howard News Service.


Posted on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 : 4:34 p.m.
A Fortune 500 company founder and his wife donated $15 million to the University of Michigan's College of Engineering, and the college's Computer Science and Engineering Building will be renamed after the couple.
J. Robert Beyster, who holds four U-M degrees and started Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), devoted at least $9 million for an endowed fellowship program that will support up to 10 doctoral engineering students a year.
The gift, which benefits entrepreneurship functions and building renovations, also includes $5 million for renovations of the university's decommissioned nuclear reactor.
To acknowledge the gift, the university is renaming its Computer Science and Engineering Building as the Bob and Betty Beyster Building.
"This gift will touch so many lives — from the graduate students whose education it supports, to the professors whose research it propels, to the people across the globe who benefit as a result of the innovations it enables," U-M College of Engineering Dean David Munson said in a statement.
Among Beyster's goals is to educate students about companies that are owned by their employees, U-M said.
Sat, Feb 18, 2012 : 7:10 p.m.
Although SAIC was once an employee owned company, they made the mistake of going public in 2005, and the worth of employees to the company has steadily dwindled ever since. Ironically, just two weeks before this gift was bestowed by SAIC's founder, SAIC announced it was shutting down its Ann Arbor office after ten years and laying off all but a handful of staff who will be transferred to Dayton, Ohio. Several other office closures were announced at the same time, in Illinois, Colorado and Virginia. Employees had no input in this decision at all, and were notified of closure plans only when they leaked from the San Diego office.
Fri, Feb 17, 2012 : 2:24 p.m.
"To acknowledge the gift, the university is renaming its Computer Science and Engineering Building as the Bob and Betty Beyster Building." Huh? Is there a "gift acknowledgement" spread sheet or flow chart available for my perusal? I was thinking of donating 15 bucks but if 50 gets up to the next acknowledgment level I'd sure like to know.
Fri, Feb 17, 2012 : 7:33 p.m.
Fri, Feb 17, 2012 : 6:37 p.m.
I think the $50 level gets you naming rights to a man-hole cover on North Campus. Maybe we could pool our money and get a "Lounsbury-Kuehn" street lamp.
Fri, Feb 17, 2012 : 12:24 p.m.
The buildings on UM campus are starting to look like NASCAR's with all the names they are plastering on them. I was in one of the new university buildings recently and in that one building they've named the atrium, auditorium and building itself after donors. Don't get me wrong, its a nice gesture considering what these people donate, I just found it a bit comical seeing all the naming rights they sold for a single building when I was walking through.
Thu, Feb 16, 2012 : 10:17 p.m.
Bet the beautiful Bob and Betty Beyster Building bestows BASIC brilliance by the bucketful.


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It wasn't long ago (March 2015) that Taylor Swift was raving on Twitter about an up-and-comer named Kelsea Ballerini. Fast-forward 20 months later and Kelsea is now a bonafide star in her own right, so it's fitting that she's paying it forward when it comes to supporting other rising artists, including Carly Pearce.
Carly, who is part of CMT's Next Women of Country 2016 class and has opened shows for Kelsea, Kip Moore and Hunter Hayes in the last year, recently dropped her new single, "Every Little Thing." As the tune climbs the iTunes Top 40 US Country Songs chart (currently No. 31), artists like Kelsea, Cam and Lucy Hale have been more than happy to chime in on social media in support of the new song.
Check out "Every Little Thing" below, as well as what Kelsea, Cam and Lucy Hale had to say about it on Instagram.
CARLY. I'm this girls biggest fan. Listen to this and you will be too. SO PROUD FOR YOU.


He's holding a brass rod in one hand, and he's just fired up the braze torch in the other.
He's moving them carefully around the joint of the frame he's building.
If you're familiar with this process, you might think that a classic lugged frame is taking shape.
looks radically different from what you'd expect.
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The steel bicycle frame is a bunch of tubes joined together, and the tube set play a significant part in defining the shape of the frame: the first impression you'll get of a road bike will always come from the tubing silhouette.
With its thin walls and oversize profiles, the triple-butted Columbus Spirit HSS were Giovanni's first choice.
The lugs also increase the joint area, allowing stresses to distribute over a wider surface and therefore damping vibrations better. That's why the old lugged steel racing bikes are still the most comfortable bikes ever built.
From the beginning, the purpose of the Portofino project was changing the status quo of lugged construction so you can benefit from a level of comfort you've never experienced on a contemporary racing bike.
To achieve that, we needed to create lugs in specific shapes and diameters that could accommodate the oversize tubing. It was especially challenging with the head tube, and we're proud to say that the Portofino features the first-ever set of lugs designed for a tapered steering.
It was the age of classic geometries with a horizontal top tube. The frame builder had to know exactly how to transfer the cyclist's body proportions to the frame.
With the Portofino, we're offering 1-centimeter size increments to build a frame that will fit you perfectly.
However, what really makes the Portofino's sizing process unique is Giovanni's experience in the field with all-time champions.
Engraving is the most distinctive way to adorn a steel frame with tasteful details. However, if not done properly, it can also lead to damaging the tubing. That's why we rely on the advice of our pantographer, who has decades of experience in etching bicycle parts.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The American criminal justice system consists of 2.2 million people behind bars, plus tens of millions of family members, corrections and police officers, parolees, victims of crime, judges, prosecutors and defenders.
Prisoners describe a rampage by correctional officers in a New York prison.
A scathing report calls for "better oversight." That's not enough.


The McHenry Musuem of Art and History was formerly a library created by funds from Andrew Carnegie.
The town of Modesto was named after William C. Ralston.
The McHenry Musuem of Art and History has a collection of historical photos of downtown Modesto on display.
The downtown courthouse had been the site of a hanging.


This week we sat down to chat with Liam Law. Liam's held a number of positions with our Base Camp program, first as a Youth and Family Support Worker, then as a Shift Supervisor, and more recently as the Outcomes and Evaluation Lead.
Liam shares his thoughts on youth work, the treatment journey for youth and the importance of routine outcome monitoring to the field.


On behalf of A Business Law Firm, LLC posted in blog on Friday, May 19, 2017.
Protecting your property is about more than just setting up a security system and installing motion detectors. Protecting your interests should also extend to the property that you cannot see -- your intellectual property. When someone steals that invaluable type of asset, they could be taking your ideas, your competitive advantage and your livelihood.


The U.S. National Cancer Institute sponsors clinical trials, because Mesothelioma most cancers is troublesome to manage. The findings could assist researchers promote actions and initiatives that improve canine strolling and unfold the Lassie impact. There's even an argument that should you have a look at precise consumption expenditures, fairly than nationwide revenue, American health-care spending is roughly what you'd expect.
Test-driving" patient competency at medicine self-administration, within the setting of accountable de-prescribing in a monitored clinical setting, is a extremely precious (although sadly under-reported) good thing about rehabilitation drugs.
None of Dr. Kernisan's web site or group information needs to be considered an alternative choice to individualized medical assessment, analysis, or therapy. I am constantly asked how I preserve my skin looking so tight and firm. In combination, Dr. Westgarth said, these replies counsel that some pet owners see little upside to canine strolling and are pleased to skip or abdicate the duty.
From the latest expertise in neuroscience to world class amenities for newborn infants, we search for the best possible options to the East Bay's most urgent healthcare needs. Curious colleagues (from surgeons to internists and emergency medication physicians) ask for insider insight into this mysterious business" of being an element-time or touring doctor.
This report proposes a new 'NHS Funding Rule' to set healthcare spending on a extra sustainable trajectory for the long-time period. Some frequent situations related to obese and weight problems embrace: untimely loss of life, cardiovascular ailments, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, some cancers, and diabetes." Consuming healthfully and exercising may help regulate your BMI.


Perhaps you thought that the whole "planet isn't warming" meme was killed by this summer's bombshell Koch-funded study. After all, it found "global warming is real," "on the high end" and "essentially all" due to carbon pollution.
The piece is so misleading, even the UK Met Office felt a need to instantly debunk it with a blog post that included this chart.
UK Met Office graph showing years ranked in order of global temperature.
Since Rose managed to find one misleading chart to push his myth, I thought I would dig up ten serious ones that show the reverse, including the top chart from Skeptical Science, the great Australian blog, which is derived from the data in the Koch-funded study.
So one has to assume going in that any climate piece in the Mail with Rose's name on it is somewhere between misinformation and disinformation. The latest piece tends toward the latter. Heck, even Judith Curry complains she was misquoted, as Media Matters notes.
Here's an analogy to the notion it hasn't warmed from the El-Nino-fueled summer of 1997 through the La-Nina-cooled summer of 2012. Imagine your kid got 11 B's and 1 A+ in 9th grade science class. Then, in 10th grade science, she gets 9 A's and 2 A+'s — but her last grade was "just" an A. Would you say she is doing better in science class or worse in science class?
"The decadal land-surface average temperature using a 10-year moving average of surface temperatures over land. Anomalies are relative to the Jan 1950 – December 1979 mean. The grey band indicates 95% statistical and spatial uncertainty interval." A Koch-funded reanalysis of 1.6 billion temperature reports finds that "essentially all of this increase results from the human emission of greenhouse gases." Via BEST.
Still warming, though that's just a chart of land-surface temperatures.
Components of global warming for the period 1993 to 2003 calculated from IPCC AR4 5.2.2.3.
Revised estimate of global ocean heat content (10-1500 mtrs deep) for 2005-2010 derived from Argo measurements. The 6-yr trend accounts for 0.55±0.10Wm−2. Error bars and trend uncertainties exclude errors induced by remaining systematic errors in the global observing system. See Von Schuckmann & Le Traon (2011). Via Skeptical Science.
Arctic Sea Ice is melting much, much faster than even the best climate models had projected. The reason is most likely unmodeled amplifying feedbacks. Image via Arctic Sea Ice Blog.


Love still makes the world go around. You know why? Because today I'm not writing to point out something bad happening in the news. I'm posting today to encourage. I wanted to specifically address people who are hurting, wanting for something different in their lives. People that are longing to connect with another human, to share an intimate moment with someone and not be hurt. If that's you, than this blog post is for you. Make sure you watch the awesome video at the end.
I'd rather live alone then be with you.


text:
Local Collective Ascetic House Will Send Its Cassettes to the Incarcerated -- For Free
Jason P. Woodbury May 29, 2013 7:30AM
"I'd like to mention one important point, where I made a mistake in the published letter," Jess Aurelius of Ascetic House and a member of Marshstepper (a band that we've referred to as "swamp disco," though Aurelius stresses "we have never used that term to describe our music") says explaining the collective's effort.
"I'd like to clarify that 'we' (myself, Ascetic House, or even the general American public) had nothing to do with imprisoning anyone. It's the state that is doing it. We have no say in the matter. I think it's important to stop thinking in collectivist terms like 'we' when referring to demographics that are made up of individuals."
We further discussed the group's goals and aims.
Up on the Sun: What inspired Ascetic House to take this stand?
Jess Aurelius: I suppose it's pretty straightforward . . . There are millions of human beings across the U.S. sitting in cages right now simply because their circumstance or morality doesn't match the status quo. It's really easy to remain willfully ignorant, and it's really easy to forget the struggles of people that you don't actually visually see every day. Whether there's anyone in prison that would actually enjoy the work we do is irrelevant. The letter was more so published to remind people of the struggle against the prison-industrial complex and to hopefully inspire other creators, businesses, artists to consider similar programs. Ascetic House is very much an apolitical organization, but we're not talking politics here. We're talking about real people in slavery. If we can help people get through a few days, it's worth it.
Have you had anyone take you up on offer yet?
We've gotten a few requests. The letter has only been published on our website so far, so I'm not sure how far the word has spread. Destruction Unit is making an unrelated announcement this week that I'm going to try and append the Upwards Program prison letter to, hopefully that will get it some more exposure. But like I said, the point is more to hopefully inspire other people with more influence or more capital to consider a similar program. We release a wide range of stuff though, from rock to pop to rap to poetry, fiction, non-fiction . . . and everything beyond. So there is certainly something anyone could enjoy. My initial idea was to try and get Destruction Unit's music onto the [inmate music program] Jp3 music player for free, but there's more bureaucracy involved in doing something like that.
Jason P. Woodbury is a music and pop-culture writer based in Phoenix. He is a regular contributor to the music blog Aquarium Drunkard and co-host of the Transmissions podcast.
Contact: Jason P. Woodbury
Twitter: @Jasonpwoodbury
Rage Against the Machine Just Postponed Their Phoenix Concert Dates
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David Bowie and the 15-Year-Old Girls
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The Maine's 8123 Fest Returns to Downtown Phoenix
By Gannon Hanevold
Best Phoenix Concerts This Week: iDKHOW, Current Joys, John Moreland
Phoenix's Best Concerts This Weekend: Gucci Mane, El Ten Eleven, Mikey Lion


(operate) function: perform as expected when applied; "The washing machine won't go unless it's pled in"; "Does this old car still run well?"; "This old radio doesn't work anymore"
(operate) direct or control; projects, businesses, etc.; "She is running a relief operation in the Sudan"
(operate) handle and cause to function; "do not operate machinery after imbibing alcohol"; "control the lever"
Above the operating floor windows was a row of upper light windows which have been boarded over.
This description will be the primary explanation for the "house" series.
The house series illustrates my loaner camera's ISO capabilities. I took the same image, at the same shutter speed, and aperture, and adjusted the ISO from 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, HI 3.
I had the subject lit by a dim floor lamp approximately 20' away and a small battery operated light that simulates a flickering tea light. I did notice that the focus changed on some of the images, it is noticable in the orange plants. I must have bumped my camera or lens.


text:
Emergency Rules For New Jersey Public Meetings Adopted
By: Jeffrey Hall
With the advent of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, local government in New Jersey has had to scramble to continue to function while greatly restricting public access to government buildings and public meetings. Within weeks of Governor Murphy's issuance of emergency orders, the Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) of the Department of Community Affairs, issued guidance on the conduct of remote public meetings. The guidance has been utilized since its publication in early April 2020.
Remote Meeting Protocol
Recently, the OLGS adopted emergency rules to govern "remote meeting protocol for local public bodies during a declared emergency." The Division filed these rules and the Governor approved them in late September. These rules govern the process for and conduct of public meetings of local governmental bodies at or below the level of county government.
The overall purpose of the rules is to provide controlling principles concerning the conduct of remote public meetings during a state of emergency, which shall include minimum procedures that will allow for reasonable public notice and a means for public input. With regard to meetings conducted by local land use boards (Planning Boards and Zoning Boards of Adjustment), there are additional rules, which are designed to afford the applicant seeking a development approval, interested parties and the public to be assured of due process.
It is important to note initially that these rules are applicable only in the event that a public body holds a remote public meeting. If that body determines to meet in person, these rules require that the public also have in person access to the in-person meeting. In addition, the public body must assure that the meeting place has sufficient capacity to accommodate the public and other participants in accordance with state of emergency rules.
Remote Meeting Accessibility
These rules take a holistic approach to remote public hearings. The overriding objective is "to allow the local public bodies to conduct public business in an open and transparent manner when the circumstances of a declared emergency reasonably prevent a public meeting from being safely held in a physical location."
To that end, the rules establish a minimum technological and procedural requirement for remote public meetings. They mandate that a local public body use audio or audio/video electronic communications technology that "is routinely used in academic, business, and professional settings, and is widely accessible to the public at no cost. This rule appears to incorporate widely accepted practice of using platforms such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams and the like.
Incorporated into this standard is the requirement that the public have a similar level of access that the local public body has to the audio and video platform provided for the remote public meeting. Moreover, this standard is layered with the additional requirement that alternative access be provided through a telephone link.
Document Access
The rules have been designed to ensure that the public will have access to documents that are being present at a public meeting. Access to documents must be spelled out clearly in the notice provided for the meetings.
There are special requirements that are applied to hearings conducted by land use boards. The applicant seeking an approval, in addition to providing adequate notice, must arrange for the delivery of materials pertinent to the application at least two days before the date of the hearing to the secretary of The Board. These materials must be converted to an electronic format that can be readily uploaded by the Board's secretary. The Board, through its secretary has the obligation to make the materials available on its dedicated website (or through its Facebook page if it does not have a dedicated website) that the public or other interested party may readily access.
Notice is given particular attention by these rules. The rules to a certain extent mirror the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). Thus, where the OPMA requires notice, there is a corresponding requirement to notice electronically for remote meetings.
However, in addition to the content required under OPMA, notice of a remote public meeting must include "clear and concise instructions for:
• Accessing the meeting.
• Describing the means for one to make comments during the meeting.
• Identifying where relevant exhibits will be made available for review.
Hearings before land use boards mirror these requirements by requiring the identification:
• Where all plans/exhibits associated with a hearing may be accessed by the public.
• The provision of clear and concise instructions on accessing the exhibits.
Consistent with the due process threshold of these rules is the requirement that the land use Board has considered the capability of the chosen electronic communication technology to ensure due process of the applicant, interested parties and the public.
The Board must also consider the ability to examine exhibits, the transcription of testimony and cross-examination of witnesses. In addition, it appears that the Land Use Board must make these considerations in the context of the development project's scale, the number of approvals requested, the degree of public interest and the extent of public opposition.
In conclusion, these emergency rules have the salutary objective of providing uniformity in the conduct of remote public meetings. In light of the fact that the pandemic continues to rage, these rules should be the standard for the foreseeable future. It is only when the emergency orders are lifted that these rules will not apply and the OPMA and the municipal land use law notice requirements will be the norm.
Jeffrey Hall is Of Counsel to Szaferman Lakind and focuses his practice on commercial real estate and land use matters as well as tax appeals and outdoor advertising matters. To schedule a consultation with Jeff, please email him at jhall@szaferman.com or call 609.275.0400.
The foregoing is intended for general information purposes and is no substitute for specific legal advice.
By Dana O'Donnell|2020-12-10T09:26:19-05:00December 9th, 2020|Commercial Real Estate & Land Use, COVID-19|
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