In light of all the heavy news, I just love a win for the little guy fighting the monied 1%. Awesomely, this case was QUICK JUSTICE for a change. The claim was filed in November, 2011 and the claimant will receive $20,000 ASAP from the loathesome condo complex.
Justice Department Settles Disability Discrimination Case Involving Disabled Veteran in Utah
Under the consent decree, which was entered by the U.S. District Court in Utah, the defendants will pay $20,000 in monetary relief to Burton. Additionally, the defendants will attend fair housing training; implement a new reasonable accommodation policy that does not charge pet fees to owners of service or assistance animals and does not require them to purchase liability insurance; and comply with notice, monitoring and reporting requirements.
“In this case, a combat veteran was denied an assistance animal for his disability,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We are pleased that this settlement will compensate Mr. Burton and protect the housing rights of others who need this accommodation.”
“Enforcing the fair housing rights of persons with disabilities in Utah, including disabled veterans, is a priority of this office. We will continue to work to ensure that disabled veterans are not denied accommodations they need to live independently,” said David B. Barlow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah.
Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, email the Justice Department at fairhousing@usdoj.gov or contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777.
Who says GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WORK? Answer: Those who want to get away with defrauding, discriminating, price gouging, and polluting, that's who.
But even in uber-conservative, pro-business, Utah the lesson to be learned from this story:
DON'T BE UNKIND AND DISCRIMINATE AGAINST VETERANS!
Yes, the Department of Justice has done some things we loathe.
But, if you check their website from time to time, you will find that they are going after the 1% Bad Guys, too.
The DOJ's website has a robust search engine.
Some examples:
Search "Mortgage Fraud" or "Medicare Fraud" or "Bribery"
I searched for "Blackwater" to see where that private contractor stood, and found this nugget:
Green, 51, of Winnetka, was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $3,345,400 and to forfeit $1.98 million and a 2004 Range Rover. He was an owner and managing senior partner of Blackwater Capital Group, Inc., which he operated from his residence, and which recruited institutional investors and placed a capital into its client companies. Green was ordered to begin serving his sentence on Oct. 26.
search your State's name to see what is going on near you.
Some 1%ers are NOT getting away with it. Check out "Securities Fraud"
I searched UTAH and found this nugget:
[PDF] Seagate Crystal Reports - Same
Page 1. For the State of Utah To Date, $106,311,930 in COPS grants were
awarded to law enforcement agencies in the State of Utah ...
www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/StateReports2010/ut.pdf-2010-02-04- Text Version
And this
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
AND
FCNH, INC. d.b.a.
UTAH COLLEGE OF MASSAGE THERAPY
This was another discrimination judgement, this time against a company and it's massage colleges.
Oh, want to avoid BUYING A HOUSE that was a METH LAB? For Utah, there is a list of the National Clandestine Laboratory Register - Utah found at the DOJ website. Maybe there's one for your state, too:
[PDF] National Clandestine Laboratory Register - Utah
Page 1. National Clandestine Laboratory Register - Utah COUNTY CITY
ADDRESS DATE ... UTAH AMERICAN FORK 341 EAST N LN 7/27/2004 ...
www.justice.gov/dea/seizures/ut.pdf-2010-05-07- Text Version
Maybe we need to check in more often to see what's NEWS at the DOJ. The search engine is really robust. What are you interested in looking for?
For today.
HOORAY! A victory for a disabled vet. It's a good day.