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  Employers Sued For Asking About Pot Use
Posted by CN Staff on July 28, 2006 at 08:47:20 PT
By Tresa Baldas, The National Law Journal 
Source: National Law Journal 

cannabis California -- Job applicants in California don't have to worry about answering a certain question on applications anymore: Have you ever been arrested on a marijuana charge?

Individual class actions have forced more than 100 companies in California in recent years to omit questions on applications about arrests that did not result in a conviction as well as questions about marijuana convictions that are more than two years old, which popped up on a number of company applications.

The suits -- three of them are still pending -- cited a 30-year-old state law that forbids employers from inquiring about arrests records or information concerning a referral to a drug diversion program.

"The philosophy behind these laws is not to punish someone for making decisions when they were rather young," said Los Angeles attorney Mike Arias of Arias Ozzello & Gignac, who filed the suits against 108 companies, including big names like Starbucks, Abercrombie & Fitch, Staples and Macy's. The suits sought injunctive relief and damages for violating the statute. The statute allows for up to $500 in damages per violation.

The most recent suit was filed in January against the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim arena in Anaheim, Calif., where the Mighty Ducks hockey team plays. Yeung v. Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, No. 06 CC 00004 (Orange Co, Calif., Super. Ct.)

To date, all but three of the defendants -- Starbucks, Arrowhead Pond and Fry's Electronics -- have settled. The remaining three have changed their applications, but have not paid any damages.

Laws pertaining to what questions employers may ask of applicants vary from state to state.

For example, Wisconsin, California and Hawaii all generally prohibit employers from discriminating against an employee or applicant because of an arrest record. New York, however, has a law that specifically allows employers to consider pending criminal charges in making employment decisions.

At the federal level, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission allows employers to use an arrest record as evidence of conduct when making an employment decision, but the policy states that "it is the conduct, not the arrest per se, which the employer may consider."

More recently, the EEOC has cautioned employers about asking applicants to disclose arrests that didn't lead to convictions because that could have a disparate, negative impact on the hiring of minorities.

According to Milton Friedman, a senior legal administrator who runs all the class actions at Arias Ozzello & Gignac, the California violations were discovered by three plaintiffs who were having no luck landing job interviews and eventually took some job applications to the firm for review.

"We were looking at these applications. Some were borderline iffy," Friedman said. "I was surprised myself that there were this many companies that actually had no idea that that was the law."

Gary McLaughlin of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld's Los Angeles office, who is representing Starbucks, was unavailable for comment.

Officials at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim were unavailable for comment.

Note: Job applicants asked about marijuana arrests are suing for damages.

Newshawk: Mayan
Source: National Law Journal (US)
Author: Tresa Baldas, The National Law Journal
Published: July 28, 2006
Copyright: 2006 NLP IP Company
Contact: mailbox@nlj.com
Website: http://www.nlj.com/

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Comment #27 posted by FoM on July 28, 2006 at 17:51:48 PT
Whig
I liked what I read on the Bradblog links you posted.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #26 posted by FoM on July 28, 2006 at 17:34:09 PT
Off Topic: A Wealth of Criticism
By Anne-Marie O'Connor, Times Staff Writer

July 29, 2006

GEORGE SOROS, the Hungarian Holocaust survivor whose fortune is matched only by his philanthropy, pioneered a kind of self-styled approach to global reform that made him, in the words of the Carnegie Endowment's Morton Abramowitz, "the only private citizen who had his own foreign policy."

With no sluggish bureaucracy to answer to, he rose to prominence with stunningly practical bequests delivered in a timely manner. There was his $50-million donation to the besieged citizens of Sarajevo in 1993 that financed a water plant so that women did not need to rely on the public wells where Serbian snipers picked them off with ease. There was his pro-democracy support in the Soviet Bloc, for Poland's Solidarity movement and for Czech dissident Vaclav Havel, who would become that country's post-Communist president.

ADVERTISEMENT Soros has given away about $5 billion since he embarked on this citizen-policymaker approach in the 1970s, a sum that approaches the $7.2-billion estimate of his net wealth by Forbes in 2004. That put him in the league of a Rockefeller or a Carnegie and has made him a perennial Nobel nominee.

Today, Soros, 75, has company. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has put that couple at the forefront of global health issues — they just contributed $287 million for the development of an AIDS vaccine with the help of a recent $31-billion bequest from Warren Buffett. And in 1997, Ted Turner made a $1-billion pledge to the United Nations to help bail it out.

But Soros still distinguishes himself with the staggering multiplicity of his projects: He spent $125 million on after-school programs in New York City. He has helped distribute Xerox machines to facilitate the exchange of information in former Soviet satellites and supported efforts to curb violence against women.

Now, Soros has raised eyebrows with his most recent sally into American political culture by drawing comparisons in his new book between the Bush administration and communist and Nazi governments.

In "The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror," Soros recalls that when he "heard President Bush say, 'Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists,' " in the wake of 9/11, "I was reminded of Nazi propaganda.

"Indeed, the Bush Administration has been able to improve on the techniques used by the Nazi and the Communist propaganda machines by drawing on the innovations of the advertising and marketing industries."

Snipped:

Complete Article: http://www.calendarlive.com/books/cl-et-soros29jul29,0,2391263.story?coll=cl-books-top-right

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #25 posted by whig on July 28, 2006 at 17:31:41 PT
Elsewhere: A comment and an Amen
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3136#comment-93336

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3136#comment-93345

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #24 posted by whig on July 28, 2006 at 17:07:48 PT
A Scanner Darkly
Just got back from seeing this film -- oh my goodness.

Please everyone watch if you get a chance. It tells the truth though a veil, explains the factory system of pharmaceutical death and enslavement and enforcement and "rehabilitation" all entwined as one, with their little blue flowers and pills that create dependency and despair and ultimately control.

Everyone involved in this film, to a person, is a cannabist, of that I have no doubt.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #23 posted by whig on July 28, 2006 at 17:00:48 PT
FoM
The story of Y'shua is told from other perspectives and you have to piece it together for yourself because the actual facts are censored. The fact is that there are many scriptures that were suppressed, and fragments have been found at Nag Hammadi (such as the Gospel of Thomas) and you have to figure it out for yourself to some degree what is true and what was going on at the time.

Here is the Gospel of Thomas: http://www.metalog.org/files/thomas.html

Thomas 39:

Yeshua says: The dogmatists and the scriptualists have received the keys of recognition, but they have hidden them. They did not enter, nor did they permit those to enter who wished to. Yet you— become astute as serpents and pure as doves.

I can only say to you that you have received the keys of recognition yourself and you recognized me when we met. So it is and so we are and we are gathered even here in the name of Christ and we are.

Thomas 23:

Yeshua says: I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand— and they shall stand as a single unity.

One of the very interesting perspectives is that of the Jewish priests who condemned Y'shua for "burning his food in public" which is very clear to me what he was doing. Sanhedrin 103a and Bereshot 17b. Y'shua was executed for "sorcery" (meaning drugs) and enticing others to apostasy. Sanhedrin 43a. He violated the rabbinic laws which kept cannabis from the people. He brought down cannabis to the people and used it to heal them and elevate them, and so we became as Christ ourselves. And today it is every bit as much of a heresy to say this as it was then, but we are stronger and more numerous and we shall not be silenced this time.

I do not ask you to affirm this, but if you should seek to discover you should consult with the highest authority you may find within yourself whether it is true or false. Does cannabis do what I say it does?

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #22 posted by Global_Warming on July 28, 2006 at 16:26:46 PT
Oh My God
We must be protected, and the children,

We have to build more prisons,



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #21 posted by The GCW on July 28, 2006 at 16:13:18 PT
Related, unrelated, related, unrelated, related, u
The blue pill

http://www.boulderweekly.com/uncensored.html

by Pamela White

Sometimes it's the little things that give you away. In the case of religionists and their tireless effort to deprive women of sexual liberty, the proof is in the penis—the artificially pumped-up penis, that is.

The religious right has a drug problem. They have a problem with RU-486, commonly referred to as "the abortion pill," because it kills babies. They have a problem with emergency contraception and birth control pills because they might prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman's uterus. Some even have a problem with basic contraception because it enables couples to have sex without procreating.

Now it seems they also have a problem with a new vaccine that protects women from human papilloma virus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection that causes most cases of cervical cancer. HPV infection is rampant in America, infecting 50 to 75 percent of all adults who've had sex. About 3,700 women die of cervical cancer each year, while thousands more endure brutal cancer treatments, the loss of their fertility and repeated surgeries.

Although the vaccine doesn't cure HPV, it can prevent women from contracting the disease if given before they become sexually active. In other words, it's a vaccine specifically for virgins.

Most rational people hailed the vaccine a breakthrough because it will reduce women's suffering and save lives. But religionists, who have specific plans for virgins, weren't happy.

Cont.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #20 posted by Global_Warming on July 28, 2006 at 14:57:44 PT
re: scriptures
Son 5:1 I have come to my garden--my sister,my bride.

I gather my myrrh with my spices.

I eat my honeycomb with my honey.

I drink my wine with my milk.

Eat, friends! Drink, be intoxicated with love!

Old Testament, Song of Solomon, the Wise

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #19 posted by lombar on July 28, 2006 at 13:31:43 PT
Bible Gateway
.. is a great reference! I do not recall a specific instance of Jesus talking about intoxicants but I do recall a section about cosumption and 'defilement'. The truth of those events the fullness of the reality is lost and obscured by 2000 years of bloody wars, twisted by those that would control, and biased to increase sales.

Mark 6He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'[

and further:

14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'

I wonder what a modern preacher would say? It is only about pork? Perhaps its only for Jews? Maybe it means that arbitrarily deeming a whole subgroup as 'immoral' for what they consume, using every mean possible to persecute and exploit IS the blasphemy because it is prejudice. It is not compassion that imprisons people for cannabis... it is not 'tough love' to toss your children in a cage.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #18 posted by Sukoi on July 28, 2006 at 13:16:06 PT
An Excellent Editorial at AlterNet
From Norm Stamper of LEAP http://www.leap.cc/. He is spot on although I disagree with his comment about gun laws...

How Legalizing Drugs Will End the Violence

http://www.alternet.org/story/39565/

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #17 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on July 28, 2006 at 11:48:22 PT
Bible Gateway
Since we're discussing the bible, another good site is Bible Gateway. They have many different versions, so if someone quotes you a passage, you can look at the same passage in a number of different versions to see if they're quoting an unusual translation just to make a point. And of course there's a keyword search function, though "drug" doesn't turn up anything in Revelations.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #16 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on July 28, 2006 at 11:42:57 PT
Abbie Hoffman - free MP3s
Another fun site I recently discovered, smaller than Archive.org but with a better percentage of interesting stuff to junk ratio (though the sheer size of Archive.org makes up for that)... www.ubu.com has several recordings of Samuel Beckett plays (the video for "Not I" blew me away) and the album, linked below, by Abbie Hoffman. Who knew Abbie recorded an album? Not me. One quote I really liked went something like, "You get 20 years for selling pot to a minor and only 5 for manslaughter, so if you're selling pot to a kid and you see the cops coming... shoot the kid." Of course it's said with a lot of giggling and guffawing so it's pretty apparent when you're listening that Abbie is mocking the current laws and not actually advocating murder...

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #15 posted by FoM on July 28, 2006 at 11:26:44 PT
Whig
I never saw anything about Jesus and Cannabis in the Bible. Can you post a Scripture so I can see it?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #14 posted by FoM on July 28, 2006 at 11:25:19 PT
Whig and Max Flowers
I was trying to find in the book of Revelation where I saw that years ago but I can't find it. I would probably need to go thru the whole book and it's too depressing to read.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #13 posted by whig on July 28, 2006 at 10:41:31 PT
Max
Cannabis was prohibited in Jesus time. That's the law he broke, and that's why he was crucified.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #12 posted by Max Flowers on July 28, 2006 at 10:28:04 PT
FoM
It wouldn't have been talking about "illegal drugs" because there was no such concept in biblical times. Plants and plant extracts were treated as medicines and drugs, and a few were known for "magical" properties (psychoactive properties), but there was no mindset to prohibit any of them. I'm sure cannabis' properties were known of in Jesus' time, in fact biblical scholars have confirmed that the substance "kaneh bosem" (canna-bus) mentioned in the bible as an additive to an annointing oil was indeed cannabis. There is also evidence of the use of cannabis in Europe dating to the era 500 BC.

Wait, I need to correct myself... there was the mysterious shamanic beverage drunk in the rituals of Eleusis... it was prohibited to all but the few chosen to go through the ritual. So I guess that was prohibited. But because it was so GOOD, not because the powerful wanted to keep it from people, saying it would harm them... it was highly valued as a magical drink. Ethnobotanists, historians, researchers are still debating today about what the drink contained. Many believe it was probably a decoction of ergot-infested grain, making it a beverage of lysergic acid amides (the alkaloidal precursor to LSD). This is a fascinating story, I urge you guys to look into it if you haven't heard about this before.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #11 posted by FoM on July 28, 2006 at 10:08:53 PT
Just a Rambling
Back when I was a church lady I remember seeing references to drugs somewhere in the bible. I think it was in the book of Revelation but maybe not. It talked about sorcery etc. I use to think they were talking about illegal drugs but now I believe they are talking about our current pharmaceutical industry.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #10 posted by Max Flowers on July 28, 2006 at 10:05:02 PT
whig
Sorry to hear that... my mom has the same thing going on (different drug, same blind faith in her doctor).

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #9 posted by Max Flowers on July 28, 2006 at 10:03:42 PT
Article in #2
A former pharmaceutical representative, Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, called lunch "incredibly effective" in lifting pharmaceutical sales for the companies where she worked, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson.

"We got the numbers of what the physicians were prescribing. If I brought in lunch one week, I could see the following week if that lunch had an impact," Ms. Slattery-Moschkau said.

That's so wrong... how much a given drug is prescribed to patients should not be based on which drug rep brings the doctors lunch and how much they liked the lunch. That is so messed up! It's graft, pure and simple. The doctors feel obliged to prescribe the drug, since the rep brought them lunch. Obviously, the patient may be suffering consequences from this, if they didn't really need the drug but the doctor prescribes it out of "lunch appreciation."

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by Max Flowers on July 28, 2006 at 09:54:24 PT
C-SPAN show
I hope the 9/11 plotters are peeing their pants right about now. And I ain't talking about Bin Laden, either!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #7 posted by whig on July 28, 2006 at 09:49:19 PT
Fosamax
My mom takes that. She says it makes her sick for hours every time, but her doctor prescribed it and she thinks it must be good for her.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #6 posted by Truth on July 28, 2006 at 09:44:37 PT
pharmacy
Our daughter just graduated a doctor of pharmacy. Martha and I are proud of her achievement but I have to admit I was disapointed when she changed her academic career from neo-natal doctor to pharmacy. Being a baby doc would have been much more rewarding.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #5 posted by FoM on July 28, 2006 at 09:43:01 PT
Dankhank
I'll second the thanks to Mayan. I believe that Mayan will not leave a stone unturned and I appreciate it.

Thanks Mayan!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 28, 2006 at 09:41:15 PT
Truth
Why aren't people up in arms about the pharmaceutical industry like we are? Don't they understand the risk factors?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on July 28, 2006 at 09:40:54 PT
cease apologies...
mayan

thanks for what you do ...

I literally have too much to keep track of and rely on you to keep me up on truth about 9/11.

I celebrate with you what the CSPAN show means ...

Thank You

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by Truth on July 28, 2006 at 09:35:24 PT
Drug makers serve free lunch
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/28/business/28lunch.html?ex=1154232000&en=217c8b2d6b02d034&ei=5030&partner=PRESSDEMO

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #1 posted by mayan on July 28, 2006 at 08:56:19 PT
Once Again!
Sorry, but this could change the world...

C-SPAN to Air Historic 9/11 Exposé: http://infowars.com/articles/sept11/cspan_runs_symposium_panel.htm

Alex Jones L.A. 911 Panel On C-SPAN Sat 8pm-11pm: http://rense.com/general72/jones.htm

C-Span Airing Of L.A. Conference Shows Mainstreaming Of 9/11 Truth: http://prisonplanet.com/articles/july2006/280706cspan.htm

Plan your C-SPAN parties today! SPREAD THIS EVERYWHERE!!!

[ Post Comment ]


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