Wayne County Chapter, National Organization for Women

An incarcerated woman was raped by her jailor. The Michigan Supreme Court Republican-nominated majority says in this decision there is no civil rights violation for which the jailor’s employer is liable!
Two of the justices in the majority are up for re-election in November 2012 – Stephen Markman and Brian Zahra. Remember those names.They will have incumbent next to their names on the ballot next year.

This article is from Gongwer News Service.
COURT: SHERIFF NOT LIABLE FOR INMATE RAPE
Public service agencies can only be held liable for the criminal acts of their employees if those acts were within the course of their duties or were reasonably foreseeable by their employer, a split Supreme Court ruled Friday.
Tara Hamed was raped by former Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputy Reginald Johnson while she was in a Wayne County jail. She sued Mr. Johnson, Wayne County and the sheriff’s department, alleging Mr. Johnson violated her civil rights. Because it happened while he was overseeing her in jail, she argued the public agencies were also liable for Mr. Johnson’s actions.
The Supreme Court, upholding Wayne Circuit Court and overturning the Court of Appeals (Hamed v. Wayne County, SC docket No. 139505), ruled the agencies were not responsible for Mr. Johnson’s actions because they were not part of his employment and were not foreseeable. And Justice Mary Beth Kelly, joined by Chief Justice Robert Young Jr., Justice Stephen Markman, and Justice Brian Zahra, said a 1996 case that the employer was responsible for a rape committed by a supervisor if the supervisor used that position to accomplish the rape (Champion v. Nation Wide Security Incorporated) was wrong and so overruled.

Justice Mary Beth Kelly wrote the opinion.
The opinion was one of the few major cases yet to be decided as the court wraps up its 2010-11 term, which concludes Sunday. Expectations that the court would avoid needing the weekend to issue its final opinions faded Friday as it released one case at 10:15 p.m. with the last opinion set to be issued Saturday or Sunday. That case involves a question of governmental immunity on Department of Natural Resources property.
Ms. Kelly said employers are held responsible for the actions of their employees in the course of their work. But she said to be considered in the course of work, an action either had to be under the direction of the employer or, if against that direction, at least designed to further the goals of the employer.
“Here, there is no question that Johnson’s sexual assault of plaintiff was beyond the scope of his employment as a deputy sheriff,” she said. “The sexual assault was an independent action accomplished solely in furtherance of Johnson’s own criminal interests.”
The county and the sheriff could also still be held liable if they could reasonably have expected Mr. Johnson to commit the rape. Mr. Johnson did have a record of complaints, but none included sexual assault.
“Viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff, this past misconduct put defendants on notice of Johnson’s irresponsible and aggressive tendencies, which, at most, demonstrates that defendants were aware that Johnson had a propensity to disobey work-related protocol and engage in aggressive behavior when provoked,” Ms. Kelly wrote. “Defendants had no actual or constructive knowledge of prior similar criminal sexual misconduct. Even the incident of aggression did not put defendants on reasonable notice that Johnson would sexually assault an inmate; violent actions do not inevitably lead to acts of criminal sexual conduct.”
Ms. Kelly said the Champion case was wrongly decided because it would allow employers to be found liable for events they could not foresee. In that case, a supervisor used his scheduling authority to place the victim in a position where he could rape her. The court in that case found his use of supervisory authority was an exception to the general concept that employers are not liable for unforeseen actions of their employees.

The Michigan Political Leadership Program (MPLP) at Michigan State University (MSU) is distinguished as one of only a handful of multi-partisan leadership training programs in the nation. Graduates take with them the knowledge and skills needed to make sound public policy decisions and to be effective leaders of the future. Applications are sought from individuals who are interested in enhancing their leadership and political skills in order to better serve communities, constituencies, or causes. The program is administered and supported by MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research in the College of Social Science. (more…)

At our last annual meeting, members of Wayne County NOW were offered a glimpse into the workings of the United Nations when Renee Chelian reported on her recent trip to Geneva as representative for U.S. abortion providers . She was part of the Human Rights Network of the U.S., reporting on human rights violations within the U.S.. This was the first time that the U.S. had agreed to be reviewed by the U.N. on human rights. Renee spoke about access to abortion as a human right. She was allowed 5 to 7 minutes to speak on four different issues, and her speech was interrupted midway when the room where the hearing was being conducted had to be cleared for another hearing. She noted that hearing speakers were asked to sign up starting at 7 am., and many U.S. detractors were lined up as early as 2 am to sign the list. (more…)

In the late 90’s, Hooter’s Inc. told the EEOC that their main function is not providing food, rather their executives characterized Hooter’s Restaurants as primarily a provider of, “vicarious sexual entertainment.” Despite this, Hooters advertises themselves as a family restaurant where kids eat free on Tuesdays. They locate themselves in shopping malls and near child-oriented stores. They have high chairs, booster seats and kids’ menus. They sell child sized t-shirts with “Future Hooters Girl” printed across the front. (more…)

The Michigan Women’s Studies Association, Grand Valley State University Women and Gender Studies Program and Women’s Center are co-sponsoring a 2011 Conference entitled “Leading the Way: Feminism, Education, and Social Change”. Professor Susan Douglas,
Chair, University of Michigan Department of Communication, will keynote the conference speaking on Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message That Feminism’s Work is Done. The conference is schedules for Saturday, March 26, 2011 at the Eberhard Center, Grand Valley State University, Downtown Campus, 301 W. Fulton Street, in Grand Rapids.
The call for papers has been extended until December 15, 2010 . Proposals are welcome on any topic on women’s and/or gender issues and debates from all fields and disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, sciences, education, arts, design, business, and sports. Submissions are invited for papers, panels, workshops, and undergraduate posters.
More information, including suggested topics, electronic proposal forms, program information, and registration materials, is available at www.gvsu.edu/wgs.