Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog

Williams Oinonen LLC partner Julie Oinonen was recently appointed as a Fellow at the Emory University School of Law Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution.

Previously, Ms. Oinonen has been a Dean's Teaching Fellow and Post Doctoral Fellow for Emory University School of Law. She is also admitted into the prestigious Order of Emory Advocates, in addition to being awarded the Kathleen Kessler-Eidson Trial Advocacy Award and International Academy of Trial Lawyers Award by Emory University School of Law. Ms. Oinonen has a Masters of Education and Masters of Business Administration graduating Magna Cum Laude. She completed her undergraduate education at Covenant College, a Christian college located on Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Ms. Oinonen now joins her partner, Mr. Mario Bernard Williams, who is also a Fellow at the Center. Prior to Mr. William's career as an attorney at Williams Oinonen LLC, he worked in the field of International Human Rights throughout South America. Mr. Williams graduated with honors from Morehouse with a degree in Political Science and has extensive experience with opponent research, policy analysis and political consulting. Additionally, Mr. Williams and Ms. Oinonen have had much success working on opponent research campaigns for elected officials throughout Georgia.

Ms. Oinonen's recent appointment as Fellow at the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution makes Williams Oinonen LLC the only law firm in the United States to have both Partners named as Fellows of Emory University Law School.

Currently, Williams Oinonen LLC is accepting new clients. We welcome you to contact us to schedule an appointment today.

This is an extremely disturbing video of what happened yesterday in Oakland, California at an Occupy Oakland protest. A young Iraq war veteran named Scott Olsen, age 24, is potentially brain injured thanks to a police officer throwing something that some people are alleging to be a flashbang grenade, i.e. a bomb, into a crowd of people. When a crowd of young people rush to help save him it appears that the police officer throws a second bomb at the crowd. At this point, the police department have issued a press release denying use of flash bang devices but others dispute this.

Flashbang grenades are NOT a non-lethal use of force as some police departments would have you believe. They are deadly. Just this year in Charlotte, North Carolina, a SWAT officer by the name of Fred Thornton was killed when a flash bang grenade exploded as he was securing his equipment in the trunk of his patrol car. Certain city police departments, including the New York City Police Department have banned the use of flash bang grenades because they kill innocent victims.

Sadly, certain police departments in Georgia use this dangerous device and have unjustifiably injured innocent Georgia civilians. For example, we've had clients with gruesome burns all over just because a police department in our state has unjustifiably thrown these bombs in the bedroom windows of innocent Georgia citizens while sleeping.

The video clip is an absolute example of police misconduct that violates the Constitutional rights of United States citizens. Shame on Oakland Mayor and Chief of Police for allowing such an unacceptable, illegal and unconstitutional use of force!

Hopefully, Scott Olsen, the 24 year old young man and Iraq war veteran who was injured by police yesterday, will pull through and recover without lasting damage to his brain. It is shocking that what he escaped on the streets of Iraq he came home to on the streets of America.

We do not live in a regime like Syria where dictators abuse their citizens without recourse. The Fourth Amendment of our United States Constitution protects persons from such such unlawful activities. Additionally, our civil justice system, as is guaranteed in the Seventh Amendment allows us to seek redress for violations of our Constitutional rights. Shame on the city of Oakland if in fact it is true that a police officer was allowed to throw a flashbang grenade at a crowd of people. These bombs due more than stun. They seriously maim and kill.

Good Georgia Lawyer calls on the Mayor of Oakland and Chief of Police to stop this unnecessary violence, do the right thing, and protect the constitutional rights of its citizens.

UPDATE: Oakland Police Department is denying that these were in fact were flashbang grenades. We hope this is true. But regardless, the above video clip shows unacceptable use of force against citizens and a clear violation of Constitutional rights.

Today a Barrow County judge ruled against a former teacher who alleged that she lost her job due to a posting on Facebook.

Ashley Payne resigned from her job as a teacher at Apalachee High School in the Fall of 2009 after an individual who stated they were a parent sent a complaint about postings Ms. Payne had made on Facebook showing her drinking alcohol and stating that she was headed to a game of "Crazy Bitch Bingo" at an Atlanta restaurant. Ms. Payne claims she was under pressure to resign however the school district disputes this claiming she volunteered.

Ms. Payne is now graduate student at UGA and filed suit asking the court for a determination stating she was entitled to a due process hearing. It is unfortunate that Ms. Payne did not ask for a due process hearing, speak to her union advisor, or consult an attorney prior to resigning.

Under Georgia law, it would be very difficult to show that a voluntary resignation is truly one made under duress and a violation of one's due process rights. Thus, it is very important for a teacher to seek legal advice prior to making such an important decision concerning their employment.

Here at Good Georgia Lawyer, we have represented many teachers dealing with employment issues and we have written about the rights of school teachers in Georgia previously.

In a nutshell, O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-940, et seq., regulates the hiring and firing of teachers in Georgia. Firing or suspension can only be had based on eight grounds as listed and the district is required to hold a hearing before this happens.

Notice is required to be given to the teacher notifying them of the hearing and charges placed against them at least ten days prior. To learn more information, please read our article here which explains the process in more detail.

To understand your legal rights, we recommend you read our article here.

To schedule an appointment to meet with an attorney to discuss your personal employment situation, contact Williams Oinonen LLC at 404-654-0288.

Occupy Atlanta has set up their occupation protest in Woodruff Park, just a short walk from the law offices of Williams Oinonen LLC. Our law firm is just a few blocks from the protests, located in the Historical Grant Building at 44 Broad Street, Suite 200 in downtown Atlanta.

On Friday, several hundred members rallied in Woodruff Park, protesting corporate corruption. The protests are also timed for the 10th anniversary for Afghanistan war and patterned after the Occupy Wall Street group in New York.

Atlanta police first told the protesters to stay on sidewalks but later allowed a dozen or so tents to be set up in Woodruff Park as long as the protesters behaved themselves.

For legal assistance, our office is just a short walk from Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta. Contact Julie Oinonen at 404-654-0288 for more information.

Douglasville, Georgia recently settled a federal lawsuit brought by an American Muslim woman named Lisa Valentine, who was jailed due to wearing a hijab, a Muslim headscarf while at the courthouse.

ACLU lawyer Azadeh Shahshahani stated: "Obviously the manner in which Ms. Valentine was treated was inexcusable and unconstitutional," said Shahshahani, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. "We hope that through this settlement, no other people will be subject to this same humiliating treatment Ms. Valentine had to suffer."

As part of the settlement, Douglasville agreed to adopt new policies that allowed those who wear religious head coverings the option to be screened privately by a same gender person. Those who have religious headwear will no longer be forced to remove them and can wear them while in court. The Georgia Judicial Council made this nonbinding recommendation to all local courts after the Valentine incident was reported.

Valentine, is an African-American woman who converted from Christianity to Islam 15 years ago and was jailed back in 2008 after she wore a hijab while taking her nephew to Douglasville Traffic Court. When a security guard told Ms. Valentine to remove her hijab she refused, protested, and then tried to leave. But the Judge ordered her arrested and jailed for ten days due to contempt of court. She was later released that day.

A similar incident occurred this past May in Henry County, when a state judge refused to allow a Muslim man to wear his religious head cap, called a kufi, while in court. Fortunately, the judge reversed his decision.

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees us freedom of religion. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights defined freedom from religious discrimination as being guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution--thus the state of Georgia and its respective state court in Douglas County must also comply with such laws.

Religious discrimination happens when someone is denied equal protection of the laws, including equal treatment in the administration of justice and access to the courts because of the exercise of their right to religious freedom. Thus, it would be a violation of one's constitutional right to freedom of religion through the 14th amendment whenever a Muslim, Jewish, or Christian are banned from a courtroom because they are wearing religious clothing or headgear (think a nun's habit or Jewish yarmukle).

The largest growing number of religious discrimination cases however involve the area of employment. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for an employer to discharge any employee or to discriminate with respect to compensation or other terms of employment due to the employee's religion, as well as race, color, sex, or national origin. 42 U.S.C.S. § 2000e-2(a)(1).

When a plaintiff uses circumstantial evidence to prove religious discrimination, the court applies the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting approach. This approach requires a plaintiff the initial burden to establish a prima facie case showing: (1) she is a member of a protected class; (2) she was qualified for his job; (3) she was subjected to an adverse employment action; and (4) her employer treated similarly-situated employees outside her class more favorably or replaced him with someone outside her class. Mackmuhammad v. Cagle's Inc., 379 Fed. Appx. 801 (11th Cir. Ga. 2010)

Once the plaintiff does this, the employer must prove a non-discriminatory basis for its actions and if those are given, then the plaintiff must show that those reasons are simply pretextual (false, a cover up to hide true motives and intentions.) Id.

It is illegal to harass someone because of their religion in an employment setting. The law also requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employees religious beliefs or practices unless doing so would create more than a minimal burden on the employer's operation. An example of reasonable accommodation would be making sure an Orthodox Jew was not scheduled during Sabbath, or a Christian on Sunday morning worship hour.

If you believe you have been a victim of religious discrimination, you can file a charge with the EEOC but there are time limits and you must do it within 180 days of the discriminatory treatment.

It is also highly recommended to seek legal counsel.

Continue reading "Federal Lawsuit in Georgia Settled Concerning Religious Discrimination" »