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Court Catches FedEx Cheating Employees of Their Benefits

Originally published on August 29, 2014, at NationofChange.org

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that FedEx Corp. misclassified their employees as independent contractors to evade paying benefits. By classifying their drivers as independent contractors, FedEx unlawfully subjected their employees to repeated labor and wage violations. Seeking a rehearing by the entire Ninth Circuit, FedEx wishes to avoid potentially paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages, damages, and attorneys’ fees.

In the case known as Alexander v. FedEx Ground, a panel of federal judges determined that over 2,300 FedEx drivers in California and Oregon had been deprived of employee status and benefits. According to court documents, FedEx drivers were required to pay for their FedEx branded trucks, uniforms, insurance, fuel, tires, oil changes, maintenance, workers’ compensation coverage, and the wages of employees covering their shifts during vacations and sick days. The drivers were even forced to rent the scanners that record their deliveries and ended up trapped with expensive long-term leases on their FedEx branded trucks.

“We have heard of many instances where the secondary drivers are earning such low wages that they have to rely on public assistance to make ends meet,” stated the plaintiffs’ attorney Beth Ross. “Nationally, thousands of FedEx Ground drivers must pay for the privilege of working for FedEx 55 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. Today, these workers were granted rights and benefits entitled to employees under California law. To be clear, the Ninth Circuit exposed FedEx Ground’s independent contractor model as unlawful.”

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22 Puerto Rico Cops Plead Guilty to Corruption Charges

Originally published on August 27, 2014, at NationofChange.org

Twenty-two Puerto Rico Police Officers have pleaded guilty to multiple charges of robbery, extortion, civil rights violations, drug dealing, and obstruction of justice. Tainted by a pervasive history of abuse and corruption, the Puerto Rico police department operates with virtual impunity and a blatant disregard for the law. Separate investigations from the DOJ and ACLU confirm multiple reports of the police engaging in the unjustified use of excessive force, lethal force, and criminal activities.

On the evening of November 5, 2008, Lt. Erick Rivera Nazario and Officer Jimmy Rodriguez Vega confronted and killed 19-year-old Jose Luis Irizarry Perez. While Officer David Colon Martinez restrained Irizarry Perez, Lt. Rivera Nazario and Officer Rodriguez Vega beat the teenager to death with their batons. On March 8, 2013, Officer Rodriguez Vega pleaded guilty to one count of depriving Irizarry Perez of his civil rights by striking him with his police baton.

After failing to cover-up the unlawful killing, Officer David Colon Martinez pleaded guilty on August 22, 2014, to one count of making a false statement to the FBI and one count of perjury for lying to the federal grand jury that investigated the incident. Officer Miguel Negron Vazquez joined him in pleading guilty to making a false statement to the FBI.

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Whistleblower Reinstated After Radiation Leak at Nuclear Dump

Originally published on August 26, 2014, at NationofChange.org

Following an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor ordered a government contractor to reinstate whistleblower Shelly Doss and pay $200,000 in back wages, attorney’s fees, and damages. The agency concluded government contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) had wrongfully terminated Doss for reporting federal and state environmental violations at the nuclear cleanup site at Hanford, Washington.

Along the banks of the Colombia River lie a series of decommissioned nuclear reactors known as the Hanford site. Built during WWII as part of the Manhattan Project, the reactors produced plutonium for nuclear weapons. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), creating plutonium produced massive amounts of nuclear byproducts that were not properly disposed of and unintentional spills of liquid waste have contaminated the site.

Two years after the last reactor ceased operation in 1987, the DOE, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Washington State Department of Ecology entered into a legally binding accord to clean up the toxic waste posing a risk to the local environment at Hanford. Notorious for ignoring evidence of leaking nuclear waste tanks and toxic exposure to their employees, DOE contractor WRPS fired Doss in 2011 for raising concerns about environmental safety and record-keeping violations to management and to government agencies.

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Innocent Civilian Deaths Caused by Police Militarization

Originally published on August 23, 2014, at NationofChange.org

With the aggressive militarization of America’s police forces, innocent bystanders and family members often enter the crosshairs. For decades, federal programs have devised incentives for state and local police to utilize unnecessarily hostile weapons and battlefield tactics against civilians. Operating with a glaring lack of transparency and almost no public oversight, militarized police forces rarely find themselves accountable for their actions.

In a recent ACLU report titled War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing, the Senior Counsel with the ACLU’s Center for Justice, Kara Dansky wrote, “The ACLU found through the course of this investigation that the excessive militarism in policing, particularly through the use of paramilitary policing teams, escalates the risk of violence, threatens individual liberties, and unfairly impacts people of color.”

After filing public records requests with more than 255 law enforcement agencies, 114 of the agencies denied the ACLU’s request. While investigating excessive weapon stockpiles and police militarization, the ACLU found a disturbing trend in Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams being used beyond their original mandate. Previously, SWAT teams had only been deployed to handle hostage, sniper, or terrorist threats. Now, SWAT teams conduct drug busts, disperse protesters, and execute “no knock” search warrants in residential neighborhoods.

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Cops Arrested for Drug Trafficking and Transporting Dealers

Originally published on August 22, 2014, at NationofChange.org

In a New York federal court this week, former Sheriff’s Deputy Charles Fuller pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to aid and abet the possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Deputy Fuller admitted to accepting protection money to transport a drug dealer along with suspected packages of cocaine while off-duty. Unbeknownst to Fuller, the drug dealer was an FBI confidential informant.

On February 19, the FBI informant paid Deputy Fuller $1,000 to safely transport him and 250 grams of cocaine from Albany to Warren County. After completing the trip, Fuller agreed to transport the drug dealer again on February 27. Fuller raised the price to $4,000 because the informant would be carrying a kilogram of cocaine this time.

Instead of using cocaine, the FBI gave the informant a kilogram of a white powder that looked similar to the drug. Since Fuller never inspected the packages, he had no idea that FBI agents were preparing to arrest him. They placed Fuller in custody and recovered the $5,000 in marked bills that their informant had paid him.

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Five Unarmed Black Men Killed by Police Within a Month

Originally published on August 20, 2014, at NationofChange.org

In less than a month, cops have been responsible for killing at least five unarmed black men. Police officials have confirmed Eric Garner, John Crawford, Ezell Ford, Dante Parker, and Michael Brown were not carrying lethal weapons when authorities executed them. As racial tensions continue to escalate in Ferguson, militarized law enforcement agencies show no signs of ending the violence.

On July 17, NYPD Officer Justin Damico accused Eric Garner, 43, of selling untaxed cigarettes. A witness recorded video footage of Garner arguing with Damico when Officer Daniel Pantaleo crept up behind Garner and placed him in a chokehold. Officers piled on top of Garner as he weakly repeated, “I can’t breathe.”

After releasing the chokehold, Pantaleo placed his knee on the back of Garner’s head pressing his face into the pavement. Garner died of cardiac arrest induced by Pantaleo’s chokehold. The NYPD banned the use of chokeholds in 1994 after an officer placed Anthony Baez in a chokehold resulting in his death.

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Prisoners Using Drones to Smuggle Contraband

Originally published on August 18, 2014, at NationofChange.org

Defying conventional smuggling techniques, drone operators around the world are using a new method to sneak drugs, tobacco, cell phones, and other contraband into prisons. Capable of flying great distances, drones stashed with illicit packages can easily bypass prison walls to complete their deliveries. Many guards complain that they lack the proper ammunition to shoot down the drones.

The most recent drone was discovered on July 21, 2014, at a prison in Thailand. After receiving a tip-off about smuggling, guards at the Khao Bin prison reviewed surveillance footage and discovered a drone snagged on a tree branch inside the compound. The DJI Phantom drone they found was a quadcopter equipped with a GoPro video camera and a Wi-Fi signal range extender. Taped to the drone were two Nokia cell phones, two Bluetooth devices, four SIM cards, an integrated circuit and a pair of earphones. The drone operator escaped and is still at large.

On April 21, 2014, guards at Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina discovered a drone while conducting a routine perimeter check outside the prison. Officials believe the downed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed into the prison’s 12-foot-tall razor wire fence and landed in the bushes. The drone had been carrying marijuana, cell phones, tobacco, and synthetic marijuana.

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Former Navy Contractor Guilty of Bribery Scam

Originally published on August 15, 2014, at NationofChange.org

Seven men have been arrested in connection to a bribery scheme to collect roughly $5.5 million in government contracts. On August 12, Scott Miserendino, Sr. became the sixth man to plead guilty for his role in the crime. The former U.S. Navy contractor, Miserendino, pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting bribes and conspiring to commit bribery.

Scott Miserendino joined the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command in 1994. With a fleet of 110 ships posted around the world, the defense contractor is the leading provider of transportation for the U.S. Navy. On January 7, 1998, the Military Sealift Command published a press release awarding Miserendino for his cost-saving strategies. The press release has since been removed from the site.

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FBI Investigates Rioting After Cop Kills Unarmed Teen

Originally published on August 12, 2014, at NationofChange.org

The FBI has joined the investigation into the police shooting of an unarmed teenager that incited rioting and looting this weekend in Ferguson, Missouri. As incidents of police brutality continue to escalate in violence, the residents of Ferguson retaliated by vandalizing stores and police cars while pelting officers with rocks, bricks, and bottles.

On the afternoon of August 9, Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson were walking in the street when a police car pulled up alongside them. According to the Ferguson Police Department, Brown shoved the officer as he was exiting the vehicle. A struggle ensued inside the car over the officer’s firearm. The officer fired a single shot, and Brown fled from the vehicle. Brown was roughly 35-feet from the police car when the officer fired multiple shots killing Brown, who was unarmed.

But Dorian Johnson and multiple witnesses disagree with the official version of events. According to Johnson, the officer pulled up next to them and ordered, “Get the eff onto the sidewalk.”

After exchanging a few words, the officer extended his arm out of the window and grabbed Brown’s neck. The officer allegedly choked Brown while pulling the 18-year-old into the car. As Brown managed to escape, the cop exited the vehicle and fired.

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7th Suspect Indicted for Border Patrol Agent’s Murder

Originally published on August 10, 2014, at NationofChange.org

The seventh man charged with the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was indicted by a federal grand jury in Tucson. Rosario Rafael Burboa-Alvarez has been accused of assembling the crew responsible for robbing drug smugglers and killing a federal agent. Two of the guns found at the crime scene were identified as weapons involved in the ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious.

Already incarcerated in Tucson for immigration-related crimes and conducting surveillance on a target for drug robbers, Burboa-Alvarez now faces federal charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery, and attempted robbery in connection with Agent Terry’s death. Although Burboa-Alvarez was not present during the shootout, he allegedly assembled the crew of armed thieves preying on marijuana smugglers along the border.

On the evening of December 14, 2010, Border Patrol Agents William Castano, Gabriel Fragoza, Timothy Keller, and Brian Terry encountered a group of five suspected illegal immigrants in a rural area north of Nogales, Arizona. According to an FBI report, a gunfight ensued in which the federal agents switched from nonlethal to lethal rounds after the suspects opened fire with assault weapons. Agent Terry was killed in the shootout.

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