Author: Northwest Justice Project

YAKIMA, Wash. – One of the largest apple producers in the United States will pay $272,000 to 20 claimants as part of a settlement resolving sexual harassment and retaliation claims pending before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today. Evans Fruit has also agreed to take steps to ensure that the workers do not suffer any retaliation as a result of their participation in the lawsuits or settlement.

NJP Veterans Project attorney Leo Flor assisted a disabled veteran, who had received an overpayment notice from the VA and subsequently notice to cut all of his benefits until the debt was paid, appeal the denial and overpayment. Flor was successful in getting the debt dismissed and obtain maximum benefits for his client.

Oakland, Calif. — ACROSS the country, some 400,000 women, mostly immigrants, work in agriculture, toiling in fields, nurseries and packing plants. Such work is backbreaking and low-paying. But for many of these women, it is also a nightmare of sexual violence.

MOUNT VERNON — Free legal help for low-income renters in Skagit County facing eviction or other problems with their housing is being offered through a new program.
The Housing Justice Project, which started in November, was developed by the Skagit Volunteer Lawyer Program, a partnership of the Skagit County Bar Association and Community Action of Skagit County.

José Anzaldo is a bright, cheerful third-grader in Salinas, Calif. He loves school, he’s a whiz at math, and, like lots of little boys his age, he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up. He also entered the country illegally, and his parents are migrant farmworkers who harvest lettuce.

Superior Court Judge Susan Hahn said in a ruling this month that the actions of Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center constituted a breach of contract between the hospital and the patients in question, The Yakima Herald reported. She also granted a motion requiring the hospital to turn over certain information long sought by the plaintiffs to bolster their class-action lawsuit.

Under a lawsuit settlement, all Washington children covered by Medicaid will be eligible for lead-poisoning testing if their parents request it — or if they live in old buildings, are recent immigrants or face other exposure risks.

Sending kids who habitually miss school to court under the state’s 20-year truancy law hasn’t helped them stay in school. But a school-court-community effort in Spokane County is having impressive success.

Fall behind on your student loans these days and you could end up getting more than hectoring phone calls and threatening letters. Some lenders are taking more people to court, attorneys say.