Discrimination

If Maryland's resident pit bull, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, has demonstrated anything in her several decades in Congress and as dean of Senate women, it's a willingness to stand up for the less powerful in society, and she was at it again this week advocating for the Paycheck Fairness Act and the rights of women to secure equal pay for equal work. To the surprise of no one, Senate Republicans were unmoved by the cause and blocked the much-needed legislation from floor debate as it fell eight votes short of the 60 required.

A 61-year-old white woman, who says she was wrongfully fired from the Baltimore prosecutors' office after 25 years on the job, has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit alleging age, race and gender discrimination in the 2010 termination. Antoinette E. Swiec, of Baltimore, is seeking $400,000 in compensation from the Baltimore state's attorney's office on each of two counts, claiming she was fired because the predominantly young, African American division she worked for wanted her out. The lawsuit was filed in  U.S. District Court Monday, and was to be served on Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein, though the firing occurred under his predecessor, Patricia C. Jessamy.

A survey of 549 community-based organizations suggests that housing discrimination is on the rise, particularly targeting disabled individuals, immigrants, minorities and families with children, according to the nonprofit Consumer Action . Locally, Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc. has said it found similar problems. The organizations, which has sent “testers” out in the region to inquire about available housing, filed suit last year and in 2010 over alleged discrimination.

A former Anne Arundel County teacher has filed an age-discrimination lawsuit against the school system, contending that she was systematically bypassed for promotion in favor of younger applicants and faced retribution when she complained. Christine Davenport, 62, claims in a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore this week that the county school system retaliated against her when she lodged complaints two years ago alleging that her seniority prevented her from getting a job as assistant principal.

Risselle "Rikki" Fleisher, a former general counsel to the Maryland Commission on Human Relations who was a legal advocate in civil rights cases, died Tuesday of breast cancer at Stella Maris Hospice. The Bethany Beach, Del., resident was 77. "She wanted to right any wrong," said former Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. "She was a caring person who grew up at a time when things were happening that never should have. She worked to change that. " Born Risselle Rosenthal in Baltimore and raised on Mohawk Avenue, she was a 1953 graduate of Forest Park High School, where she was a three-letter athlete, her yearbook's features editor and homeroom class president.

I see again that the local chapter of the NAACP is alleging discrimination against African-American students in the handing out discipline for bad behavior by the Anne Arundel County school system ("U.S. to investigate NAACP complaint against Anne Arundel school system," April 11). It appears the association is focused on the symptom and not the problem. Educators will tell you that bad behavior is caused by many things, many of which occur in the home. If the home life is stable and parents take the lead in showing how important learning is, teachers can do wonders with a student.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights said that it will investigate allegations by the Anne Arundel branch of the NAACP that the county's school system discriminates against African-American students when meting out discipline. The office's March 29 decision came in response to a formal complaint filed last year by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People that accused the school system of subjecting African-American students to different treatment than other students regarding discipline referrals, suspensions and expulsions.

In a speech bookended by standing ovations, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told members of Baltimore's Latino community Thursday night that they are critical to meeting her goal of reversing the city's population decline and assured them that city government would not discriminate against them. "In Baltimore, we value and will protect all of our people," she told more than 100 people gathered in a community room at the Southeast Anchor branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library . "Our ambition is to grow Baltimore by 10,000 families in the next 10 years.

Many long-term unemployed have discovered an ugly truth: You need a job to get one. Jobless workers across the country have recounted tales of being written off by a prospective employer if they have been out of work for six months or more. And some job ads have explicitly stated that a candidate must be currently employed. Now Maryland has joined a growing number of states considering legislation to prevent employers from discriminating against the unemployed. "It's about changing minds or changing attitudes, and then changing behaviors of the employers and the people who represent the employers," says Jackie Gray, a Baltimore resident who co-founded an advocacy group, Unemployed Rising, and supports the legislation.

A former Anne Arundel County employee filed a $2.5 million lawsuit Friday against embattled County Executive John R. Leopold, alleging that he discriminated against female employees, pressured workers to make campaign donations and retaliated against those he viewed as disloyal. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore by Joan M. Harris, alleges that Leopold was "demeaning and intimidating" toward women for much of the time she worked for the county. She was a constituent services specialist from December 2006 to Nov. 3, 2010 — the day after Leopold won re-election.