Tag Archives: florida

Panera Bread Franchisee Settles Suit With Black Workers After Not Permitting People Who Are “Black, Fat, And/Or Ugly” To Work Registers

Panera Bread Franchise Settles Discrimination Suit For $76K Looks like that shady Covelli Enterprises is going to pay up for telling this young brotha that he had to be a cook so “no blacks were in public view”… Via ABC News: An Ohio franchisee who runs several western Pennsylvania Panera Bread stores has agreed to pay more than $76,000 to settle discrimination claims by current and former black employees. Chief U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster on Monday told attorneys for Guy Vines, the black worker, and the company he sued in January, Warren, Ohio-based Covelli Enterprises, to advertise the settlement in newspapers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Kentucky and West Virginia, where Covelli operates Panera stores. Vines sued claiming he was denied promotions and made to work in the kitchen because company owner Sam Covelli didn’t want black employees in areas where the public was served. About 200 to 300 black workers may be entitled to money, Vines’ attorney, Samuel Cordes told the judge. According to online court records, Vines will receive $10,000 for being the lead plaintiff and Cordes will receive $66,000 in legal fees. In addition, Covelli must pay a yet-to-be determined amount based on how many current and former employees respond to the advertisements and file claims. Those workers will get 70 cents an hour for each hour they worked in excess of one year at any of Covelli’s Panera’s stores. That’s based upon how much money Covelli’s workers stood to gain had they been promoted after their first year. The settlement covers all current or former black employees who worked for Covelli for at least a year between Jan. 11, 2008 and Jan. 11, 2012 — the day Vines filed his lawsuit. Vines contends he was hired in November 2009 and quit in August 2011 over his alleged mistreatment. Cordes, who represented both men, said in Vines’ lawsuit that “African Americans were routinely assigned to jobs either in the back of the store washing dishes or doing food preparation so customers would not see them” and that top Covelli managers dictated that “people who are ‘Black, Fat, and/or ugly’ should never be permitted to work the cash registers.” SMH. Sounds like this azzholes need to cough up more than $76K to us!

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Panera Bread Franchisee Settles Suit With Black Workers After Not Permitting People Who Are “Black, Fat, And/Or Ugly” To Work Registers

Kourtney & Kim to Take Miami in January

Stay away from the pools and lock your doors, Florida residents: Kourtney and Kim Kardashian are headed to Miami. Yes, again. E! confirmed today that the untalented sisters will begin filming a new season of Kourtney & Khlo

Siohvaughn Wade Alleges Dwyane Wade Abused Her Pregnant Azz And Claims He And Gabrielle Union Had Affair!!! [Video]

Siohvaughn’s got a whole lot of isht to get off of her chest. The ex of NBA Baller Dwayne Wade just gave a very detailed interview where she spit about her marriage, the abuse, and nasty divorce/custody battle. Siohvaughn basically alleges that Dwyane’s public persona is bogus and that he was abusive during her pregnancy with their child… Though the pair began dating in their teens, Sioh, with her arm in a cast, says their love went downhill shortly after he got drafted and had a few dollars in his pocket. Her mother later joined in the conversation and talked about the sacrifices she and her family made once Dwyane moved in with them….and how he now treats them poorly. On Dwyane abusing her while pregnant: I was pregnant with Zion. Shortly before being hospitalized I was in Florida and I woke up in the middle of the night because I was sick, obviously with the pregnancy. I noticed that Mr. Wade wasn’t in the house. I was calling him and calling him because it was probably like, two or three o’ clock in the morning and we went to bed together which means he must have gotten up out of the bed and just left in the middle of the night without telling me. I was looking for him. I looked around the house. I was calling his phone he didn’t answer. He finally got back several hours later, it was well into the next day and I was very upset. I was asking where was he and why he [would] just leave without saying anything. His response was at first to be verbally abusive. He was cursing, he was calling me names, he was telling me to shut the ‘f’ up.He picked me up and held me over his head literally in midair and threw me down in our bathroom. We had an ottoman in the bathroom and he slammed me down so hard that when my back hit the ottoman it broke into four pieces and my back and head hit the concrete, the marble floor, excuse me, in the bathroom. After that I got up and immediately went — there’s a cordless phone in the bathroom, I immediately went to that phone and I was crying, I was hysterical, I went to go call the police. At that point more hell broke lose because I suppose he was in fear of being exposed because I certainly was going to call the police. I picked up the cordless phone, he snatched it out of my hand and he threw the cordless phone against my body so hard that the phone literally broke into pieces. On when the relationship went downhill: It started to get really bad the summer right after he’d been drafted. I was over the phone with him and he had said something to me very, very, angrily, and I had something to him about speaking to me and being disrespectful and he told me, ‘Do you wanna go and live in your mother’s house? ‘Cause that’s what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna end up back living in your mother’s house.’ I was very shocked. It was a very, very awful feeling. We stayed together but now that I can look back, from that moment it went downhill. Siohvaughn’s mom speaks about Dwyane moving in: The night he came to me, he had two black garbage bags and he knocked on the door late at night. He asked me, did I mean what I said when I said that I would never let a kid be out in the street with no place to go. ‘You would never let a kid go hungry and you would always help them if they needed something for school’, and I said yeah, I meant what I said. And he said, ‘Mama, I’m home.’ So I was like, okay. Siohvaughn On Dwyane and Gabrielle Union dating AND the lawsuit: Separated and divorced are two different things. I’m not certain when it happened or when she happened but I know that I was very married. I know that me and Dwyane at that time had talked about reconciliation going back and forth. I was still even intimate sometimes with my then husband. So, does that constitute sleeping or having an affair with somebody’s husband? Yes. To me, divorce and separation are always two different things. The lawsuit was about her having a negative effect on my children….That’s what that lawsuit was about. Her behavior and the things she did and said began to effect my sons, that’s when I opened my mouth and did something about it. Wow! If this is true then Dwayne and his new book need to step aside and let Siohvaughn see her babies. SMH Source Images via youtube/WENN

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Siohvaughn Wade Alleges Dwyane Wade Abused Her Pregnant Azz And Claims He And Gabrielle Union Had Affair!!! [Video]

Ho Sit Down! 28-Year-Old Florida Skripper Sentenced To Year And A Half For Food Stamp Fraud

She made over $85,000 a year in tips from her job as an exotic dancer… but this hot mess still used the aid from ‘Uncle Sam’ for plastic surgery and a custom pink paint job for her whip! A former exotic dancer and paralegal accused of spending nearly $24,000 worth of federal aid on plastic surgery, a car stereo system and a pink paint job for her car has been jailed for food stamp fraud. Appearing in Florida courtroom, Brenda Charlestain, 28, testified to being homeless and unemployed when she applied for the aid to help her and her five children. Thanks to her later work dancing, however, she made over $85,000 a year in tips. Charlestain argued that of the accused total a large portion were gifts from male customers at various adult entertainment clubs in Southern Florida, the Sun Sentinel reports. She said $9,187 was gifted to her for cosmetic enhancements and $1,100 for a sound system for her 2008 Dodge Charger – made a bright pink with government money according to prosecutors. Between March of 2010 and June of 2012, court records show she was provided $900 to $1,100 in government aid every month. She said out of her aid and tips she paid $1,200 a month in rent and $326 in monthly car payments. Having pleaded guilty to the federal fraud charges earlier this year, as well as in providing a firearm to a convicted felon, her husband, on Thursday she was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in a federal prison. Begging for leniency from the judge, Charlestain asked for a downgraded sentence to house arrest while stressing various obstacles she has overcome in life, starting with her father’s death when she was 10 and becoming pregnant at the age of 14. SMH Source Images via dailynews

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Ho Sit Down! 28-Year-Old Florida Skripper Sentenced To Year And A Half For Food Stamp Fraud

Chad Johnson Charged With Battery For Evelyn Lozada Head-Butting

Chad Johnson has been formally charged with battery following his alleged attack on Evelyn Lozada last month. He faces up to a year in jail if convicted. The former Ochocinco was arrested for domestic violence in Florida after a fight over a condom receipt allegedly got violent and he head-butted his wife . She filed for divorce days later after less than six weeks of marriage. Broward County, Fla., officials made the decision to charge Chad today. Evelyn Lozada claims their marriage had become “irretrievably broken” and has made it clear there will be no reconciling with the former NFL star here. Chad apparently didn’t get the memo, as he’s refusing to sign divorce papers , insisting he’s still in love with her and telling off his critics on Twitter. He also got a tattoo of Ev’s face on his leg. Her face. Johnson was also dropped from the Miami Dolphins – on HBO’s Hard Knocks no less – following his arrest and is now a free agent. Any NFL takers out there? Hello?

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Chad Johnson Charged With Battery For Evelyn Lozada Head-Butting

Random Ridiculousness: Man Says He’s Too “Racist And Homophobic” To Be A Juror, Faces Prosecution

Man Says He’s Too “Racist And Homophobic” To Be A Juror Wow. People will try anything to get out of jury duty!! A WOULD-BE juror faces prosecution after he claimed he was unable to serve at Southampton Crown Court due to “extreme homophobic and racist views”. A letter written by the man was read out in court after he was selected to serve on the jury in the case of a man who was on trial for assault and dangerous driving. Presiding Judge Gary Burrell QC read the letter out in open court in which the man, who the Daily Echo cannot name for legal reasons, said his extreme views made it impossible for him to be impartial. He wrote: “I strongly believe that it would be a serious injustice to the legal system to select me for jury service. “I hold extreme prejudices against homosexuals and black/foreign people and couldn’t possibly be impartial if either appeared in court. Therefore it would not be in the court’s interest to have me a juror.” He added that in his eagerness to bring any case to a swift conclusion, he would simply vote with the majority and not give his true opinion. He concluded: “I would be more than happy to speak to a judge regarding my personal views regarding the legal system which I do not hold in high regard.” Prosecuting and defence barristers Rebecca Austin and Robert Bryan lodged a challenge to him as a juror. When questioned by Judge Burrell about whether these were his true beliefs he confirmed they were and added that he didn’t think he had the right to “judge anyone”. Judge Burrell said: “If you do genuinely hold these views then you are someone who should not be on the jury and I question whether you should be doing anything responsible in society at all.” The man, who was escorted from the court, was warned he now faced prosecution under the Contempt of Court act for failing to serve on a jury as Judge Burrell would be writing to the Attorney General about the case. SMH. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done to get out of jury duty?? Source

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Random Ridiculousness: Man Says He’s Too “Racist And Homophobic” To Be A Juror, Faces Prosecution

What The Hell? Woman Hit With Felony Charge After She Beats Man With His Own Prosthetic Leg During Child Custody Dispute

Woman Beats Man With Prosthetic Leg Over Custody Dispute A custody dispute between Florida couple took a strange turn when the child’s mother allegedly attacked the father with his own prosthetic leg. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a woman on multiple felony charges in connection with a domestic-violence related incident in Baker on August 27, after they say she beat her ex-boyfriend with his prosthetic leg. The victim, 25-year old Brandon Fleming says Jadian Faye-Marie Hatfield, 23, the mother of his two year old son, agreed to share custody and exchange the child every two weeks. He says on August 27, Hatfield told him via text messages she was tired of him and would put him six feet under. Fleming told the deputy that around 11 p.m., Hatfield came to his home and said she was getting the child. He said no and went to call the Sheriff’s Office. Fleming says Hatfield then took the child out a bedroom window and when he went outside to get the boy out of the back seat of a car, two men grabbed him and began fighting with him. Fleming told the deputy that during that physical altercation, Hatfield came up behind him, pulled off his prosthetic leg and began striking him with it. He says Hatfield then reached into the front of the car, pulled out a 12 gauge shotgun and pointed it at him, saying she’d kill him if he didn’t let her leave with the child. Hatfield, the child, and the two men then drove off. Hopefully they can still “kick it” sometime for the child’s sake. On a side note, this is not the first time something like this has made headlines … Source

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What The Hell? Woman Hit With Felony Charge After She Beats Man With His Own Prosthetic Leg During Child Custody Dispute

Alicia Etheredge, Wife of Bobby Brown, Hospitalized with Seizure

Alicia Etheredge, the new wife of Bobby Brown who married the singer in June , is recovering today from a seizure. The incident reportedly took place last night in a Florida hotel room while Brown was taking care of a sound check for an upcoming New Edition concert. Etheredge serves as her husband’s manager. “The report that my wife was rushed to the hospital is true,” Brown subsequently Tweeted. “She is recovering and is in good spirits and doing well. Please keep my family in your prayers.” Brown has been undergoing his own issues as of late. He checked into a rehab facility for alcohol abuse in mid-August and is trying to get his life back on track.

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Alicia Etheredge, Wife of Bobby Brown, Hospitalized with Seizure

Vanity Fair: Actress Picked By Scientology To Date Tom Cruise Was Rejected By Top Gun Star

The October issue of Vanity Fair magazine has a Scientology-related cover story about Tom Cruise that makes Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master look like light comedy. In a feature titled, ” What Katie Didn’t Know: Marriage, Scientology-Style,”  special correspondent Maureen Orth reveals  the details of a top-secret 2004 mission that Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology head David Miscavige, undertook to find a girlfriend for Tom Cruise. The magazine reports that, according to several sources, the organization devised “an elaborate auditioning process in which actresses who were already Scientology members were called in, told they were auditioning for a new training film, and then asked a series of curious questions including: ‘What do you think of Tom Cruise?'” The sweepstakes winner was Iranian-born, London-raised actress Nazanin Boniadi, who had a recurring role in General Hospital and How I Met Your Mother .  Boniadi dated Cruise from November 2004 until January 2005, after Orth reports, a month-long preparation in which she was “audited” every day — a Scientology-based process in which she revealed “her innermost secrets and every detail of her sex life.” Boniadi also underwent a physical transformation that allegedly included losing her braces, the red highlights in her hair and her boyfriend. (Orth cites a “knowledgeable source” who says that the actress was shown “confidential auditing files of her boyfriend to expedite the breakup,” although the church denied any “misuse” of confidential information.) According to Vanity Fair , Boniadi was flown to New York in November to meet Cruise.  After dinner at Nobu and ice-skating at the Rockefeller Center rink there, which had been closed to the public but not “an entourage of Scientology aides,”, the actress spent the night with Cruise.  Orth cites several sources who say the two did not have sex, but that Cruise  told Boniadi, “I’ve never felt this way before.” Approximately one month and at least two confidentiality agreements later, the magazine reports, Boniadi was kicked to the curb. Orth writes that anything the actress said or did that met with Cruise’s disapproval was relayed to a member of the Scientology staff.  Boniadi, also reportedly offended fast-talking Scientology top gun David Miscavige by repeatedly telling him “Excuse me?” while she was entertaining him in Telluride. (A representative for Miscavige told  Vanity Fair , “Mr. Miscavige doesn’t remember any girlfriend of anyone, in his entire life, insulting him.”) Despite these reportedly stressful conditions, Boniadi “was in love with Cruise,” Orth writes. That said, she was “overwhelmed” by “the intensity of his affection, especially his predilection for public displays” — a detail that should not come as a surprise to those who remember Cruise expressing his newfound love for Katie Holmes on national TV by jumping on a couch on Oprah Winfrey’s show in 2005, Cruise, on the other hand, told Boniadi  “I get more love from an extra than I get from you.” By the third week in January 2005, Boniadi was asked to move out of Cruise’s house and into Scientology’s Celebrity Centre.  She was told that the Mission Impossible actor “wants someone with her own power — like Nicole,” as in Cruise’s ex-wife Nicole Kidman. Cruise would meet Homes later that year and announce his engagement to the Dawson’s Creek actress that June. Boniadi would not fare nearly as well.  The magazine reports that when the actress ran into a friend at a Scientology Center in Florida, Boniadi spilled the beans on her relationship with Cruise, only to have the friend report her. As punishment for her indiscretion, a “knowledgeable source” told Orth that Boniadi’s punishment was “to scrub toilets with a toothbrush, clean bathroom tiles with acid and dig ditches in the middle of the night.” She was also tasked with selling copies of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s book, Dianetics on street corners. (A Scientology spokesperson told the magazine, “The Church does not punish people, especially in [that’ manner.”) A spokeswoman for Cruise called the Vanity Fair story, which includes a number of other revelations about Scientology and Cruise,  “false.”   [ Vanity Fair ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

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Vanity Fair: Actress Picked By Scientology To Date Tom Cruise Was Rejected By Top Gun Star

‘Daily Show’ Correspondent Relives Highlight Of RNC: The Empanadas

Jessica Williams tells MTV News the five things she learned from the Republican National Convention in Tampa. By Kara Warner Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida Photo: Mark Wilson/ Getty Images

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‘Daily Show’ Correspondent Relives Highlight Of RNC: The Empanadas