Buffalo Wild Wings fires employees after alleged incident of racism originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Some employees at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in the Chicago area have lost their jobs after an alleged incident of racism against a group of black customers.
The alleged incident happened last month at a Buffalo Wild Wings in the Chicago suburb of Naperville.
Speaking to Chicago ABC station WLS, Justin and Mary Vahl of Montgomery, Illinois, said they arrived at the restaurant with their family and friends to celebrate a birthday when a host inquired about their race, saying a “regular” customer is seated next to their reserved table and doesn’t want to sit near black people. But the couple told the host to seat their group there anyway.
After the group sat down, several other employees approached their table on separate occasions to try to get them to move, claiming their table is actually reserved for another party. They finally decided to leave for another restaurant and filed a complaint with upper-level management, the couple told WLS.
Two sets of 24-year-old identical twins — who had their first date together and became engaged at the same time — are now preparing to tie the knot in Michigan this weekend before living together in a two-bedroom apartment.
Identical twins Krissie and Kassie Bevier, from Michigan Center, will marry Zack and Nick Lewan, from White Lake, in Grass Lake on Aug. 3 and 4, the Jackson Citizen Patriot reported. Krissie and Zack’s wedding will be held on Friday, while Kassie and Nick will get hitched on Saturday. The four will have their reception Saturday night.
“I’m in disbelief sometimes of just how everything happened,” Nick Lewan told WILX-TV .
From left, Krissie Bevier, Zack Lewan, Nicholas Lewan and Kassie Bevier pose for a photo. (Nikos Frazier /Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP )
The two sets of twins met at Grand Valley State University four years ago in a psychology class; the twins recalled the professor asking the class if there were any twins in attendance.
“Psychology loves twin studies,” Kassie Bevier told Jackson Citizen Patriot. “So the professor was like, ‘Are there any twins in the class? We’re going to talk about twins.’ And we both raise our hands.”
“I was looking around and I looked behind and I was like, ‘Oh. I’m in trouble now,'” Nick Lewan said.
Following class, the twins exchanged numbers and Kassie and Nick had their first date at church one Sunday morning. They also invited Krissie and Zack to tag along.
From left, couple Nicholas Lewan and Kassie Bevier and couple Krissie Bevier and Zack Lewan strike a pose. (Nikos Frazier /Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP )
“We’re standing there in the church getting ready to sing and [the guys] just start belting it out,” Kassie recalled. “They were actually singing. My sister and I looked at each other like, ‘Who are these guys?'”
Shortly after, Krissie and Zack started dating too.
Last year, Nick and Zack Lewan proposed to the Bevier sisters on a trip to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. The brothers said they did not plan to “propose at the same time,” but it just happened.
“It basically happened at the same time … which is par for the course for us,” Kassie Bevier said. “We do things in twos.”
Kassie, meanwhile, claims the four of them don’t go everywhere together, but “90 percent of their dates turn into double dates.”‘
Following their wedding, the couples plan to move in together into a two-bedroom apartment in Fenton. But first, a relative gifted the couples with a stay at their house in Florida; both couples said they would go on their own for a few days apart but go to Disney World together.
From left, Kassie Bevier, Nicholas Lewan, Krissie Bevier and Zack Lewan discuss their wedding plans. (Nikos Frazier /Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP )
The Beviers are working toward finishing their doctorates in physical therapy at the University of Michigan. Nick Lewan is pursuing his master’s degree in mental health counseling from Oakland University, while Zack Lewan works in vegetation management for an energy company.
“We’re individuals. We are all individuals,” Zack Lewan said. “We work differently and we have different interests, and just respect each other for those differences.”
The couples believed they click so well because they were brought up in good families.
“I’m just really thankful that we met two girls — not just because they’re twins, but they grew up the same as we did,” Zack Lewan said.
“We just flow together and it makes sense,” Krissie Bevier said. “There is a special twin bond, and having someone who understands that is huge.”
Want to make a sexual or sexist comment on the streets of France? You could face a $868 fine.
A bill approved Wednesday by French lawmakers outlines steep fines for gender-based harassment on the country’s streets and public transportation.
The law will allow for fines of 90-750 euros, roughly $104 to $868, for sexual or sexist comments. That definition also includes behavior that is degrading, humiliating, intimidating hostile or offensive.
The law also includes even higher fines for taking “upskirt” photos — pictures or video taken under a person’s clothing without their consent. Those fines could reach 15,000 euros or roughly $17,380.
The news follows a high-profile incident of street harassment in France. Surveillance footage in July showed a man striking a 22-year-old woman after she reprimanded him for making obscene sounds at her — that footage has gone viral.
Womens take part to a “slutwalk” with placards reading “I have breasts and a ass, I am a women” (R) and “Flirt but not violence” (L) on October 1, 2011 in Paris. Hundreds of women swapped business suits for short skirts and revealing tops Saturday to protest against sexual violence and victim blaming. AFP PHOTO JOHANNA LEGUERRE / AFP PHOTO / JOHANNA LEGUERRE
The woman in the footage says the new law isn’t enough. It is “almost a joke,” Marie Laguerre told The Associated Press. “I don’t think it’s realistic because it means having police officers on every street.”
She said that officers would need training to recognize harassing behavior.
“The law sends a message, but for me it’s not enough,” Laguerre said.
Laguerre told AP she thinks education is needed to change people’s attitudes on sexual harassment. She believes that would be more effective than punishing harassers.
The new rules are set to take effect in September and include a number of other sexual violence-related measures. The law will also expand the criminal definition of child rape.
Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Canada is using DNA and commercial genealogical sites to help determine the nationality of migrants whose origin is in question.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has confirmed the use of DNA testing “when other avenues of investigation have been exhausted”.
The agency could not confirm how frequently such techniques are used.
One Canadian immigration lawyer says he is personally aware of a handful of such cases.
CBSA spokesman Jayden Robertson said the agency uses DNA testing to assist “in determining identity by providing indicators of nationality thereby enabling us to focus further lines of investigation on particular countries”.
“The CBSA obtains consent from the clients before submitting their information to DNA websites,” he said in a statement to the BBC.
Toronto-based immigration lawyer Subodh Bharati says he is concerned about how well the privacy of those whose DNA has been collected is being protected.
One such case involved Mr Bharati’s client Franklin Godwin, who arrived in Canada in 1994 on a fraudulent Bahamian passport and requested asylum after disclosing to immigration officials that he was Liberian. He was granted refugee status and permanent residency.
He later lost his permanent residency status after being convicted on various drug charges.
Canada sought to deport Mr Godwin in 2003 and in 2005.
Liberia twice denied him entry despite issuing him travel document. In the latter instance, officials claimed he was not Liberian but Nigerian.
Mr Godwin maintains his Liberian nationality but Canada is seeking to confirm his identity.
In 2017, while being held in detention by the CBSA, officials conducted a linguistic test, an interview about his knowledge of Liberia and a DNA test.
Using genealogy websites, they found two distant relatives who claimed Nigerian ancestry and contacted them.
Mr Bharati says he doesn’t believe that DNA testing offers Canada much value in determining someone’s country of origin.
“It’s clear DNA doesn’t give someone’s nationality,” he said.
In another instance reported by AFP, DNA was used to attempt to establish the nationality of Ebrahim Toure, a failed refugee claimant who has been detained by Canadian immigration officials since 2013, pending his removal.
According to AFP, he had arrived in Canada on a fake French passport. He later claimed to be from Guinea, but was refused entry by Guinean officials.
Following a linguistic test, a search of his social media that revealed he had many Gambian acquaintances, and interviews with friends in Canada, officials sought to match his DNA with relatives in The Gambia.
The Toronto Star reports that Mr Toure says his transient upbringing complicates his nationality. He remains in detention.
In a statement to BBC, an Ancestry spokesperson said that protecting customers’ privacy is the company’s “highest priority”.
“That starts with the basic belief that customers should always maintain ownership and control over their own data,” the company said.
It said it does not work with border agencies.
FamilyTreeDNA told Vice News that the company does not work with Canadian law enforcement and has no knowledge of its platform being used to determine a migrant’s nationality.
A government crackdown in Zimbabwe after Monday’s elections has prompted international calls for restraint.
The UN and former colonial power the UK both expressed concern about the violence, in which three people were killed after troops opened fire.
Parliamentary results gave victory to the ruling Zanu-PF party in the first vote since the ouster of former ruler Robert Mugabe.
But the opposition says Zanu-PF igged the election.
The result of the presidential election has yet to be declared. The MDC opposition alliance insist their candidate, Nelson Chamisa, beat the incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged Zimbabwe’s politicians to exercise restraint, while UK foreign office minister Harriett Baldwin said she was “deeply concerned” by the violence.
The US embassy in Harare urged the army to “use restraint” on Twitter, saying the country had an “historic opportunity” for a brighter future.
Human rights group Amnesty International meanwhile called on the government to open a probe into the army’s actions.
Amnesty’s acting secretary general Colm O Cuanachain said in a press release that the “militarisation” of the election aftermath “is muzzling freedom of expression, association and assembly”.
“People must be guaranteed their right to protest,” he said.
MOUNTAIN VIEW (KPIX) – Safeway employees in Mountain View called 911 when an African-American woman was donating food to the homeless because they thought she was shoplifting, according to police.
In her free time Erika Martin says she gives care packages to the homeless.
“It makes me feel good, you know,” said Martin.
One of them is a man who frequents the Safeway off Shoreline Boulevard in Mountain View.
“That day I decided to give him dog food for his dog,” said Martin.
That was a Sunday evening she’ll never forget.
“The police just blocks me in. I’m like, ‘what’s going on?’” said Martin.
Erica said she found herself suddenly defending herself to several officers who told her Safeway employees accused her of theft.
“Then she [the officer] was like ‘well, we were called here because you fit the description of someone taking items out of Safeway and bringing it back to your car’” said Martin.
Erika says Safeway workers thought she was conspiring with an African American man and that a group of kids were also shoplifting and bringing items to her car.
She says her little boy had gone to the deli to see if they were giving away cookie samples, as he’s done many times before, and was now sitting in their car, frightened and emotional.
“He was like crying because he thought they were there to arrest him,” said Martin.
The thing is, Martin never stepped foot inside Safeway. In fact, she says she never got out of her car.
Martin wasn’t wearing the shirt reported to police. She was wearing a religious shirt instead and claims she was listening to gospel music and talking to her sisters who had just dropped off items to a homeless man.
Martin’s sister recorded a video of the incident.
Police say Martin and her family were helpful and calm and realized Safeway workers got it all wrong.
“Racism still exists,” said Martin.
But she said the damage she was already done.
“I blame the Safeway employees and for them to do something like that to me is just hurtful and shameful,” said Martin. “I am not going back to that Safeway ever.”
Erika says to make matters worse, a Safeway store manager apologized and told her corporate would call her – she’s still waiting.
A Safeway spokesperson did respond to my request and said workers called police because a man who’d stolen before had returned, but they’re investigating why Erika was reported to the police.
Stu Williamson said he would love to snatch the title from Bryson William Verdun Hayes of Devon, England, who became the oldest man to perform a tandem parachute jump last year at 101 years and 38 days old, according to Guinness World Records. The Seattle man celebrated his 100th birthday by skydiving out of a plane, and says it is his new life mission to do it again next year, to become the world’s oldest skydiver.
InsideEdition.com’s Keleigh Nealon (http://twitter.com/KeleighNealon) has more.
A North Carolina judge ordered a man to pay $8.8 million for cheating with another man’s wife.
North Carolina is a state with so-called “jilted spouses” laws, which allows people to pursue monetary damages if they’ve been cheated on.
Keith King, who sued for the damages, said that Francisco Huizar III followed him and his wife around the country even after he had supposedly ended his affair with King’s wife.
Huizar’s attorney says King manipulated his wife throughout their marriage and made her work without pay.
A North Carolina judge ordered San Antonio resident Francisco Huizar III to pay Keith King $8.8 million for damages related to him having an affair with King’s wife.
North Carolina is one of the few states with so-called “alienation of affections,” or “jilted spouses” laws. These laws allow a deserted spouse to pursue damages against the third party that allegedly caused the separation.
The nearly $9 million ruling is among the largest ever. In 2011, another North Carolina judge ordered a woman to pay $30 million in a “jilted spouse” case.
In this case, Keith King, who runs BMX stunt bike shows around the country, sued Huizar for alienation of affection, as well as several other charges related to emotional distress, as reported by The Herald Sun. King holds Huizar responsible for splitting up the marriage between himself and Danielle King. Since Danielle King was also an employee of the BMX company, King also sued to cover lost revenue because of a lost employee, as well as money to cover increased costs on household help, child care, and counseling.
The ruling comes after a messy three-year separation process. Danielle King and Huizar met at a BMX show in August 2015 and began an affair shortly afterwards, according to court documents and testimony viewed by the Herald Sun. Keith King found out about the affair soon after, and told Huizar to leave his wife alone. But Huizar allegedly booked hotels rooms near the couple when they traveled, which according to Keith King, made it impossible for him to reconcile with his wife.
In her testimony, though, Danielle King said she’d been unhappy for the entirety of the marriage — since the couple were wed in 2010. After initiating her relationship with Huizar, she began the separation process from her husband in 2016, and has been fully separated from him since January 2017, according to the Herald Sun.
Cheri Patrick, Huizar’s attorney, also alleged that Keith King manipulated his wife throughout their marriage — controlling her access to money, snooping through her phone, making her work without pay, and making her work when she said she needed time for childcare. Patrick also claimed he insisted that she keep her hair blonde and wear bikinis and high heels.
Huizar plans to appeal the ruling, but he may have a difficult court fight. The loser in the $30 million 2011 “jilted spouses” case also appealed her case — and lost.
Left Photo: Michael K Williams courtesy VICELAND. Right Photo: Mongkol Nitirojsakul / EyeEm via Getty Images
In Manhattan several weeks ago, a homeless man walked into a drug store and helped himself to a sandwich. When police arrested the man, who had been ordered to steer clear of the place, a prosecutor asked the judge to set a $15,000 bail. They might as well have asked for a million dollars. For this small crime, he likely would have spent the night, and many others, at Rikers Island. Fortunately, a kind member of the community intervened and paid his bail, which was ultimately set at between $500 and $1,000.
Selmin Feratovic was not as fortunate. After being accused of theft, he spent about seven months at Rikers Island while facing $50,000 bail. He had a drug problem but reportedly received no help, and over 200 days later, still awaiting resolution of his case and drug treatment, he overdosed and died.
Then, most notoriously, there’s the case of Kalief Browder. As the New Yorker reported, at 16, Browder entered Rikers when he was accused of stealing a backpack. He spent the better part of three years there, much of that time in solitary confinement, and was beaten by at least one guard as well as other inmates—all because his family couldn’t pay pay his $3,000 bail. Prosecutors eventually dismissed the case, and Browder finally went home. He never felt free. He suffered from extraordinary anxiety and had flashbacks to his time at Rikers. After enrolling in school and showing signs of recovery, Browder succumbed to the torture that had defined his adolescence. He committed suicide in 2015.
I grew up in Brooklyn in a neighborhood where we saw excess incarceration. An unfortunate reality is that every day in New York, we lock people up before trial—people who have not been convicted of a crime. We often do this simply because they cannot pay a get-out-of-jail fee. More likely than not, these are people of color and the poor: 88 percent of the people detained in New York city jails are Black or Latinx.
This is an insane waste of money. In New York City alone, taxpayers spend an estimated $116 million per year to incarcerate people who cannot afford bail. This problem extends throughout the state. The dire reality compounds the waste of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, because pretrial detention causes individuals to lose their jobs, housing, and custody of their children without making the justice system more efficient.
Our money bail system in New York is tearing families apart. It is keeping people from earning a living, from taking their kids to school, from caring for loved ones, and from attending school themselves. In some cases, it is actually killing people. I’ve been visiting friends and family in prisons since I was 17 years old, and I have something to say about the process of how someone makes bad decisions, how they get treated in the system, how they come out of the system.
It’s simple: We can do something about this. States and cities across the country are advancing common-sense bail reforms. Washington DC. New Jersey. California. Houston. But New York is painfully behind, and the human toll is only growing: According to one estimate, on any given day, in New York City alone, an estimated 7,500 people are held in pretrial detention.
The state recently wasted another window of opportunity. This spring, legislation was pending in Albany that, if passed, would have drastically reformed New York’s justice system. Lawmakers were debating proposals to eliminate cash bail and thus decrease the profit incentives in the pretrial system. They also considered other critical pretrial reforms, such as enhancing protections for a person’s right to a speedy trial, potentially reducing or even eliminating the delays that keep people like Kalief Browder in jail before trial for unconscionable amounts of time. And they evaluated discovery reform to amend New York’s arcane law that allows prosecutors to keep their evidence to themselves until the eve of trial, ambushing the defense.
These were not radical proposals—they were obvious and necessary if we were going to have anything that approaches a fair justice system in this state. They have been supported widely—by grassroots groups, athletes, musicians like John Legend, public defenders, members of Congress, advocates like Al Sharpton, and even Kalief Browder’s brother, Akeem.
But time ran out. Although the Assembly passed measures that would have at least begun to address the state’s broken bail, speedy trial, and discovery laws, those bills did not make it through Senate and therefore were not enacted into law. The politicians failed, but the fight is far from over. It’s up to all of us to let them know that we want pretrial reform, and we want it now. With a highly public governor’s race going on and all 63 New York State Senate seats up for grabs in 2018, New York lawmakers will be listening now more than ever.
Make sure they hear you.
Read the full story : https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ywkbbx/americas-insane-bail-system-is-even-worse-than-you-think
