Politics

Supreme Court to hear burn pit veteran’s wrongful termination case

Published

3 years ago

March 29, 2022

Supreme Court to hear burn pit veteran’s wrongful termination case

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U.S. Military veteran and former Texas state trooper Le Roy Torres is in search of justice and is hoping the Supreme Court docket will present it.

On Tuesday, the best judicial bench within the U.S. is about to listen to the case of Torres, an Military reservist who claims he was pressured to resign from his submit as a state trooper with the Texas Division of Public Security (DPS). Torres claims that his ouster got here after experiencing the results of intensive lung harm he developed after his publicity to burn pits whereas serving as a U.S. military reservist in Balad, Iraq. His case of wrongful termination has been stalled within the Texas courts since 2017. Torres is hopeful that the Supreme Court docket will rule in his favor.

“The motivation is for justice,” Torres mentioned in an interview with Fox Information. “I do know in my thoughts and coronary heart that I did every thing doable to observe the steering and process for after we return from battle or deployment with the illnesses we have now.”

“You serve and return again to be pushed out within the chilly. That’s what was devastating to me,” the Iraq Warfare veteran mentioned.

Torres first filed a lawsuit in opposition to the DPS and the state of Texas again in February 2017, claiming that his employee rights below the Uniformed Companies and Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), a federal statute that strengthens job protections for service members.

Le Roy Torres says he was successfully ousted from his state trooper place by the Texas Division of Public Security when his medical situation from burn pit publicity made him unable to satisfy patrol duties.
(Courtesy of Le Roy and Rosie Torres)

The state countered his claims and argued in court docket that Texas had sovereign immunity from lawsuits like Torres’.

The choose presiding over the unique criticism denied the state’s movement, but it surely was upheld by the Texas Court docket of Appeals, stating that USERRA was unconstitutional resulting from the way it authorizes fits filed in opposition to particular person states.

“Allowing state employers to discriminate in opposition to troopers for his or her army service will materially intervene with the flexibility of the USA to supply for the nationwide protection,” a quick file by Torres’ authorized staff learn. “It would additionally hurt hundreds of veterans and repair members, leaving them and not using a treatment when their state employers discriminate in opposition to them on the idea of their service.”

San Diego-based veterans’ rights legal professional Brian J. Lawler mentioned if the Supreme Court docket guidelines in Torres’ favor and his trial is allowed to go ahead within the Texas Court docket system, it can set a precedent that may immediate sweeping reform.

“In the event that they do rule in our favor, will probably be a leveling of the enjoying area,” Lawler mentioned to Fox Information. “It would completely set precedent for each reserve or guard one who is employed by a state employer. Proper now, lots of these people have the proper to sue their state employers, however many nonetheless do not. And that is not what the USERRA regulation states.”

An official with the Texas Division of Public Security declined to remark, saying, “The division doesn’t talk about pending litigation.”

VETERANS GROUP HELPS UKRAINE EVACUATIONS AMID RUSSIA’S WAR

Torres was known as up for obligation from the reserves in 2007 whereas serving as a trooper within the Lone Star State. It was throughout that point that he was uncovered to burn pits at his base in Balad. The pits had been usually used throughout many U.S. army bases throughout Iraq and Afghanistan throughout the wars as a crude methodology of incineration by which each piece of waste generated on the bottom was burned, together with plastics, batteries, home equipment, medication, lifeless animals and even human waste.

Torres was stationed at a base in Balad during the Iraq War.

Torres was stationed at a base in Balad throughout the Iraq Warfare.

The gadgets had been usually set ablaze with jet gasoline because the accelerant with over 1,000 completely different chemical compounds burning into the air day and night time.

Torres returned dwelling to Texas in 2007 and resumed his obligation as a state trooper a 12 months later, after an honorable discharge from army service. It was round that point that he additionally began feeling the results of his burn pit publicity.

“All through my time after coming again, I used to be already having points,” he mentioned. “However there was lots of issues that I would not inform my spouse as a result of the very last thing I wish to do was to lose my job. So lots of instances I simply, you understand, as I say within the military, suck it up and drive on, and that is what I did.”

Torres added that’s when he began waking up with debilitating complications that usually lasted all through the day.

“There have been instances the place I needed to pull over on the aspect of the highway,” he mentioned. “I might sit there for 5 or 10 minutes with my head leaned again as a result of I used to be in excruciating ache.”

Torres dealt together with his points for practically a year-and-a-half.

“He was having points, and he was not telling me. So it was one thing that, you understand, I wasn’t taking note of as a result of I used to be busy working. He was working,” Torres’ spouse, Rosie, additionally a long-time veteran advocate who began Burn Pits 360 along with her husband, mentioned to Fox Information. “Then bizarre issues begin to occur. After which at work, I believe his signs turned extra apparent. A lot in order that we ended up in that place the place you can not ignore his cough as a result of it seemed like he was a going to cough up a lung within the course of.”

It was whereas he was chasing a suspect throughout the summer season of 2009 that Torres realized that one thing was really fallacious together with his well being. “I used to be in lots of ache with chest stress. I used to be afraid that I used to be having a stroke and I had no backup till like 10 minutes later. I felt actually horrible that day, and that is after I knew that there was one thing occurring. And that is after I began form of speaking to my spouse about it.”

The Iraq War veteran developed a host of lung issues as well as toxic brain injury after returning home from service.

The Iraq Warfare veteran developed a number of lung points in addition to poisonous mind harm after returning dwelling from service.

The trooper began calling out sick, unable to carry out his patrol duties. Torres was experiencing a myriad of signs together with debilitating complications, vertigo and a persistent, unforgiving cough.

“I used to be already lacking lots of work and my sergeant walked in August 2010 one morning and mentioned, ‘Hey, you possibly can’t come again to work,’” he mentioned, “you want to get checked. There’s one thing positively fallacious with you. We do not know in the event you’re contagious… various things like that.”

He went on, “That is what led into the journey, into in search of solutions.”

TUSKEGEE AIRMAN HONORED FOR WIN IGNORED DURING HIS SERVICE

On the time that Torres began growing his signs, the results of burn pit publicity weren’t extensively identified. Docs at his native VA hospital chalked up his signs to bronchial asthma.

With the sensation that his growing sicknesses had been one thing extra severe, Torres went to see pulmonologist Dr. Robert Miller at Vanderbilt College Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. It was then that he realized that his publicity to these burn pits at his base in Balad had led to poisonous mind harm and several other lung illnesses, together with constrictive bronchiolitis, a extreme and continual respiratory situation that causes narrowing of the airways.

As soon as identified, Torres mentioned that he returned to his commanding officers at DPS and knowledgeable them that he needed to return to work however that resulting from his situation he may not go on patrol and requested lodging for a desk job. The trooper mentioned he was denied his request and was provided his authentic place and informed that he could be fired if he couldn’t carry out his duties.

“I used to be handed a memorandum saying I couldn’t be employed as a state trooper. Then they retract that memo and say, nicely, till additional discover, you will be positioned on a modified obligation,” Torres mentioned. “However finally they only, after I did not hear again, and I saved asking my supervisor, however I by no means bought a solution. Ultimately, I used to be pressured to resign.”

Torres, seen here with former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard at a 2018 news conference on Capitol Hill, has also been lobbying for veterans who were denied care by the VA for their burn pit exposure.

Torres, seen right here with former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard at a 2018 information convention on Capitol Hill, has additionally been lobbying for veterans who had been denied care by the VA for his or her burn pit publicity.

“[It was] the one manner that I may apply for my medical incapacity,” he added. “I used to be already off the payroll, and we had been in dire want of funds. We nearly misplaced our home. Our credit score was shot. I had no different selection.”

With the stress of shedding every thing, Torres felt he had failed at supporting his household and in the summertime of 2009 he tried to take his personal life. His spouse and his service canine, Hope, had been in a position to knock his shotgun to the bottom.

“That night time that he took the shotgun and put it in his mouth,” Rosie Torres recalled. “I fought him with every thing I had in me. I used to be screaming for our service canine, ‘Hope, I want you to assist me!’”

She continued, “I used to be pondering in my thoughts, this isn’t the way it ends. They don’t get to win.”

Each Le Roy and Rosie had been in a position to soldier on as they dedicated to not solely serving to different veterans who weren’t given enough well being care from the VA for his or her burn pit publicity however has additionally continued their battle in opposition to the state of Texas for what he claims was being pushed out of the profession he had labored in the direction of his entire life. He’s hopeful that the Supreme Court docket will rule in his favor at at the moment’s listening to.

“It was positively a sense of the wheels of justice lastly beginning to flip,” he mentioned, recalling when he first acquired phrase that the Supreme Court docket could be listening to his case.

“I am hopeful that it will transfer ahead. I can solely assume that it will get higher.”

Politics

Anti-Israel agitators set up encampment outside Jewish Dem rep's home on eve of Oct 7 Hamas attack anniversary

Published

40 mins ago

October 7, 2024

Press Room

Anti-Israel agitators set up encampment outside Jewish Dem rep's home on eve of Oct 7 Hamas attack anniversary

Anti-Israel protesters set up an encampment outside the home of a Jewish Democratic House member on the eve of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, the congressman revealed on social media.

Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, posted on X throughout the evening of Oct. 6, announcing that a group of people with their faces covered congregated outside his house, prompting his family to get police escorts in order to exit and enter their home.

“A group of masked anti-Israel protesters assembled outside my home early Sunday morning and remained through the evening, forcing police to escort my family in and out of our house for safety,” the lawmaker declared in a post that included a photo of the group. “The protesters refuse to leave, setting up tents, cots, and sleeping bags in their encampment in the road, and are spending the night harassing my family outside our home. It’s not clear if or when they will leave,” he added in another tweet.

Landsman’s communications director told Fox News Digital via email that as of Monday morning, the individuals were still outside the congressman’s home in Cincinnati.

NEW DEMS ARE LASER-FOCUSED ON FIGHTING CRIME

A group of anti-Israel protesters can be seen gathered outside the home of Rep. Greg Landsman. (@RepGregLandsman via X Oct. 6, 2024)

Landsman noted that Monday marks the grim anniversary of the heinous Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack against Israel in which Hamas committed atrocities.

“On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the October 7th terror attacks, when Jews were brutally murdered and kidnapped, these people came to the home of a Jewish family at night, dressed in all black and fully masked,” the congressman said in a statement.

GOP HOUSE CANDIDATE FIRES BACK AFTER DEM OPPONENT ECHOES ‘WEIRD’ ATTACK LINE AGAINST JD VANCE

Rep. Greg Landsman is interviewed in his Longworth Building office on Nov. 3, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Today, my daughter and I will be attending a service to bear witness to the atrocious terror attacks of October 7th. Meanwhile, these people will be outside of my house, in an attempt to intimidate my Jewish family every time we try to leave our home,” he continued.

“They’ve done this to my staff and me for nearly a year, and now they’re doing it to my family and neighbors. I don’t think they have any boundaries at this point. Our family hopes they leave soon and protest in a more appropriate and less intrusive manner. We’re grateful to the Cincinnati Police Department for their ongoing efforts and work to keep us all safe,” the lawmaker said in the statement.

DEM REP ‘CLOSER AND CLOSER’ TO URGING BIDEN TO DROP OUT, WOULD BACK HARRIS NOMINATION OR OPEN CONVENTION

Rep. Greg Landsman speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol on March 30, 2023. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., decried the protest and urged his colleagues to do the same.

“On the anniversary of the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, this is unacceptable intimidation of a Jewish member of Congress and his family,” Goldman wrote on X. “I call on all of my colleagues to condemn this conduct. This has no place in America,”

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

Politics

Supreme Court turns down challenge of California labor lawsuits by Uber, Lyft

Published

1 hour ago

October 7, 2024

Press Room

Supreme Court turns down challenge of California labor lawsuits by Uber, Lyft

WASHINGTON —

The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear appeals from ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft, which were asking to block California state labor lawsuits that seek back pay for tens of thousands of drivers.

Without comment, the justices turned down appeals from both companies. At issue, they said, was the scope of the arbitration agreements between drivers and the companies.

A state appeals court ruled last year that state labor officials are not bound by arbitration agreements which they did not sign or support.

In their appeal to the Supreme Court, lawyers for Uber and Lyft, joined by a coalition of California employers, contended the Federal Arbitration Act overrides state laws and blocks broad lawsuits seeking money for employees who had agreed to arbitrate claims as individuals. They said the case “represents California’s latest attempt to create a loophole” in the law.”

Four years ago, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower sued the ride-hailing companies for the “misclassification of drivers as independent contractors” rather than as employees.

This left “workers without protections such as paid sick leave and reimbursement of drivers’ expenses, as well as overtime and minimum wages,” Garcia-Brower said at the time. The suit sought money “for unpaid wages and penalties owed to workers which will be distributed to all drivers who worked for Uber or Lyft during the time period covered by the lawsuits.”

The lawsuit continued even after voters approved Proposition 22 in 2020 to uphold the authority of companies to classify drivers as independent contractors.

Last year, the state appeals court in San Francisco ruled the state lawsuits may proceed because the state officials did not agree to be bound by the arbitration agreements.

“The people and the labor commissioner are not parties to the arbitration agreements invoked by Uber and Lyft,” said Justice Jon Streeter for the California court of appeals. He said the state officials are not suing on behalf of drivers, but instead enforcing the state’s labor laws.

“The relevant statutory schemes expressly authorize the people and the labor commissioner to bring the claims (and seek the relief) at issue here,” he said. “The public officials who brought these actions do not derive their authority from individual drivers but from their independent statutory authority to bring civil enforcement actions.”

In January, the state Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal. Uber and Lyft then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.

In recent years, the conservative high court has regularly clashed with California judges over arbitration and ruled for businesses that sought to limit lawsuits.

Two years ago, the justices struck down part of state law that authorized private attorneys to sue on behalf of a group of employees, even though they had agreed to be bound by individual arbitration.

The California Employment Law Council, which represents about 80 private employers in the state, had urged the court to hear the Uber case and rule that the state may not sidestep arbitration agreements.

“The California courts have been clear. They don’t like arbitration,” said Paul Grossman, a Los Angeles lawyer with the Paul Hastings firm who represents private employers.

Politics

Early voting begins in California, Texas, 5 other states

Published

8 hours ago

October 7, 2024

Press Room

Early voting begins in California, Texas, 5 other states

The country’s two most populous states, California and Texas, begin early voting on Monday along with Montana, Georgia, Nebraska, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Here is everything you need to know about the voter registration and early voting plans for each state.

Georgia is one of the most competitive states this cycle, and Montana offers a hotly contested Senate race

Georgia has voted Republican in all but two elections in the last four decades. The first was former President Clinton’s landslide win in 1992, and the second was 2020, when President Biden brought the state back to the Democrats by 11,779 votes.

A win for either candidate here would make their path to victory easier. The Peach State has 16 electoral votes on offer, and with recent polls showing a tight race, it’s ranked Toss Up on the Fox News Power Rankings.

Democrats do well in metro Atlanta, home to more than half the state’s population, and particularly its densest counties, Fulton and DeKalb. There is a higher concentration of Black and college voters there. The surrounding suburban areas also help Democrats run up the vote.

Republicans win big with rural voters, who can be found just about everywhere else. The GOP won all but 30 counties in the last election, with many of the largest victories in the sparse northwest and southeast regions.

Over in the northwest of the country, Montana is a Republican stronghold at the presidential level, but it also hosts one of the most competitive Senate races in the country this cycle. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester faces Republican Tim Sheehy in a race where Trump’s popularity and Sheehy’s discipline gives the GOP an edge. It’s Lean R on the rankings.

Finally, absentee in-person voting begins today in Nebraska, where absentee voting is already underway. The state is home to three competitive races.

Key downballot races in today’s early voting states

Voting also begins today in nine House districts ranked Lean or Toss Up on the Fox News Power Rankings. For a full list of competitive races, see the latest Senate and House rankings.

California’s 13th district: Incumbent GOP Rep. John Duarte is a freshman in this San Joaquin Valley district. He won the race by 564 votes in the midterms. Biden won the same area by more than 25,000 votes two years prior; a 10.9 point victory (Dave’s Redistricting). That’s what makes this such a competitive race this year. Duarte faces Democratic state assemblyman Adam Gray in this Lean D race.
California’s 22nd district: It’s the same story in the 22nd district, home to east Bakersfield. Rep. David Valadao, one of two Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, kept this district on a three-point margin in the midterms, but Biden won it by 13 points in the last presidential election. Valadao’s strong centrist brand keeps this race, against former assemblyman Rudy Salas, at Toss Up this cycle.
California’s 27th district: The 27th is another GOP-held, Biden-won district. Incumbent GOP Rep. Mike Garcia won here by more than six points in the midterms; Biden won the same area by more than 12 points two years prior. The 27th is north of Los Angeles and includes some parts of that county, including Santa Clarita. Garcia faces Democrat George Whitesides, the former CEO of Virgin Galactic, in this Lean D race.

Early voting begins in a smattering of states across the country. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

California’s 41st district: The Golden State’s 41st district is represented by Republican Ken Calvert, who has served in the House since 1993. He won his most recent race by under five points, and this year, he’ll face the same competitor: former federal prosecutor and Democrat Will Rollins. This race is a Toss Up.
California’s 45th district: President Biden won this southern California district by six points last cycle; its heavy and right-leaning Asian American population makes it highly competitive. Incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel faces Democratic lawyer Derek Tran in this district, which includes parts of Los Angeles. It moved to Toss Up last month.
California’s 47th district: Democratic Rep. Katie Porter ran unsuccessfully for the Democrats’ Senate nomination this cycle, leaving the 47th district wide open. This race will now feature Democratic state senator Dave Min and Republican former state assemblyman Scott Baugh. The district includes Orange County, which has leaned towards the Democrats in the Trump era. It’s a Power Rankings Toss Up.
Montana’s 1st district: Montana’s 1st district is the less Republican of the two; incumbent GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke took it by a slim three-point margin in the midterms. He has an edge in this western district established just two years ago following redistricting, and will compete against the same Democrat he faced two years prior: Olympic rower Monica Tranel. It’s a Lean R race.
Texas’ 28th district: Longtime 28th district Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar is seeking his tenth term this year. He won his last race by 13 points in the midterms; Biden won the area by seven in the last presidential election. In May, the Department of Justice indicted him on money laundering, conspiracy, and bribery charges. The embattled incumbent goes up against Republican former Navy commander Jay Furman. This race is Lean D.
Texas’ 34th district: Down to southeast Texas, where incumbent Democrat Vicente Gonzalez is seeking a fifth term in congress. He won by eight and a half points in the midterms. He is facing Republican former congresswoman Mayra Flores, who briefly represented the district in 2022. This Gulf Coast district is ranked Lean D.

How to vote in California

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for California.

Voting by mail

California began absentee voting on Monday, and the state will proactively send absentee ballots to actively registered voters. That ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

California offers early in-person voting, but the dates vary by location. Check the state’s website for more information.

Voter registration

California residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 21. They can register in-person during early voting from Oct. 7 through election day.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION

How to vote in Montana

Voting by mail

Montana began absentee voting on Monday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Nov. 4, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Montana offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 7 and running through Nov. 4.

Voter registration

Montana residents can register to vote by mail through Oct. 7. They can register in-person during early voting from Oct. 7 through election day.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Former President Trump and Vice President Harris remain in a neck and neck race. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

How to vote in Georgia

Voting by mail

Georgia began absentee voting on Monday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 25, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Georgia offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 15 and running through Nov. 1.

Voter registration

Georgia residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 7.

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How to vote in Nebraska

Voting by mail

Nebraska began absentee voting last month. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 25, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Nebraska began early in-person voting on Oct. 7, and it will run through Nov. 4.

Voter registration

Nebraska residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 18. They can register in-person through Oct. 25.

Early voting has begun in most states across the country. (Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)

How to vote in New Hampshire

Voting by mail

New Hampshire began absentee voting on Monday. Applicants will need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Nov. 4, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

New Hampshire does not offer early in-person voting.

Voter registration

New Hampshire does not offer voter registration by mail or online. Residents can register to vote in-person on election day. Check the state’s website for more information.

How to vote in South Carolina

Voting by mail

South Carolina began absentee voting on Monday. Applicants will need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 25, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

South Carolina will begin early in-person voting on Oct. 21, and it will run through Nov. 2.

Voter registration

South Carolina residents can register to vote online, in-person and by mail by Oct. 14.

Trump and Harris continue to battle over a handful of swing states. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

How to vote in Texas

Voting by mail

Texas began absentee voting on Monday. Applicants will need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 25, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Texas will begin early in-person voting on Oct. 21, and it will run through Nov. 1.

Voter registration

Texas residents must have registered to vote by mail or in-person prior to Oct. 7. By-mail requests must be postmarked by Oct. 7.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.