COURT WIDENS PROTECTIONS FOR WORKERS SENSING BIAS; COASTAL COMMISSION FIGHTS DRILLING PLANS; POSSIBLE CHARTER SCHOOL TAKEOVER OF JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL; FILMWEEK
COURT WIDENS PROTECTIONS FOR WORKERS SENSING BIAS
The California Supreme Court issued a decision Thursday broadening protection for employees who refuse to follow orders they believe to be discriminatory. The case involved a L'Oreal supervisor who balked at an order to fire an employee who was not "good looking enough" and instead find someone "hot" to fill the position. The 4-2 court ruling said that the supervisor could sue her employer for retaliatory actions she says she experienced after she refused to fire the employee. The ruling protects employees from retaliation in such cases even if they don't complain, and even if the order they refuse is not actually illegal. Larry talks with George S. Howard, Partner with Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, and Pittman, who represented one of the employer's groups, and Professor Joseph Grodin, a former California Supreme Court Justice and Law Professor at UC Hastings, who argued the appeal for the manager in the case.
COASTAL COMMISSION FIGHTS DRILLING PLANS
The California Coastal Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to oppose the extension of leases for several oil tracts. The Commission cited environmental concerns over developing the 6 offshore oil tracts, which were leased by oil companies several years prior to the state moratorium on new drilling leases. Commission members expressed frustration that no representatives from the Minerals Management Service, the federal agency seeking to extend the leases, attended Thursday's public meeting where the vote was taken. Larry talks with California Coastal Commissioner Sara Wan.
POSSIBLE CHARTER SCHOOL TAKEOVER OF JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL
Green Dot Public Schools, a local charter school company, wants to take over troubled Jefferson High School and split it up into several small independent charter schools. The local teachers union is strongly opposed to the idea, but several school board members are open to it. Jefferson, a 2800-student campus in South Los Angeles, has recently been the scene of several violent conflicts between black and Latino students, and its Principal recently stepped down. Larry talks KPCC's education reporter Adolfo Guzman Lopez, Green Dot President and CEO Steve Barr, United Teachers Los Angeles President A.J. Duffy, and LAUSD School Board President Marlene Canter.
FILMWEEK
Larry Mantle and critics Henry Sheehan of HenrySheehan.com and Peter Rainer, past president of the National Society of Film Critics discuss this week's new releases, including The Skeleton Key, Four Brothers, Asylum, Pretty Persuasion, Ethan Mao, and Grizzly Man.