Religious discrimination suit involving flu shot is settled for $75,000
OWOSSO, Mich. (AP) — A mid-Michigan health care system has agreed to pay almost $75,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of a job candidate who was passed over because her beliefs preclude her from getting flu shots.
The Lansing State Journal reports the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says Memorial Healthcare of Owosso rescinded its job offer for a medical transcriptionist position after learning of Yvonne Bair’s Christian beliefs. Court records say Bair believed she must use “natural methods” for health.
Memorial Healthcare President and CEO Brian Long says in a statement it resolved the lawsuit “because it was no longer worth the time, cost and energy to defend it.”
The commission argued the hospital violated the federal Civil Rights Act and discriminated against her because of her religion.
Lawyer for former priest denies new sex abuse allegations
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A lawyer for a former Catholic priest facing sexual abuse charges as part of the Michigan attorney general’s ongoing investigation into clergy abuse is denying the new allegations.
Vincent DeLorenzo, who served several Michigan churches, was charged last month with criminal sexual conduct. He admitted when he resigned from a Flint-area parish in 2002 that he had sexually abused a child. He wasn’t charged at the time, but the Diocese of Lansing has said eight people eventually accused him of sexual abuse.
DeLorenzo’s attorney, Michael Manley, told the Lansing State Journal the former priest “publicly admitted his past wrongs and received harsh punishment within the church.”
Manley says DeLorenzo “vehemently denies” the new allegations, which involve a different child. He’s free on bond ahead of an Aug. 1 hearing.
Army veteran who fought with deputy gets 12 years in prison
HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — An Army combat veteran has been sentenced to at least 12 years in prison for fighting with a Michigan sheriff’s deputy and other crimes in a wild incident last fall.
Albert Smith says he has a mental illness but feels that people want to lock him up instead of offering help.
The 36-year-old Smith rammed other vehicles on U.S. 23 and fled when police tried to stop him. Investigators say he crashed his van, fought with Deputy Mike Mueller and tried to steal the patrol car.
Smith says his “mindset shifted from here to Iraq,” where he served with the Army. Defense lawyer Mark Scharrer says Smith suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
He will be eligible for parole after 12 years. The Livingston Daily Press & Argus says Smith’s maximum prison sentence is 25 years. Mueller now is a state lawmaker.
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