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US female firefighters fight discrimination with lawsuits
Advocates for female firefighters say their struggles are part of a larger trend, as evidenced by recent gender discrimination lawsuits against fire departments in Illinois, Virginia, and Texas. The first female chief of a municipal fire department in the state says she briefly pondered suicide after years of sexual harassment. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 93,700, or 8%, of U.S. firefighters were female in 2018, the latest year for which data was available. Similar lawsuits have been filed โ and won โ by female firefighters in Illinois, Texas and Virginia. Williams said she is the third female department head in Carrboro to file such a suit against Andrews, who recently announced that he would retire in July.
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Black firefighters in NC allege racism amid larger reckoning
Other Black firefighters who endured similar treatment in the Winston-Salem Fire Department recently brought their complaints before the city. The grievance they filed in October calls for Chief William โTreyโ Mayo to be fired for failing to discipline white firefighters who, the group said, have created a hostile work environment through comments in person and on social media. Across the country, firefighters are confronting incidents of racism and discrimination as part of a burgeoning movement to call out and address racial injustice in America. Two Black women sued the city of Denver in September, saying its fire department discriminated against them because of their gender and race. Almost right away, she said, other firefighters stole her food and took her uniforms out of her personal space.
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Videos show jail officers restraining North Carolina inmate
Jail, authorities restrain John Neville in his cell as a nurse speaks with him, in Winston-Salem, N.C. The body-cam video from the jail shows Neville struggling with jail guards to get up from the floor where he was lying on his back, shouting that he couldn't breathe and calling out "Mama, mama!" Five former jail officers and a nurse were charged in July with involuntary manslaughter in Nevilles death. As he is being transferred, Neville yells, Help me, somebody! A guard tells him he's had a medical episode and he needs to calm down. Once in the cell, the five officers remove Neville from the chair and lay him on a mattress.
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Largely peaceful protests against police brutality march on
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON Massive protests against police brutality nationwide capped a week that began in chaos but ended with largely peaceful expressions that organizers hope will sustain their movement. Roderick Sweeney, who is black, said the large turnout of white protesters waving signs that said Black Lives Matter in San Francisco sent a powerful message. In Raeford, North Carolina, a town near Floyds birthplace, people lined up outside a Free Will Baptist church, waiting to enter in small groups. Back in North Carolina, the Rev. "But it took 401 years to put the system in place so nothing would happen.___Pritchard reported from Los Angeles and Foreman from Raeford, North Carolina.
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Trump looks elsewhere after GOP convention spat with NC gov
Trump and the RNC had demanded that the August convention be allowed to move forward with a full crowd and that participants not have to wear face coverings. Protecting public health and safety during this pandemic is a priority.A traditional GOP convention brings together roughly 2,500 delegates, the same number of alternate delegates and many times more guests, journalists and security personnel. They agreed to continue talking about ways to have a safe convention in Charlotte.But Cooper made clear to Trump that those conditions would likely be impossible to accommodate. The RNC's leader, Ronna McDaniel accused Cooper of dragging his feet on giving them guidance for proceeding with convention plans. Tennessee's Bill Lee said GOP officials were coming to scout Nashville on Thursday.