Las Vegas Injury Lawyers Blog

Written By Las Vegas based Law Clerk: Robert Maxey (Las Vegas, Nevada)

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is an institution of higher learning. During the years of our youth in school, we are taught to obey and follow instructions. However, once students are in college they face in a world of choices. Most freshmen in college are considered adults, and therefore are treated as such. Students take on the reasonability of picking out their career and life paths. Here they embark on a journey of education, to achieve a degree that will open up the doors to the opportunities they desire.

Students are expected to make many choices regarding the rest of their lives while in college. It is perhaps the most advanced learning a person will experience within their lifetime. The boundaries of college learning are not confined to textbooks and classrooms. Universities offer students a wide array of areas of learning through clubs, organizations, fraternities and sororities, lecture series, athletic teams, campus events and student government. All of these areas offer the student an additional way to enhance their education, and experience something unique.

Recently a student attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, however, has enhanced their learning through a different means, in the form of a settlement of $20,000. Robert Maxey, a junior studying philosophy and economics, has settled his lawsuit against the Consolidated Students of the University of Nevada (CSUN), which is the branch of student government at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV).

The state of Nevada has some of the strictest Open Meeting Law requirements, which help maintain an open and honest government. These laws ensure that all people have appropriate opportunity to participate, and witness their government taking place. Maxey had been elected student body president in 2010, but quickly after his election found himself in a sham meeting to disqualify him. The meeting had been prompted by his opposition, with the intent to remove him from office. In the lawsuit that Maxey filed, he alleged that the CSUN meeting violated not only Open Meeting Laws, preventing students from being fully aware of the actions of CSUN, but also due process.

The lawsuit lasted the entire term that Maxey would have served as student body president. Lawyers representing CSUN (despite previous requests for settlement from Maxey's attorney Peter Goatz) agreed only at the end of Maxey's would be term to settle. Although the matter had been settled, Maxey laments that no real justice has been performed and the denial of such a great opportunity is regrettable.

Full information the story can be found here: UNLV student wins $20K after suing student senate

Continue reading "UNLV Student Settles Against CSUN Student Government" »

During the 1960's some of the most progressive legislature regarding civil rights was passed and new power was given to those laws. Before then racial tensions had been on a continuous rise and the government had seen itself out of the conversation with the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson. However after that ruling was over turned in the 1954 ruling of Brown v. Board of Education the government found itself as a new mediator in race relations.

Several laws were passed to protect civil rights, mainly the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prevented discrimination based on "race, color, religion or national origin." It was the hope of many that these laws would help end discrimination and once again turn our country into a place for the free and the brave. However in some cases resistance was strong and government intervention was necessary.

Through the past decades and numerous lawsuits citing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as the basis of the lawsuit discrimination has greatly been reduced although it is not completely eliminated. In Baltimore David S. Brown Enterprises Ltd. is being sued for violations of the Civil Rights Act. The owner of Cibo Bar & Grill claims that over the years their clientele has changed and when it started becoming predominately African American they were challenged with interference from Brown Enterprises.

These are not minor claims or allegations; owners for Cibo Bar & Grill say Brown Enterprises forced them out of business. Brown Enterprises owns the property that Cibo Bar & Grill was operating out of and the tactics they were charged with using to put them out of business include changing the lighting to make it look like the business was not open, prevented the business from using common areas like the patio, varying the amounts of rent, and refusing to let the business sell itself once it had become unprofitable because the buyer was an African American couple.

This blatant discrimination is not just wrong but it is protected against by the law. Every business has the opportunity to succeed or fail on its own merits without discrimination coming into play. The actions of Brown Enterprises has lead to a degradation in the lives of those who live in a post Civil Rights Act world whereby they are allowed to enjoy freedoms that all Americans should have. We all deserve the right to eat where we would like and to be patrons of businesses we approve of. For some to take actions to thwart that right is unjust, unethical and un-American. The suit is seeking damages for abuse of process, breach of contract, contract interference, civil rights violations and more.

A full article can be found here: Restaurant owners sue Baltimore Co. developer, claim racism

Our law firm does not represent anybody in this incident. The commentary is for educational purposes only. If you or someone you know has been the victim of discrimination and would like to be represented by a good Las Vegas Lawyer, contact our office for a free confidential case review and receive a response within hours. Call Toll Free 866-414-0400.