Attorney: Detroiters facing eviction deserve right to counsel in courtrooms

NOTE: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Ted Phillips: What is a right to counsel?

Tonya Myers Phillips: Simply put, it’s the right to have legal representation in a legal proceeding. If you’re charged with a crime in this country and you can’t afford your own attorney, you’re provided with a lawyer — that’s a constitutional right. But unfortunately, we don’t have that equivalent on the civil side of the law. So we’re advocating that individuals in Detroit who are facing eviction be provided with an attorney … see ful story at Outlier Media

House committee hears testimony on unemployment issues on first day back from summer break

Tony Paris is the lead attorney at the Detroit-based Maurice and Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. The nonprofit law office works with people on unemployment who are experiencing issues with the system.

Paris testified about what he and his clients had experienced as they worked with Michigan's unemployment system, with Paris saying the issues drawing attention now long pre-date COVID-19.

“Of course then when a pandemic happens, you take this broken system and you add an unprecedented amount of filers with an unprecedented amount of folks that were normally not eligible - you heard some of the testimony in there regarding pandemic unemployment for self-employed people - that is unprecedented," said Paris. "So, you have all those folks flooding a broken system. It was a recipe for disaster. And that disaster continues every day.”

Paris claimed the computer system for the Unemployment Insurance Agency filers was programmed to make things more difficult for Michiganders who needed benefits and to make it easier for those who didn't deserve them. Paris said one of the most important changes the UIA could make immediately would be to make its site more easy for filers to understand and navigate. … see full story and CBS News Channel 3

Michigan attorney overwhelmed with calls over unemployment mixups

In 2015, attorney Tony Paris was working 12-hour days attending hearings with his clients who were wrongly accused by Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency of getting payments they weren't eligible for.

He had so many clients caught up in the false fraud scandal — that was later attributed to a computer system that operated without human oversight — that he got vocal fold nodules from talking so much, leading to voice loss. Now, about a year and a half into the pandemic, he's getting close to losing his voice again.

That's because, over the last few weeks, Paris has spent every day working with clients both new and old to help them figure out how to "requalify" for jobless benefits after the state's UIA notified nearly 650,000 claimants in late June that some of the questions that qualified them for benefits were not approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. … see full story at Detroit Free Press

Many claimants have to requalify for unemployment benefits by Monday: What to know

Still, it's not as simple as it seems, said Tony Paris, a lead attorney with the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice in Detroit. Over the last few weeks, Paris has helped dozens of new and existing clients navigate answering these questions. … see full story at Detroit Free Press

Lawsuit alleges harassment, bigotry, wage theft at Hamtramck restaurant

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys Tony Paris and John Philo with the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice in Detroit against the restaurant, Ulaj, the previous owner, and the manager, who was a brother of the previous owner. Ulaj is also publisher of the Hamtramck Review newspaper.

According to the lawsuit, Pokoj was fired in May after she raised concerns about the sexual harassment. She had worked at the restaurant from 2013 to 2019 and then came back in 2021.. 

"No steps were made to remedy the situation or ensure that Plaintiff Emily Pokoj or other female employees could work in an environment free from unwanted, inappropriate sexual comments and advances," the lawsuit said. … see full story at Detroit Free Press

Henry Ford Health System Will Require Workers To Get COVID-19 Vaccine

The executive and legal director of the Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, John Philo says even if employees do protest the policy, they don’t have much legal ground to stand on

“The federal EEOC [Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission] and other federal agencies have issued guidance on this,” he said. “But even in the absence of their guidance, it's hard to see where there's a real right that's being violated, if the policy is tailored with exceptions for legitimate religious [and medical] reasons.”

Philo believes more health systems will soon follow Henry Ford’s example.

“I think most employers are holding out hoping that people will get vaccinated voluntarily, and they won't have to set broad mandates. But I do think we will see more of this as the months progress.” … see full story at WKAR PBS/NPR

Judge: Companies can be sued over Michigan unemployment fraud fiasco

MiDAS is intentionally programmed "to make it difficult to get benefits," said Anthony Paris, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs.

Attorneys for the companies had no immediate comment on the ruling. The Michigan Attorney General's Office, which represents the state defendants, is "still reviewing the decision with our clients," spokeswoman Courtney Covington Watkins said. Officials at the Unemployment Insurance Agency did not immediately respond to questions about the ruling and the assertion from Paris that the false fraud problem is likely to recur amid the coronavirus pandemic, despite more human oversight. … see full story at Detroit Free Press

Court order temporarily halts sale of former Michigan State Fairgrounds site

On October 19 the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition [through their attorneys at the Sugar Law Center] filed a lawsuit against the city of Detroit and its mayor, Mike Duggan, claiming that the city did not follow state and city laws while selling the “largest parcel of contiguous public land” in Detroit. … see full story at Channel 4-Click On Detroit

Workers helping Midland flood cleanup allege in suit they were infected with coronavirus

John Philo, the executive and legal director of the Sugar Law Center in Detroit, said the negligence "exposed their workers and the greater community of Midland to a dangerous risk of spreading COVID-19. "These workers provide critical work that few are willing to perform," Philo added. "We owe them a debt of gratitude for helping our communities recover following natural disasters like the Midland flood. Instead, these companies treated them as disposable and did not undertake even the most basic precautions to which every employee is entitled to during the current pandemic." … see full story at Detroit Free Press

Lawsuit seeks to halt sale of State Fairgrounds for Amazon center in Detroit

The suit, filed by the nonprofit Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, alleges the city sold the land for less than it’s worth, and therefore the sale is subject to the Community Benefits Ordinance (CBO), which requires large-scale developers to negotiate benefits packages with neighborhoods. CBOs are required when the city offers tax incentives to developers or sells property below its market value.

The coalition alleges the city sold the land for $9 million, but it’s worth at least $11.1 million, according to a draft appraisal. The property is likely worth far more, the lawsuit alleges, because it’s based on an uncertified appraisal that “understates the fair market value.”

“The defendants have not properly determined the market value of the State Fairgrounds site,” the lawsuit states. … see full story at Metro Times