Will Detroit’s Comeback Benefit Detroiters?

In October the community benefits process kicked off with a meeting at a local high school. Jerk chicken was served. From a distance, it looked like local democracy in action. Eighty-three area residents cast ballots for two community representatives who would sit on the committee that would negotiate a benefits package with developers. The West Grand Boulevard Collaborative scored a victory: Two candidates it endorsed won spots on the committee.

But democracy it was not. The other seven committee members were appointed by City Council members or the city planning department. The pressure to agree to whatever developers offered would be intense, warned Tonya Myers Phillips, a lawyer with the nonprofit Sugar Law Center who works closely with Ms. Floyd. Ms. Phillips said the city would do its best to limit the developer’s obligations and that developers would try to pass off existing programs or legal obligations as new benefits. She was right. … see full story at New York Times

Detroit Today: Could the ‘Future of Health’ development project be a net win for Detroiters?

Tonya Myers Phillips, a director at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, joined Stephen Henderson on Detroit Today Tuesday to share her thoughts on the project and Detroit’s community benefits ordinance that is at the heart of discussions. Denise Brooks-Williams, Henry Ford Health’s vice president for care and delivery system operations, also stopped by to share her thoughts on the project and how the development group is responding to the concerns of residents, along with Daniel Washington, executive director of NW Goldberg Cares, who joined the discussion to highlight why he believes the NW Goldberg neighborhood should have been included as an area of impact for the project. … see full story WDET

Years post-pandemic, some out-of-work Michiganders are waiting on unemployment benefits

That's time these claimants don't have, Tony Paris, a lead attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice in Detroit, told the Detroit Free Press earlier this year. Paris has represented unemployment insurance claimants for about 15 years and said his current clients are on the brink of poverty, after surviving a global pandemic without much support, if any, from the unemployment insurance benefits system. … see full story at Detroit Free Press

A unique Detroit ordinance gives residents a say in major projects. But is it enough?

Tonya Myers Phillips, an attorney for Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, spoke at the meetings and called on the city to expand the impact area.

"The community benefits ordinance is a floor, not a ceiling," she said. "The City of Detroit has chosen the smallest possible impact area allowable by law. It has drawn lines to exclude and mute neighborhood groups and residents that have engaged with the hospital for years, like the 15th Street Block Club." … see full story at Detroit News

Inside an industry fueled by climate change

There are few options to hold companies accountable. After Hurricane Katrina, workers successfully turned to the courts to demand unpaid wages. Fourteen years later, the COVID-19 pandemic created a unique opportunity to demand protective equipment and better conditions, said John Philo, a lawyer who now represents many disaster-restoration workers in another labor-related lawsuit.

In 2020, Resilience Force and the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice sued a Servpro franchise in Michigan and three subcontractors for allegedly mistreating workers who cleaned up after major flooding driven by unseasonably heavy rains in Midland, Michigan. The workers allege that in the midst of the pandemic, they were denied proper health and safety gear as they tore down water-logged buildings filled with mold. … see Center for Public Integrity

An autoworker's guide to determine eligibility for jobless benefits during the strike

Tony Paris, the lead attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice in Detroit, said his main takeaway is this: "Any worker who is laid off, furloughed, faces a reduction in hours or is separated during the strike should still file a claim for benefits to shift the burden to the employer to have to show a nexus or connection between their layoff/separation and the strike." … In this situation, the clearest dividing line is the union contract, said Jacob Fallman, the UIA policy coordinator for the Sugar Law Center. If a Detroit Three worker at a non-striking plant is laid off because of the strike and they are covered by the contract, Fallman said they would likely not qualify for benefits. … see full story at Detroit Free Press

Some who received Covid unemployment benefits now told they need to pay it back

"The collection arm doesn't seem to know what the decision arm is doing," said unemployment attorney Tony Paris. He says what is happening is a big issue. "July 6, 2022, she's still getting a bill a year later from it being waived. Now, that's the real problem," he said. Paris said that it was a good idea to give benefits to people who otherwise wouldn't have qualified for unemployment. However, it overloaded antiqued software. … see full story at Fox 2

Free legal representation now available for many Detroiters facing eviction

Residents have been pushing for months for the city to move faster and do more to fully implement the right to counsel ordinance, which was originally approved last spring.

“It just doesn’t seem to be a high priority,” said Tonya Myers Phillips, an attorney and project leader for the Detroit Right to Counsel Coalition. “It’s certainly taking a long time to see the city carry out what they said they were going to do.”

One basic thing, Tonya Myers Phillips said, would be to open up a hotline.

“I would think that’s the minimum of what you should do,” she said, noting that the right to counsel ordinance called not just for hiring attorneys, but for the creation of the Office of Eviction Defense. “Just like any other office in government, there should be a phone number people can call and receive help and be connected to resources.” … Michigan Public Radio

Detroit’s lawyer says City Council doesn’t need to follow surveillance law

Attorneys with the Detroit Justice Center, Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice and Schulz Law argue residents were deprived of key information that would have helped shape public opinion on police surveillance tools. They’re aiming to nullify two contracts worth $8.5 million that were approved last year.

The lawsuit carries broader implications for the expansion of police surveillance in Detroit. A pending contract seeks $5 million in federal pandemic relief funds for license plate recognition cameras that collect data on vehicles. The Board of Police Commissioners, a civilian oversight body, is holding a public hearing on surveillance technology May 11 at the Crowell Recreation Center. … see full story at Bridge Detroit