Source: United States Navy
The U.S. Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base (MIB) Program marks its first anniversary this week, highlighting milestones and forward progress that will strengthen America’s shipbuilding and repair capacity and enable industrial growth.
Source: United States Navy
MEDIA RELEASE: JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii — The U.S. Navy, in coordination with the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, will begin operations for the removal of two World War II-era mooring platforms from the USS Arizona, Sept. 3.
Source: United States Navy
The combined armed and defense forces of Australia, Canada, the Philippines, and the United States, demonstrating a collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, conducted a Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, Sept. 3.
Source: United States Navy
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – In a quiet room turned makeshift battlefield, corpsmen at U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay leaned over training mannequins and volunteers, practicing one of the most critical lifesaving skills in combat trauma care: administering a whole blood transfusion in the field.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division launched an investigation into the City of Rainsville, Alabama, to determine whether the City violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), and the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by denying a faith-based organization’s application to operate an addiction-recovery facility in the City.
The Department opened this investigation after receiving a complaint alleging that the City denied a Christian recovery organization the ability to establish a Christian discipleship program, motivated by a desire to keep away “drug addicts.” The program was intended to rehabilitate men with drug and alcohol dependency, and other life-controlling problems.
“The ADA affords every individual, including those on the path to recovery, the dignity and opportunity to fully participate in society,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division stands guard to protect not only the rights of Americans with disabilities, but also the rights of religious institutions to minister to those recovering from substance abuse.”
The ADA prohibits discrimination based on disability by public entities. People in recovery from substance use disorders who are not currently engaging in illegal drug use are protected by the ADA. The ADA prohibits public entities from discriminating against people with disabilities on that basis. The FHA further prohibits such discrimination by municipalities in making housing unavailable to people with disabilities.
RLUIPA is a federal law that guards religious institutions from unduly burdensome, unequal, or discriminatory land use regulations. More information about RLUIPA and the department’s work can be found on the Place to Worship Initiative’s webpage.
If you believe you have been a victim of disability discrimination, please file a complaint with the Civil Rights Division online at https://www.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/, or by calling the Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (1-833-610-1264 (TTY)). For more information on the ADA and the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.ada.gov or www.justice.gov/crt.
And individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in land use or zoning decisions may contact the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (833) 591-0291 or may submit a complaint through the RLUIPA complaint portal. More information about RLUIPA, including questions and answers about the law and other documents, may be found at www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/rluipaexplain.php.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Massachusetts tax return preparer was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for filing false tax returns for clients.
The following is according to court documents and evidence presented at trial: Yves Isidor, of Somerville, Massachusetts, owned and operated Tax Realty Pro, a tax preparation service located in Malden, Massachusetts. From 2012 to 2019, Isidor prepared over 1,500 returns for taxpayers. During that time, Isidor falsified returns for clients by preparing fraudulent schedules that claimed inappropriate expenses or deductions. On multiple occasions, Isidor inflated clients’ total itemized deductions by fabricating medical expenses, charitable contributions, employment expenses, and taxes. Additionally, on a few occasions, Isidor inflated expense deductions when clients were self-employed or owned rental properties. These activities reduced his clients’ tax liabilities and generated fraudulent refunds. At trial, clients testified that Isidor falsified their individual tax returns without request or consent.
Yves caused a loss to the United States of $443,000.
In addition to her prison sentence, U.S. District Judge William G. Young for the District of Massachusetts ordered Isidor to serve three years of supervised release.
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Christina M. Grimes of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild for the District of Massachusetts prosecuted the case.
Source: United States Department of Defense
Iraqi-born Mohannad Ali received the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom for standing shoulder to shoulder with U.S. military forces in Iraq, Syria, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as a contractor linguist and security specialist for two decades.
Source: United States Airforce
The Department of the Air Force Information Technology and Cyberpower conference brought together military members, civilians and industry partners for its annual education and training event.
Source: United States Department of Defense
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recounted the tenacity and valor of a World War I-era African American National Guard unit, as descendants of those soldiers accepted the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of their ancestors’ actions during an award ceremony.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by terminating a former employee who opposed and complained about sexual harassment in the workplace.
Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex and religion and prohibits retaliation against employees for opposing discriminatory employment practices. According to the Department’s complaint, filed today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, the city terminated former employee, Hope Chatman, after she reported sexual harassment and refused to sit near her harasser after reporting his conduct to management. The complaint seeks damages, back pay, and revisions to the City’s policies, practices, and procedures to prevent and remedy retaliation that violates Title VII.
“No one who speaks up against workplace sexual harassment should face retaliation for doing so. The Department is committed to fully enforcing our federal employment discrimination laws, including through banning sexual harassment and retaliation,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
This case stems from a charge of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and investigated by the EEOC’s Jackson Area office. The EEOC investigated the charge and found reasonable cause to believe the city violated Title VII. After unsuccessful conciliation efforts, the EEOC referred the charge to the Justice Department.
You can view the complaint here.
Employees with complaints of sexual harassment can report them to their local EEOC office or their respective state or local fair employment practices agencies. The contact information for each local EEOC office can be found at www.eeoc.gov/field-office.