Skip to main content

Firefighter Employment Discrimination Action, and Criminal Matters

By FindLaw Staff on May 21, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

In US v. Rainey, No. 07-3775, the court of appeals affirmed defendant's sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, distribution of cocaine base, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, on the ground that, because there was no showing that the U.S. Attorney's Office knew of an address change for defendant, the U.S. Attorney properly served defendant by mailing notice to the jail where defendant was incarcerated.

Torgerson v. City of Rochester, No. 09-1131, involved a Title VII action against a fire department claiming that defendant refused to hire plaintiffs for national origin and gender reasons.  The Eighth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for defendant in part, holding that, because plaintiff alleged he was discriminated against based on his national origin, not race, he could not sustain a 42 U.S.C. section 1981 claim.  However, the court reversed in part, holding that plaintiffs created the requisite inference of unlawful discrimination under a McDonnell Douglas analysis, including sufficient evidence of pretext.

In US v. Marquez, No. 09-1743, the Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for conspiracy to distribute marijuana, on the grounds that 1) there was no reason to conclude that defendant lacked the capacity to waive his Miranda rights, or that his waiver was anything but knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently given; 2) a person traveling via automobile on public streets had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements from one locale to another; 3) defendant failed to demonstrate that admission of a firearm was unfairly prejudicial; and 4) the record contained substantial evidence that it was reasonably foreseeable to defendant that the conspiracy would transport at least 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.

Copied to clipboard