Tampa Tribune Covers Wrongful Eviction Case
March 8, 2010 by Paul Rebein
Filed under News
In this Sunday’s Tampa Tribune, there was an excellent story on our fight to help the man who was wrongfully evicted by Chase Bank. Read the full story here.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, please call 813-305-PAUL or email paul@rebeinlaw.com for a free initial consultation.
Florida Should Pass Ban on Texting While Driving
February 26, 2010 by Paul Rebein
Filed under News
It is so tempting. You are driving down the road when, “ding” you get a text. Initially, you keep your eyes on the road, but as time passes the temptation to find out what important message has just been sent to you is just too great. You pick up the phone and glance down at the text and read it. This takes about 2 seconds. You keep driving, but soon the temptation to respond gets to you again. You grab your phone and start typing in the response. You might even steer with your knees so you can type with both hands. As you finish typing, you look up and suddenly see that you have been looking down for 5 seconds and you have almost run into the car in front of you that is stopped at a light.
This is an all too common scenario. Tragically, drivers often don’t react in time and plow into the back of the vehicle in front of them. It is unclear how many accidents are caused by drivers who are texting, because drivers rarely admit that they are texting.
Florida is considering passing a bill to ban texting while driving. Please contact your representative to urge them to pass this important piece of safety legislation. To read more on this topic, click here.
If you or a loved one is injured in an accident, please call Paul at 813-305-PAUL (7285) or email Paul@rebeinlaw.com for a free initial consultation.
What Should I Do if I am Injured in a Bus Accident?
February 23, 2010 by Paul Rebein
Filed under Car Accidents, News
Some people get a false sense of security when they travel in a large bus. They think that, because the bus is such a large vehicle, they won’t get seriously hurt if there is an accident.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for a number of reasons. First, bus passengers are usually not wearing seat belts. As a result, when the accident happens, the passengers are often thrown about the bus. Second, large tour buses have a very high center of gravity. When they veer off the road, they often roll and cause serious injuries.
Both of these things happened in a recent tour bus crash in Highlands County. The crash happed on US 27 and lake Francis Road. A charter bus was heading north when a car failed to yield the right of way and crashed into the left side of the bus. The bus veered off the shoulder of the road and flipped, ejecting several passengers. Sadly, two passengers died at the scene and many more were injured. Read more about this tragic event here.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus accident, call the Rebein Law Firm at 813-305-Paul (7285) or email paul@rebeinlaw.com for a free initial consultation.
Motorcyle Accident on US 19 Claims a Young Life
February 20, 2010 by Paul Rebein
Filed under Motorcycle Accidents, News
A motorcycle rider was killed this morning in an accident on US 19. The rider was heading south when a truck driving north turned left into his path. The rider was ejected and died at the scene.
To read the full story, click here.
We send out our prayers and condolences to everyone involved in this tragedy.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a motorcycle accident, please call 813-305-PAUL (7285) or email Paul@rebeinlawfor a free initial consultation.
“Mexican-American women accuse Pasco group of discrimination” -Video Coverage
January 13, 2010 by Paul Rebein
Filed under News
Pasco County Fair Grounds
“Mexican-American women accuse Pasco group of discrimination” -Video Coverage
ACLU sues pasco county Fair Association for Discrimination
January 13, 2010 by Paul Rebein
Filed under News
When calling the Pasco County Fair grounds in Dade City for different receptions the women were all told a deposit was $1,000. In person though all the women had similar stories when it was revealed that they were Mexican-American the deposit in turn became $1,500.
Their explanation was “When you people have your receptions and quinceaneras, you leave more damages and more messes, so that’s why we charge $1,500.”
So Ms. Fregoso, a U.S. Citizen at the age of 28, brought the issue to the American Civil Liberties Union, which in turn filed a law suit against the Pasco County Fair Association.
“The different pricing flat out violates the law,” says ACLU member Rebecca Steele in a Friday afternoon press conference .
For more info please click here
The Rebein Law Firm Sues The Pasco County Fair Group
January 12, 2010 by Paul Rebein
Filed under News
Article from tampabay.com:
ACLU sues Pasco County Fair Association, alleges Mexican-Americans charged more for events
By Molly Moorhead, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, January 9, 2010
TAMPA — Four women tell the same story:
When they called to reserve the auditorium at the Pasco County fairgrounds in Dade City for various receptions, they were told the deposit would be $1,000.
After it was revealed the women were Mexican-American, they said, the deposit shot up to $1,500.
The explanation?
Beatriz Fregoso, who rented the auditorium for her wedding reception last fall, said a fair association employee told her: “When you people have your receptions and quinceaneras, you leave more damages and more messes, so that’s why we charge $1,500.”
Fregoso, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen, brought the issue to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit Friday against the Pasco County Fair Association on behalf of three other women who had similar experiences.
“The different pricing flat out violates the law,” ACLU Florida cooperating counsel Rebecca Harrison Steele said Friday afternoon at a press conference in Tampa.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges civil rights violations of state and federal law. The complaint also names another defendant, fair association office manager Virginia McKendree, the woman who talked to Fregoso about the deposit.
Wilton Simpson, president of the nonprofit fair association, said deposit amounts were determined on an ad hoc basis, but ethnicity was never a factor. In setting the deposit amount, he said, organizers considered the size of the event and whether alcohol would be involved.
“It was just the direction of the moment in time. It had nothing to do with quinceaneras,” he said, referring to the traditional coming-of-age parties for 15-year-old Latinas.
Simpson said deposit amounts used to range from $500 to $1,500. Two months ago, after receiving a call from the Department of Justice relaying a similar complaint about the amounts, the association approved a fixed schedule: $1,000 for parties with alcohol, $500 for parties without.
“It’s not an exact science. We’re going to make it an exact science,” Simpson said. “But even in the non-exact science way, we did not discriminate.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are:
• Maria Garcia, who paid a $1,500 deposit to use the auditorium for her wedding reception in 2006. She said she was originally told the deposit would be $1,000.
• Irma Montelongo, who was planning to use the auditorium for her wedding reception until she was quoted a $1,500 deposit on top of the $1,000 facility rental fee. She chose another venue.
• Araceli Corona, who was charged a $1,500 deposit to use the auditorium for a 50th wedding anniversary party.
ACLU attorneys said they believe more plaintiffs may come forward.
Margarita Romo, a longtime leader in the east Pasco Hispanic community, said she has not heard complaints from others about treatment by the fair association. She said the fair lets her charity, Farmworkers Self-Help, use its hall for its annual Christmas gift distribution.
Simpson defended the association as a dedicated group of volunteers who donate thousands of hours to better the community. He said he wishes the women had approached him with their problem instead of turning to the courts.
“We do not leave things unresolved, and we do not discriminate,” he said. “That’s not the way the fair operates.”
But Fregoso, who first brought the matter to the ACLU, said she instantly felt the sting of discrimination during her encounter with McKendree. Fregoso is not a plaintiff in the suit because she paid the lower deposit amount, but she said the incident cast a pall over her wedding festivities.
“It was the worst feeling you could feel (while) planning the most special event of your life,” she said.
Article from Tampa Bay Online:
ACLU to file lawsuit against Pasco fair group
By CATHERINE WHITTENBURG
Published: January 8, 2010
TALLAHASSEE - Civil rights advocates plan to sue the Pasco County Fair Association in federal court, claiming that the nonprofit group discriminated against Hispanic women who tried to rent space.
The Geater Tampa Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union announced Thursday that it would file the lawsuit today “on behalf of three Mexican-American women who were unlawfully discriminated against based on their ethnicity while trying to rent the Dan Cannon Auditorium.”
Becky Steele, a lawyer working with the ACLU on the case, said the three Pasco County plaintiffs are the victims of three different occurrences of discrimination by the fair association during the past three years. In each case, she said, the association insisted that the women pay higher refundable deposits to rent space than was being demanded of “Anglos.”
Unable to afford the deposit, one of the women was forced to host her event at an inferior facility, Steele said.
Wilton Simpson, president of the mostly volunteer-run fair association, said the woman was charged the higher deposit because the event included serving alcoholic beverages, not because of her ethnicity.
“I think it’s a shame that someone would sue the fair association,” Simpson said. “We don’t have a lot of money to defend ourselves against these things, although we will.”
It would be “ludicrous,” he added, for the association to discriminate against people who want to rent its facilities because those rentals are a major source of revenue. “If you’ve got the appropriate amount of rent, you get the building. It doesn’t matter who you are,” Simpson said.
Practices of discrimination don’t always make economic sense, Steele said.
She said the issue of alcoholic beverage service does not fully account for the deposit prices the association quoted for the women. One of the women, who has no trace of a Spanish accent, was given one deposit price over the phone by the association, which then tried to raise the price once the woman provided her name, which is recognizably Hispanic, Steele said.
When the woman questioned the association about the increase, she was told that the group must charge “certain people” more because events held by their community tend to cause more physical damage, Steele said. “That, to me, shows a great deal of prejudice and bigotry.”
Simpson declined to comment further on the case Thursday evening, saying he wanted to see the complaint first.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys will provide more details at a news conference today at the ACLU’s Tampa office.
Article from the Suncoast News:
Mexican-American women accuse Pasco group of discrimination
TAMPA - When Beatriz Fregozo was planning her wedding last year, she didn’t expect to encounter ethnic discrimination.
But that’s exactly what she says happened when she was booking her reception at the Dan Cannon Auditorium run by the Pasco County Fair Association.
“It was the worst feeling you could feel planning the most special event of your life,” the 28-year-old Wesley Chapel woman said today, choking back tears.
The American Civil Liberties Union says Fregozo and three other Mexican-American women were discriminated against while trying to book weddings or anniversary celebrations at the Dade City auditorium. The women say the association initially quoted a deposit amount of $1,000 but raised the price to $1,500 once it learned of their Mexican heritage.
The civil rights organization is suing the fair association and employee Virginia McKendree in U.S. District Court.
“It’s the Pasco County Fair Association,” said Paul Rebein, one of two attorneys representing the ACLU. “I think it should be called the Pasco County Unfair Association.”
Wilton Simpson, president of the mostly volunteer-run nonprofit group, adamantly denied that the association discriminates. He expressed dismay that the women did not come to him with their complaints, which he said would have been resolved to their satisfaction.
Simpson said the U.S. Department of Justice notified the organization a couple of months ago that there had been some complaints. As a result, he said, the association board changed its policies to leave no room for discretion. Now, the deposit is $500 for events without liquor and $1,000 for those with liquor.
In the past, Simpson said, deposits were set based on whether alcohol would be served and the size of the group. But there was no set deposit schedule.
Because the former system was fairly loose, he said, the fair board may have left McKendree vulnerable to these accusations.
But the women say the $1,000 deposit was quoted when liquor was already a factor. They also say McKendree made comments that left no room for confusion about the reason: “When you people have your receptions and quinceaneras, you leave more damages and more messes,” Fregozo says she was told.
Maria Garcia, 31, of Dade City, said she booked her wedding in 2006 and was told that Mexican-Americans were charged more because they had “destroyed” the facility during past events.
Fregozo is not one of the plaintiffs in the suit because she says she stood her ground and got the $1,000 price she initially was quoted.
Simpson said McKendree would not be available to talk to reporters.
Asked about the comments the women attributed to McKendree, Simpson said, “We have not set Virginia down and asked her any of these questions because we did not have the information.
“She still is employed by the association, and has been employed there 15 years, and has done an excellent job to our knowledge,” he said.
“The fair association is going to do the right thing,” he said. “We would have done the right thing under any circumstances. The fair association will get to the bottom of this on these comments they say were being made.”
Simpson referred a reporter to Margarita Romo, director of Farmworkers Self-Help, a nonprofit organization that serves Mexican-American and Mexican farm workers in the area. Romo said the fair association has let her group use its hall without charge for a Christmas event every year for the past 20 years.
“They’ve always been very kind,” Romo said. “That’s all I can say because I don’t know anything else.”
Article from Sarasota Speaks:
ACLU Slaps Pasco County Fair with Discrimination Lawsuit
Truck Accidents Require Experienced Truck Accident Attorney
November 24, 2009 by Paul Rebein
Filed under Truck Accidents
Truck accidents often have devastating consequences. If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident, contact the Rebein Law Firm for a free initial consultation.
UT Student Killed In Hit-Run Accident
November 24, 2009 by Paul Rebein
Filed under Car Accidents, News
A student from the University of Tampa and a friend were hit by a car as they were walking along W Kennedy boulevard near the university early Saturday morning. The vehicle who hit them veered and jumped onto the sidewalk, struck them at an approximate speed of 30 mph, and did not stop. Both were taken to Tampa General Hospital with critical injuries. Erik Nicoletti, the UT student, died two days later, and his friend who was visiting from out of town is in stable condition. The driver was found and arrested, and is detained in jail without bail.
Click here and here to read the full story.
If you or a loved one was injured in a traffic accident, please call 813-356-0567, or email paul@rebeinlaw.com for a free initial consultation
Bicyclist Killed In Clearwater
November 19, 2009 by Paul Rebein
Filed under Bicycle Accidents, News
A bicyclist was killed last Tuesday in Clearwater after being hit by a van. The initial investigation suggests that the 52-year old man did not properly yield to the van at the intersection of Martin Luther King Avenue and Lasalle Street. He was pronounced dead after he was taken to the hospital.
Click here to read the full story.
If you or a loved one was injured in a traffic accident, please call 813-356-0567, or email paul@rebeinlaw.com for a free initial consultation.
