The Khan Law Firm, L.L.C., based in New Orleans, Louisiana, recently secured a favorable outcome in a bond for deed rights.
"District attorney: No criminality in Thibodaux Police officer's 'chokehold' arrest of teen"
"All four determined the incident was excessive force. Each said the actions were in violation of the policy and procedures of the department.
“Much smaller, younger suspect that could have been easily overpowered in a much safer manner,” Louisiana State Police Sgt. Leeman Howard wrote. “Hand was definitely over the neck/throat area of the suspect. I would be furious if my child was handled this way.”
According to Thibodaux Police Department Public Information Officer Clint Dempster, Sutton has received no disciplinary action.
The teen and his aunt, Tammy Billiot, have hired Attorney Shermin S. Khan to represent him in suing the department. Quinones and Billiot went before the Thibodaux City Council and Mayor Kevin Clement with their grievances June 4, 2024."-By Colin Campo
"Decorated Veteran Alleges Decade-Long Harassment Campaign by Neighbor and Local Law Enforcement"
"A decorated combat veteran has filed a lawsuit alleging a decade-long campaign of harassment and civil rights violations by local law enforcement and a neighbor. The complaint, filed by Stephen Lucas in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on August 5, 2024, names Bryan P. Zeringue, Chief of the Thibodaux Police Department, along with several other officials and entities as defendants...
Stephen Lucas claims that his troubles began shortly after he moved to Lafourche Parish in 2013. After purchasing a home at 231 Sugarfield Drive in Thibodaux, Louisiana, Lucas discovered significant drainage issues in his neighborhood. His efforts to address these problems led him to uncover that plans for necessary infrastructure improvements had been shelved due to political concerns..."-By Louisiana Record
"Veteran Thibodaux Police captain files lawsuit against chief, mayor"
“Under the guise of being told that it was so Mr. Ross could remain unbiased, the reality is that Mr. Ross was isolated so that the 'good old boys' system enacted by the Defendants would be overlooked and undetected,” the lawsuit states. “When Plaintiff began to investigate reports of complain[ant]s that spoke out against this misconduct and the illegal practices and policies, or refused to enforce illegal policies, he was faced [with] retaliation from the Defendant Clement and Defendant Zeringue. It became common for favorite police officers to be protected and shown preferential treatment by the Clement administration.”-By
Colin Campo
SEPT3, 2024
‘‘Beyoncé Hit With Copyright Lawsuit Over ‘Break My Soul’’’
“According to a complaint filed in Louisiana federal court on Wednesday, members of Da Showstoppaz — Tessa Avie, Keva Bourgeois, Henri Braggs, and Brian Clark — alleged that the Cowboy Carter artist specifically sampled Big Freedia’s 2014 track “Explode,” which illegally used “copyrighted lyrics, melody, and musical arrangement” from their 2002 song.
Defendants used Plaintiffs’ words, melody, and musical arrangement from their copyrighted works to create an album as homage to ‘uncle Johnny’ who exposed the music and culture of the LGBTQ community of greater New Orleans, of which three members are strongly affiliated with themselves, all displayed in its full force — the tone, actual words, melody, musical arrangement of bounce music,” the suit claims."-By
Charisma Madarang
MAY 22, 2024
"A dirt pit, a developer and the future of the ‘crown jewel’ of New Orleans East"
"Richard doesn’t blame the hurricane for that, though. He blames Eastover developer Donald “Donnie” Pate, who, in the years after Katrina, pitched homeowners with a plan to return Eastover to its former shining state. In a deal with the Eastover Property Owners Association, Pate would dig up and sell clay soil from the golf course to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to raise flood-protection levees, using the proceeds to fund the project.
Richard and his neighbors said they watched for years as trucks shuttled into the site and left bearing dirt. Over time, brush and weeds filled in other parts of the golf course, and in lieu of golfers, Richard observed wildlife. Richard and his wife used to sit outside, drinking coffee. “Now we sit on our porch and we have to scare away hogs,” he said. The golf course, the park, the jogging trail that Pate had once promised: none of that materialized."-By Michelle Liu
"State of Louisiana dropping suits against homeowners accused of misspending elevation grants"
“It’s about damn time,” said attorney Shermin Khan, who represented more than 50 of the 3,500 people who were sued over elevation grants.
Despite what homeowners were told, grant agreements said the money — federal grants that were managed by the state — had to be used to raise homes. Under pressure from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to recoup grants that hadn’t been spent properly, the state sued homeowners, seeking repayment of $103 million.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that the lawsuits would be dropped as he joined federal and New Orleans leaders Thursday morning at a community center in the Lower Ninth Ward to mark the official end of the Road Home program, 17 years after it launched. It was the largest housing recovery effort in U.S. history.
Edwards acknowledged that the $30,000 grants were “insufficient in size to actually elevate people’s homes.”-By David Hammer and Richard Webster
"Katrina survivors were told they could use elevation grants to rebuild. Now they're being sued for it."
"Donnie Small’s family has deep ties to Jefferson Parish, which borders New Orleans. His father was the first Black sheriff’s deputy in the parish. Small drove a public bus there for 37 years.
After Katrina, Small volunteered to shuttle first responders between a small town upriver and New Orleans, 29 miles every morning and night. He did so when his own family was suffering, like so many others.
The one-story house in Kenner that he shared with his wife and two daughters sat in 2 feet of water for days after the storm. Everything had to be replaced: furniture, flooring, appliances, wiring.
Small, 69, received about $60,000 from his insurance company, but that covered only immediate needs, such as remediating mold and removing damaged trees. Unable to afford other accommodations, his family slept on air mattresses in the gutted structure, wearing masks to keep out the dust..."
-By David Hammer and Richard Webster
MAY12, 2022
"Disaster Relief Org Can't Shake Unpaid Wage Suit"
"U.S. District Judge James D. Cain Jr. found Monday that although workers worked directly for a subcontractor, indications that Belfor USA Group Inc. controlled their workdays and held hiring and firing control over them overcame Belfor's denials of an employment relationship.
"Plaintiffs have raised numerous examples of the manner in which both Belfor and [the subcontractor] allegedly controlled their performance and exercised authority over the essential terms of their employment," Judge Cain said.
"Accordingly, plaintiffs' allegations at the pleading stage are sufficient to support Belfor's potential liability as employer."In a complaint removed to federal court in November 2021, a pair of workers accused Belfor and its subcontractor Southern Response Services Inc. of violating the FLSA and the Louisiana WagePayment Act when they labored in Calcasieu Parish in the aftermath of 2020's Hurricane Laura." -By Caleb Drickey
