By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
Thirteen city of Dallas employees have filed a lawsuit alleging ethnic discrimination and retaliation.
The plaintiffs filed their suit Wednesday. They include black, Hispanic and Asian workers of Dallas Water Utilities.
A statement by the city of Dallas says officials have not yet reviewed the allegations. But deny the unlawful conduct. The employees say they were threatened, verbally harassed and intimidated by racist graffiti written on bathroom walls.
The city says some of the allegations date back seven years and corrective measures were taken then. The statement also says the Department of Justice declined to file a lawsuit in the case.
Wichita Falls joins in Open Meetings Act lawsuit
Wichita Falls joins four other Texas cities in a lawsuit against the state seeking to declare part of the Texas Open Meetings Act unconstitutional.
The Wichita Falls City Council voted Tuesday to join the lawsuit filed Monday in a Pecos federal court. The plaintiffs, which include 15 elected officials, claim that the act violates elected officials' First Amendment free speech rights.
The act prohibits a quorum of members of a governmental body from deliberating in secret.
Plaintiffs argue that some communication - including e-mail or social media Web sites - by a quorum of elected officials should be allowed outside of a posted meeting.
Wichita Falls joins Alpine, Big Lake, Pflugerville and Rockport as co-plaintiffs.
Man holds up dollar store clerk and armored guard
Dallas police say a man held up a Family Dollar clerk and the armored car guard who was collecting the store's deposit.
Officials say the man had been paying for a purchase at the store when a Garda armored car guard walked into the Family Dollar on Wednesday afternoon. When the clerk handed the guard the money bag, the suspect pulled out a gun and pointed it at the guard.
Police say they suspect then took the guard's weapon and walked with her outside. The man then fled into a residential area with the deposit bag and the weapons.
No word yet on how much money was in the bag.
Correctional officer fired after inmate escapes
A correctional officer at an East Texas prison has been recommended for termination for "establishing a relationship" with an inmate who escaped from the high-security unit with a loaded gun.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons says 45-year-old Cynthia M. Allen is the fifth prison employee to lose their job after sex offender Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr. escaped Nov. 30 while being transferred to a Beaumont prison. Armed with a smuggled pistol, Comeaux overpowered the guards. He was captured a week later.
Investigators say Allen acknowledged that she placed several phone calls to Comeaux's ex-wife at his request.
Two employees were recommended for termination last week and two transportation officers retired rather than face disciplinary action.