Southern Poverty Law Center - South Carolina

Antonio Rojas Rodriguez, et al. v. John L. Finan, et al.

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 15:35:14 +0000

South Carolina denied in-state college tuition rates to U.S. citizens living in the state but unable to prove the lawful immigration status of their parents – an unconstitutional policy that more than tripled the cost of tuition. The ��Ҵ�ý filed a federal lawsuit to end the practice.

In addition to the increased tuition, these students were ineligible for state academic merit scholarships and education assistance grant programs due to this policy. The difference in tuition for students affected by these policies is staggering. At the College of Charleston, the annual cost for a four-year bachelor’s degree was $10,558 for residents, but more than $27,000 for nonresidents.

For South Carolina resident Antonio Rojas Rodriguez, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, the state’s policy needlessly interfered with his college plans by classifying him as an out-of-state student. He also wouldn’t receive a South Carolina merit-based LIFE Scholarship and state grant despite otherwise qualifying. Without access to in-state tuition rates, his college plans were likely to be put on hold.

The case resulted in a change to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education Residency Guidelines to make clear that U.S. citizens who are dependent on undocumented parents can access in-state tuition and scholarships for the state’s public colleges and universities, if they otherwise meet South Carolina residency requirements.

Read more here about how the ��Ҵ�ý has helped other students successfully fight these decisions and get their college plans back on track.

Date Filed

June 08, 2015

Status

Closed

Issue Area

Immigrant Justice

Antonio Rojas Rodriguez, et al. v. John L. Finan, et al.

Elvis Moodie, et al. v. Kiawah Island Inn Company LLC

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 18:03:50 +0000

After an exclusive island resort near Charleston, South Carolina, cheated Jamaican guest workers out of their wages over three years, the ��Ҵ�ý sued the resort, which had earned accolades from travel publications and boasted a golf course that hosted the 2012 PGA Championship.

The Kiawah Island Golf Resort did not reimburse the workers for hundreds of dollars in recruitment fees that they each paid – as required under the federal H-2B guest worker program. These expenses pushed the wages of the workers below the minimum level required by the program.

The resort also charged the workers excessive fees for employee housing and transportation, and ignored a wage increase mandated by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The guest workers – who worked as housekeepers, servers, bell persons and in similar positions from 2012 through 2014 – were housed in an apartment complex an hour from the resort and bused to the island.

The H-2B program allows employers to hire temporary foreign workers only when they certify that they cannot find enough local workers to fill their needs. Employers are required to pay a “prevailing wage” that the DOL has determined will not have an adverse impact on U.S. workers.

Even before the workers arrived at the resort, they incurred expenses that were never reimbursed by the resort, as required by law, such as the costs for guest worker visas and transportation from Jamaica. These two expenses totaled more than $600 per guest worker per year.

As a result of the travel costs and the various fees, the guest workers’ wages fell below the minimum pay required under the Fair Labor Standards Act and below the mandatory H-2B wage set by the federal government. The resort also failed to increase their wages during the 2013 season as required by the DOL. These changes would have meant raises up to an extra $2.20 an hour for certain positions.

Kiawah Island Golf Resort is a lavish tourist destination. When the ��Ҵ�ý filed suit in 2015, rooms at the resort’s The Sanctuary hotel ranged from $600 to more than $1,000 per night. It had five golf courses, including The Ocean Course, site of the 2012 PGA Championship and 1991 Ryder Cup. Its website listed a number of honors: Condé Nast Traveler named the island as the No.1 island in North America and the No. 2 island in the world; Golf World magazine named it the top resort in the United States; and Forbes Travel Guide honored its hotel with The Forbes Five-Star Award.

Date Filed

March 06, 2015

Status

Settled

Court where filed

District of South Carolina, Charleston Division

Issue Area

Immigrant Justice

Plaintiffs

Elvis Moodie, Rayon Fisher, Desmond Ellis, and Keisha Collins-Ennis

Defendants

Kiawah Island Inn Company, LLC, d.b.a. Kiawah Island Golf Resort

Elvis Moodie, et al. v. Kiawah Island Inn Company LLC

Case Number

2:15-cv-1097-RMG

Frantz Pierre v. Seaside Farms, Inc., Employer, And American Home Assurance Insurance Co. C/O AIG, Carrier

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:59:21 +0000

Seaside Case

Frantz Pierre, a migrant farmworker from Haiti, was denied compensation by the South Carolina Worker’s Compensation Commission after falling and breaking his right ankle outside company housing. He had just arrived at the 400-acre tomato farm owned by Seaside Farms on St. Helena Island when he slipped on a wet sidewalk outside the workers’ barrack-like dormitory.

South Carolina authorities denied Pierre’s claim, saying his accident did not happen during the course of his job duties and that he had not been forced to live in the company housing. The Southern Poverty Law Center took legal action on Pierre’s behalf. The South Carolina Supreme Court on Feb. 16, 2010, overturned the earlier rulings of the compensation commission and lower courts. In its opinion, the Supreme Court concluded that Pierre was essentially required to live on the employer’s premises by the nature of his employment.” The case was sent back to the lower court.

Date Filed

February 16, 2010

Status

S.C. Supreme Court appeal won

Court where filed

South Carolina Supreme Court

Issue Area

Immigrant Justice

Plaintiffs

Frantz Pierre

Defendants

Seaside Farms, Inc., American Home Assurance Insurance Co. C/O AIG, Carrier

Decree

Opinion

Frantz Pierre v. Seaside Farms, Inc., Employer, And American Home Assurance Insurance Co. C/O AIG, Carrier

Case Number

26777

Macedonia v. Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:30:58 +0000

Church Burning Case

A church burning
On the evening of June 21, 1995, members of the Christian Knights poured flammable liquids on the floor of a 100-year-old black Baptist church, ignited a fire and watched the building go up in flames. The structure was completely destroyed, but the spirit of the congregation was not.

The Center brought the case on behalf of Macedonia Baptist Church, one of several rural black churches burned by arsonists in the mid-1990s.

A South Carolina jury awarded the largest judgment ever against a hate group. The Christian Knights of the KKK, its state leader, and four other Klansmen were ordered to pay $37.8 million, later reduced by a judge to $21.5 million, for their conspiracy to burn a black church.

The civil judgment forced the Klan to give up its land and headquarters. When the property was sold, the deed included a restriction that the land never be used for white supremacist activities.

The judgment in this case transformed the Christian Knights from one of the most active Klan groups in the nation to a defunct organization.

Date Filed

June 07, 1996

Date(s) of Disposition

12/29/1997: Case amended
07/24/1998: Judgment for the plaintiffs (award later reduced)

Status

Won

Court where filed

Court of Common Pleas for the Third Judicial Circuit, Clarendon County, South Carolina

Issue Area

Hate & Extremism

Plaintiffs

Macedonia Baptist Church and its congregation

Defendants

Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Invisible Empire (North and South Carolina chapters), various Klan officials

Co-Counsel

Ricci Land Welch
Tom Turnipseed

Landmark Case

Macedonia v. Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Case Number

96-14-217

Southern Poverty Law Center - South Carolina

Antonio Rojas Rodriguez, et al. v. John L. Finan, et al.

Date Filed

Status

Issue Area

Related Documents

Antonio Rojas Rodriguez, et al. v. John L. Finan, et al.

Elvis Moodie, et al. v. Kiawah Island Inn Company LLC

Date Filed

Status

Court where filed

Issue Area

Plaintiffs

Defendants

Related Documents

Elvis Moodie, et al. v. Kiawah Island Inn Company LLC

Case Number

Frantz Pierre v. Seaside Farms, Inc., Employer, And American Home Assurance Insurance Co. C/O AIG, Carrier

Seaside Case

Date Filed

Status

Court where filed

Issue Area

Plaintiffs

Defendants

Related Documents

Decree

Frantz Pierre v. Seaside Farms, Inc., Employer, And American Home Assurance Insurance Co. C/O AIG, Carrier

Case Number

Macedonia v. Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Church Burning Case

Date Filed

Date(s) of Disposition

Status

Court where filed

Issue Area

Plaintiffs

Defendants

Related Documents

Co-Counsel

Macedonia v. Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Case Number