Blacks, Men: Are Racial & Gender Discrimination Not Dead Yet?

Houston, TX -- A Federal Civil suit has been filed in Texas alleging problems of gross, illegal discrimination and unethical conduct by one of the largest YMCAs in the nation. The conflict seems to involve a former employee who was allegedly told to not hire "too many" blacks and to keep them separated in the workplace.  It is also alleged that a similar command was given  regarding men.  However, this may only be the tip of the iceberg, as the information coming out may show a deeper black cloud over that famous name.  It has been indicated that the man involved, a caucasion who worked in a mostly female office and whose supervisor was female, was summarily abused in multiple ways, allegedly including being slapped in the head, things thrown at him in bizarre fits of rage, being denied work and put out of work due to anti-male discrimination, ridicule, unjustified paycuts, coersion to falsify timesheets, withholding of overtime wages, and more.  It is even said that a now-former executive director at that same YMCA once told her fulltime employees that they each needed to begin giving a minimum of $1,000 per month to their official YMCA charity fund, Partners of Youth, commonly simply referred to as "POY". Purportedly, the numerical value of proposed bi-weekly drafts from their employee paychecks was then given, as well!  If true, I doubt whether that is entirely legal, as it was further indicated  that the same employees were told to reconsider whether or not to continue working there, if they declined.  For whatever reason, the former executive director in question is no longer employed by that YMCA.  
      

      The YMCA branch in question is said to have a very high reputation, nationally, but has reportedly very few black employees in office positions.  They also are rumored to "adjust" their policies for some staff, due to gender alone, which might, admittedly, raise some eyebrows.        So, what do you think? If equality is required in the workplace, who is really enforcing it, and is there some unwritten, covert code of conduct that supercedes legal questions to make discrimination against men in certain jobs somehow acceptable?  After all, they pass through the same scrutiny as women before being hired, right? -- But didn't women just win freedom from gender-based discrimination within the past 100 years?  Is this a case of some sort of twisted, psychological pay-back?  And what about blacks?  Can there really be "too many" being hired anywhere, if employment is based on qualifications for the job?  This will be a case to follow, and it will be interesting to see what testimony and evidence is provided; however, there is also some concern that the Defendant in the case may possibly be withholding information from the Plaintiff.      

     The Plaintiff, meanwhile, has been reduced to life in a tent in the blaring Texas heat, where he has already endured the cold of winter, unemployed, too impoverished to hire an attorney and with his 2006 subcompact car having been recently repossessed.  This all indeed sounds truly outrageous, but why would the man be living in a tent in such heat if he inteneded to fake something.  Also, the man is able to show documented evidence of many of so many things that there is at least some truth to his story.  Reportedly, and perhaps surprisingly, the man at the center of all this controversy seems yet willing to make peace with the YMCA if that can be done on reasonable terms, allegedly being a man of faith and conviction who seeks merely a faithful ending to all his troubles. 

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July 4th -- Further evidence indicates that this legal controversy is unfolding in Federal District Court, Southern District of Texas, under presiding Judge Grey Miller, although currently a magistrate judge seems to be officiating over preliminaries.  The case is Noack v. YMCA, and the Federal Court building there is located at 515 Rusk, Houston, Texas.  It seems that the actual trial may begin sometime in January of next year.  Mr. Noack seems to have worked at the YMCA for many years, eventually becoming a state-licensed director of afterschool childcare programs located within local area elementary schools.  As a YMCA multisite director, apparently a number of black students of Prairie View A&M University -- a traditionally "black" school -- were being hired by the man.  Young Prairie View A&M students studying to become teachers, social workers, coaches, etc. were evidently finding a win-win situation in employment which utilized their college training while giving them actual work-experience in a field related to their studies.  One former student has said that her professor complimented her real-life knowledge of the subject of one of her presentations after having worked for Mr. Noack.  There are several alleged witnesses, but as the Plaintiff has been unable to produce funding for legal representation or depositions of the witnesses, either one,...this trial may be a surprising fireworks display.  Depositions usually allow attornies to get an idea of what their witnesses will say, as they are all done under oath.  Without such testimony before-hand, a witness in a trial is not as predictable.  While the Plaintiff may feel confident as to what the witnesses know or should say, neither party will know for sure until that day, it would seem. -- Great potential for drama in a case where neither side seems willing to budge or admit error! 

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August 13th -- It has been discovered that, during a recent hearing that has taken place in this case, the two sides were in contention in multiple areas as to what information must or must not be disclosed to the Plaintiff, the pro se litigant.  Each side getting it's way in certain matters, the Defendant apparently has been compelled to relinquish further evidence or information to the man who has alleged wrong-doing on the YMCA's part -- evidence which he claimed was being withheld from him.  At one point during the hearing, that Plaintiff seems to have actually produced a documented email conversation (with his former supervisor) seemingly showing what appears to be an acknowledgement of her having requested that he practice discrimination in hiring -- a revelation that seems to have been made directly after the YMCA's attorney supposedly claimed there was no such evidence and that the YMCA, being a christian organization, wouldn't do the kinds of unlawful things the man has accused them of.  The Defendant's attorney also reportedly claimed that the former supervisor had denied ever having told the man to practice discrimination.  This IS getting interesting! 

August 15th, 2009 -- So now, who is telling the truth?  One problem that seems of interest is that, reportedly, in a letter from the employer to the government labor investigator, the YMCA apparently adamantly and repeatedly denied knowing of the Plaintiff having ever had any problems or complaints with them (during his entire 8+ years tenure with them).  However, the man has been able to show multiple documents to evidence that the YMCA, the man's supervisors, his former branch director, and their HR department all knew of troubles he was having in the workplace, and there even seems to be some official documentation of an EEOC complaint the man filed in the year 2000 which seems to be further evidence contrary to the YMCA claim of utter ignorance of any problems.  This is starting to look like a case of, "If you didn't break the window, why are you holding all those rocks in your hand?"   It is also beginning to look like the legal process in this country is getting totally out of hand if this sort of behavior is going on.  What once looked uncertain now seems very disturbing, if such a venerable organization as the YMCA is indeed involved in gross wrongdoing and also apparently untruthful testimony to a government officer  while seemingly hiding behind their status as a "Christian" organization.   Readers, what do you think? 

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August 29th, 2009 -- Another twist!  It seems the YMCA very recently filed a motion to attempt summary judgement against the Plaintiff in this case.  This means they want the judge to dismiss the case as if there is no factual basis for it to stand on.  The judge purportedly ordered further disclosures of documentation by the YMCA to the man who filed  this lawsuit, during a recent court hearing, with none of that documentation having yet been posted as having been provided to him.  Furthermore, it seems there is still the possibility that the judge may order even more disclosures of evidence by the YMCA.  It is surprising that, with discovery apparently still happening and seemingly without having obeyed court-ordered disclosures, the YMCA feels free to attempt to force a closure of this case. Say what you will, but for a christian organization, that seems uncharacteristicly shrewd, and it is surprising they are allowed to try.  I suspect the judge will refrain from permitting that action while the former mandates are yet unsettled.  Perhaps it is all legal posturing.  The man supposedly has several witnesses.  Also, in view of the documents the Plaintiff already has been in possession of, I am doubtful the YMCA has much chance of success in such a brazen scheme, as summary judgement often requires an extreme degree of unlikelihood that the other party has the goods to win in court, as if it were all a total waste of the courts time.  This already seems to not be so.

September 28th, 2009 --  Wow!  This is indeed heating up!  The Plaintiff in this case seems to have upped the ante significantly in response to the YMCA's attempt to put him out of court via a motion for summary judgment.  The man has produced evidence that the YMCA seems very likely to have perjured themselves to an official state labor board investigator, having apparently declared to the TWC that they had no knowledge of any problems or complaints of discrimination from Mr. Noack throughout his many years at the YMCA; however, evidence that Noack has purportedly provided to the Magistrate Judge in the case seems to show many incidents in which YMCA superiors (including HR representatives) not only knew of his complaints but were very actively involved in them -- even years prior to his resignation!  The YMCA's letter to the TWC seems to also indicate the existence of a similarly-worded affidavit to them, as well.  Ladies and gentlemen of the public, this looks very much like outright prejury.  Not only that, but the Plaintiff does seem to have evidence that the YMCA's legal counsel has witnessed to himself and to the court that they sent him a large number of documents with his signature on a postal card shown as evidence he received them; but, Noack has been able to show proof that the item mailed was only a small legal envelope, not nearly large enough to contain over 85 pages of supposedly disclosed evidence documents.  This is really getting good, people -- and bad.  It is starting to look a lot like multiple incidents of false testimony : who knows what all the legal terms for it may be --  possibly fraud, obstruction of justice, perjury?   This case wreaks of the stench that makes the common people angry -- angry at the injustice done to the poor and defenseless among society.  Who would have ever believed such things but for the documented evidence of it all?  (Also, apparently there is even more, but persons involved have been unwilling or not permitted to say more. -- Hey, you know how nobody likes those nasty media leaks, right?) 

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      According to the information found on the Original Complaint for this lawsuit, the case number is H-08-3247, and it was apparently filed on October 31st of 2008 in the Federal Court building in Houston, TX.