PHILADELPHIA – After a federal judge dismissed a discrimination suit from Philadelphia City Council member Mark Squilla and local Italian-American groups over Mayor Jim Kenney’s removal of Columbus Day as an observed city holiday, the case has been appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
PHILADELPHIA – Litigation brought by supporters of a monument to controversial former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, which argued the City of Philadelphia violated its Home Rule Charter and the due process rights of the plaintiffs when it removed the statue in 2020, will now be heard in state court.
PHILADELPHIA – The Pennsylvania Unified Certification Program has reversed the City of Philadelphia’s decision to decertify Devault Group, Inc. as a disadvantaged business enterprise, the center point of litigation between the company, the City and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
PHILADELPHIA – A Bucks County trucking firm now seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent the City of Philadelphia and the U.S. Department of Transportation from revoking its certification to qualify as a “Disadvantaged Business Enterprise.”
Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA – Counsel for the City of Philadelphia and Mayor Jim Kenney are seeking to dismiss a discrimination complaint from Philadelphia City Council member Mark Squilla and local Italian-American groups over Kenney’s removal of Columbus Day as an observed city holiday, arguing it lacks any factual basis.
The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, Inc. of Yonkers, N.Y., plus Squilla, the 1492 Society and Jody Della Barba, all of Philadelphia, first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on April 6 versus the City and Kenney.
The suit assailed the City and Kenney as having engaged in “continued, unrelenting, and intentionally discriminatory acts” against Italian-Americans – punctuated by Kenney’s Executive Order 2-21, which replaced Columbus Day as an official City holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day.