Human Rights Commission Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Human Rights Commission Holds Town Hall On Employment Discrimination, Harassment

A town hall-style meeting at Bluefield State University March 22, 2023 will focus on issues of workplace discrimination.

A town hall-style meeting at Bluefield State University will focus on issues of workplace discrimination.

The meeting, hosted by the West Virginia Human Rights Commission and the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, will focus on employment discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

Students, staff, and community members are invited to attend at the Herbert Gallery/Student Center Wednesday, March 22 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Human Rights Commission Investigator James Spenia said colleges and universities like Bluefield were chosen for the meetings to inform, as well as hear from, community members entering the workforce.

“With the changes in technology, including things like Zoom meetings, we’re seeing different methods for harassment,” Spenia said. “It’s important to get out and educate them and let them know that there are resources, and what they can do to help combat that.”

Two more town halls are planned for other schools around the state. A similar meeting was held at West Virginia State University in early March.

“It’s an outreach initiative to get out in communities, specifically in Appalachia, and just try to educate the public and see what’s going on, to kind of discuss current issues in employment discrimination and see what they’re encountering in their day to day lives as well,” Spenia said.

Spenia said the Human Rights Commission addresses issues of discrimination and harassment in their day-to-day operations, and handles allegations of discrimination in the workplace, as well as in housing and public accommodations.

“It’s always ongoing,” Spenia said.

January 2, 2006: Rabbi Samuel Cooper Dies

Rabbi Samuel Cooper died in Florida on January 2, 2006, at age 97. The Toronto native visited Charleston in 1932 to lead the High Holiday services for the B’nai Jacob Synagogue. The congregation was so impressed that a delegation followed him on his return home, caught up with him in Baltimore, and hired him as full-time rabbi. Cooper returned to Charleston to begin nearly a half-century in the B’nai Jacob pulpit.

He was the synagogue’s first rabbi born in North America. He guided the congregation from old-style Orthodox Judaism to a more modern Orthodox perspective.

One of his biggest achievements was relocating the congregation from a small downtown building into a newly constructed synagogue near the state capitol in 1949.

Cooper played an active role in Charleston civic life, serving on various boards and commissions. He was named West Virginian of the Year by the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail in 1967 and received the Human Rights Commission Award in 1971. He was also an early supporter of the state of Israel. Rabbi Samuel Cooper retired from B’Nai Jacob in 1981, ending 49 years of service.

Beckley Mayor Urges for LGBTQ Protections in City Code

A West Virginia mayor is urging officials to add protections for LGBTQ people in his city’s code.

The Register-Herald reports Beckley Mayor Rob Rappold has asked the city’s Common Council to consider an ordinance banning housing and employment discrimination against citizens who identify as LGBTQ, as there are no such federal or state laws.

Rappold said during a Council workshop Monday that city attorney Bill File is drafting a proposal to allow people a means of contesting suspected discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identification.

Rappold says that before a Council vote, the city Human Rights Commission must present a recommendation to adopt LGBTQ as a protected class.

A similar 2014 proposal was protested by many religious leaders and business owners, some saying they could be sued or forced to violate their conscience.

Fairmont City Council Sends Anti-Discrimination Ordinance to Public Vote

A West Virginia city’s newly reinstated anti-discrimination ordinance that drew opposition from some residents will be put to a public vote next year.

News outlets report that the Fairmont City Council on Tuesday responded to a petition submitted in November that forced them to reconsider the ordinance by sending the Human Rights Commission Ordinance to a ballot vote in November 2018 instead of holding another public hearing. The ordinance was passed on a 7-2 vote in September.

Mayor Tom Mainella said it was unlikely that any council member would change their vote.

The petition was organized by Keep Fairmont Safe, which opposed the ordinance’s addition of sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes. Its representative Kandi Nuzum says the group is happy the public gets to decide.