[lawmajordonors] FW: N & O story

Fri Apr 22 11:36:56 EDT 2022

Nice press today.

From: Snedeker, Lisa L <lsnedeker at campbell.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2022 10:43 AM
To: Leonard, J. Rich <leonardjr at campbell.edu>
Cc: Bridges, Zeke <bridges at campbell.edu>; Sherron, Megan West <sherron at campbell.edu>; Powell, Jon <jonpowell at campbell.edu>
Subject: N & O story

Campbell Law to help Wake County residents resolve discrimination claims
As more municipalities join Wake County in implementing a non-discrimination ordinance, Campbell Law School will help play a role in how complaints from the community are resolved. Since last June, Wake County, Raleigh, Apex, Knightdale and Morrisville have approved ordinances that protect residents from discrimination by private businesses and employers. Residents who believe they have been discriminated against can file a complaint and receive free assistance from Campbell Law School's Restorative Justice Clinic in resolving the claim.

Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article260619882.html#storylink=cpy
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVF.2bCnGuuQvOH3%2beRJTO98Hw&pid=Api]<https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article260619882.html#storylink=cpy>
Campbell Law to help Wake County residents resolve discrimination claims<https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article260619882.html#storylink=cpy>
www.newsobserver.com<http://www.newsobserver.com>

Leaders from Wake County and the four municipalities gathered at the law school in downtown Raleigh this week to raise awareness of the partnership. "When I saw the ordinance coming into being and realized that it built in this conciliation model, I immediately thought that it was a role that the law school could play," said Campbell Law Dean Rich Leonard in a phone interview with The News & Observer. "The more we explored that, the more that seemed right to everyone."

Unlike Campbell's other clinics, like family law or bankruptcy, the students, faculty and staff working on these anti-discrimination claims would not become the claimant's attorney, Leonard explained. "Restorative Justice is not quite that," he said. "We are more the neutral mediator than we are the advocate for either side."
THE RESTORATIVE JUSTICE MODEL
The Wake County non-discrimination ordinance protects people from discrimination "based on race, natural hair or hairstyles, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, pregnancy, marital or familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, marital or familial status, pregnancy, National Guard or veteran status, religious belief or non-belief, age, or disability." Any complaints about discrimination, including from private employers and in public accommodations, like restaurants and retail stores, can be filed at WakeGov.com/StopDiscrimination.

If the complaint falls within the county's jurisdiction and "is factually validated," the county initiates the resolution process. When a claim is received, the Restorative Justice Clinic will reach out to both parties involved - the resident filing the claim and the alleged discriminator - to better understand what happened and how the issue can be resolved. The clinic is already working on at least one dispute, Leonard said.

Apex was the first town in Wake County to expand its non-discrimination ordinance last summer to include people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and gender non-confirming, The N&O previously reported. Wake County and Raleigh became the 14th and 15th local governments in North Carolina to act on LGBTQ-inclusive protections by unanimously passing the non-discrimination ordinance in October. It became effective Feb. 1. The town of Knightdale passed its own in February, and Morrisville also unanimously voted to join Wake County's ordinance in March, bringing more than half a million people under the protection of the ordinance, according to the county. "The fact that (all of these towns) are behind these protections will have meaningful and personal impact on many individuals for years to come," said Shinica Thomas, vice-chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, at the April 19 event at Campbell Law, according to video of the remarks. "This collective effort by counties, towns, cities firmly demonstrates to businesses, employees, residents and visitors that Wake County is the kind of place where everyone can live, work and raise a family, and be who they are, and feel safe and supported in doing that," Thomas said.

Raleigh council member Jonathan Melton urged other Wake County municipalities to join the ordinance and offered to be a resource for other towns considering expanding their NDO. "I think it (is) really important that we make sure that we're on the same page and that anywhere you go in Wake County, you know, you are provided the same protection," Melton said, according to video of his remarks at Campbell law. "There are three of us here today, and I know (the Town of) Apex passed (its) own, but there's eight more (towns) and what I say to you is, 'Please join us.'" There are now 16 counties and cities that have passed non-discrimination ordinances. In the Triangle, that includes Chatham and Durham counties as well as Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough, according to a list on the Equality North Carolina website.

Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article260619882.html#storylink=cpy
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVF.2bCnGuuQvOH3%2beRJTO98Hw&pid=Api]<https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article260619882.html#storylink=cpy>
Campbell Law to help Wake County residents resolve discrimination claims<https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article260619882.html#storylink=cpy>
www.newsobserver.com<http://www.newsobserver.com>

Lisa L. Snedeker
Director of Communications & Marketing
Campbell Law School
(919) 865-5978 - office
(336) 453-8233 - cell

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