Declarations

Hazing Deaths

“We’re on the precipice of losing the Greek system if this type of hazing keeps happening. I want to save the Greek system. When you have four of these events happen nationwide in one year, it is significant,”

— Florida State President John Thrasher, who lifted a ban on alcohol and social functions by fraternities, sororities and student organizations months after the death of a fraternity pledge at an off-campus party.

ADA Suit

“A good-faith dialog with an

employee enables an employer to identify possible reasonable accommodations and prevents the employer from violating the ADA.”

— Anna Park, regional attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Los Angeles District, explained an EEOC lawsuit against a large Southern California hospitality company for allegedly violating federal law by denying a reasonable accommodation to an employee with asthma.

Selfish Greed

“We will not allow individuals to manipulate and undermine the insurance system to satisfy their selfish greed.”

— New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal commenting on charges against a Jersey City, N.J., woman for stealing more than $46,000 by collecting her mother’s workers’ comp dependency benefits for nearly three years after she died. Wanda Berry was indicted on charges of second-degree insurance fraud and third-degree theft by deception in an indictment issued by a state grand jury in Trenton, N.J.

Very Edgy

“We’re going to have to go through another hurricane season, maybe two. … That makes us very, very edgy.”

— Albert Naquin, chief of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians, whose tribe has had its home on Louisiana’s Isle de Jean for more than 170 years. The island has lost 98 percent of its land area since 1955 as sea levels rise due to climate change. The state plans to spend $11.7 million to move island residents to a 515-acre tract of high land, but ground-breaking is not expected to occur until next year.

Down the Rabbit Hole

“The further we go down this rabbit hole, the more chance there is for even more obnoxious legislation moving forward.”

— Democratic Rep. Brett Parker, an Overland Park, Kan., school teacher, commented on proposed legislation in Kansas that would punish schools that refuse to allow teachers to carry guns. Rep. Blake Carpenter, a conservative Derby Republican who helped write the legislation that holds schools liable, said he is confident armed and trained teachers will save lives.