A new proposal would offer legal representation for Detroiters facing eviction

Tonya Myers Phillips, project leader for the Detroit Right to Counsel — a group seeking to guarantee legal representation for low-income renters facing eviction — argued Thursday during committee that the ordinance was legally sound.

“We need to bring our residents and our city one step closer to having housing security,” Phillips said.

Last week, Phillips told the Free Press that the ordinance, if passed, would be a “game changer.”

“A right to counsel is, simply put, just the right to have legal representation in a legal proceeding,” Phillips said, using the example of how those accused of a crime are guaranteed a lawyer if they can’t afford one. There isn’t an equivalent on the civil side and that needs to change for those facing eviction in Detroit, she said. … see full story at Bridge Detroit

Detroit City Council approves 'Right to Counsel' for renters facing eviction

The ordinance comes a long way after more than three years of drafting, said Tonya Myers Phillips, project leader for the Detroit Right To Counsel Coalition.

"Today is the day we can start a new chapter in our Detroit history and put forth systemic change to ensure that we are protecting our most vulnerable residents," Myers Phillips said. "This ordinance guarantees tenants the rug won't be pulled out from under them." … see full story at Detroit News

A new Detroit ordinance will pay for lawyers for low-income people facing housing issues in court

In Detroit an individual is 18 times more likely to remain in their home when they have a lawyer to help them during an eviction, says Tonya Myers Phillips, a leader of the Right to Counsel Coalition and one of the attorneys who helped draft the new rule. Myers Phillips says the ordinance is not only expected to keep Detroiters in place — it’s expected to preserve money in the city.

“Detroit receives an estimated $3,751 annually per resident in non-reimbursable federal funding,” says Myers Phillips. “So, when an individual is evicted and moves out of the city of Detroit, which is a trend that we noticed that’s happening as well, that federal funding is lost.” … see full story at WDET NPR

Why Michigan's pandemic unemployment aid problems seem like déjà vu

For unemployment advocates, Mauricio’s story reflects a sense of déjà vu inspired by the most recent round of pandemic-era problems at the Michigan jobless agency — as a wave of new errors and overpayment demands by the state unemployment agency follow the ebbing tide of false fraud cases from 2015.

“That’s what makes me think I’m losing my mind: The exact same thing happened all over again,” said Tony Paris, an unemployment lawyer at Detroit's Sugar Law Center for Social and Economic Justice. “The amount of calls, the desperation, the onslaught, the news coverage — it’s all the same.” … see full story at Detroit News

Attorney: Detroiters facing eviction deserve right to counsel in courtrooms

NOTE: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Ted Phillips: What is a right to counsel?

Tonya Myers Phillips: Simply put, it’s the right to have legal representation in a legal proceeding. If you’re charged with a crime in this country and you can’t afford your own attorney, you’re provided with a lawyer — that’s a constitutional right. But unfortunately, we don’t have that equivalent on the civil side of the law. So we’re advocating that individuals in Detroit who are facing eviction be provided with an attorney … see ful story at Outlier Media

House committee hears testimony on unemployment issues on first day back from summer break

Tony Paris is the lead attorney at the Detroit-based Maurice and Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. The nonprofit law office works with people on unemployment who are experiencing issues with the system.

Paris testified about what he and his clients had experienced as they worked with Michigan's unemployment system, with Paris saying the issues drawing attention now long pre-date COVID-19.

“Of course then when a pandemic happens, you take this broken system and you add an unprecedented amount of filers with an unprecedented amount of folks that were normally not eligible - you heard some of the testimony in there regarding pandemic unemployment for self-employed people - that is unprecedented," said Paris. "So, you have all those folks flooding a broken system. It was a recipe for disaster. And that disaster continues every day.”

Paris claimed the computer system for the Unemployment Insurance Agency filers was programmed to make things more difficult for Michiganders who needed benefits and to make it easier for those who didn't deserve them. Paris said one of the most important changes the UIA could make immediately would be to make its site more easy for filers to understand and navigate. … see full story and CBS News Channel 3

Michigan attorney overwhelmed with calls over unemployment mixups

In 2015, attorney Tony Paris was working 12-hour days attending hearings with his clients who were wrongly accused by Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency of getting payments they weren't eligible for.

He had so many clients caught up in the false fraud scandal — that was later attributed to a computer system that operated without human oversight — that he got vocal fold nodules from talking so much, leading to voice loss. Now, about a year and a half into the pandemic, he's getting close to losing his voice again.

That's because, over the last few weeks, Paris has spent every day working with clients both new and old to help them figure out how to "requalify" for jobless benefits after the state's UIA notified nearly 650,000 claimants in late June that some of the questions that qualified them for benefits were not approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. … see full story at Detroit Free Press

Lawsuit alleges harassment, bigotry, wage theft at Hamtramck restaurant

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys Tony Paris and John Philo with the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice in Detroit against the restaurant, Ulaj, the previous owner, and the manager, who was a brother of the previous owner. Ulaj is also publisher of the Hamtramck Review newspaper.

According to the lawsuit, Pokoj was fired in May after she raised concerns about the sexual harassment. She had worked at the restaurant from 2013 to 2019 and then came back in 2021.. 

"No steps were made to remedy the situation or ensure that Plaintiff Emily Pokoj or other female employees could work in an environment free from unwanted, inappropriate sexual comments and advances," the lawsuit said. … see full story at Detroit Free Press

Henry Ford Health System Will Require Workers To Get COVID-19 Vaccine

The executive and legal director of the Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, John Philo says even if employees do protest the policy, they don’t have much legal ground to stand on

“The federal EEOC [Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission] and other federal agencies have issued guidance on this,” he said. “But even in the absence of their guidance, it's hard to see where there's a real right that's being violated, if the policy is tailored with exceptions for legitimate religious [and medical] reasons.”

Philo believes more health systems will soon follow Henry Ford’s example.

“I think most employers are holding out hoping that people will get vaccinated voluntarily, and they won't have to set broad mandates. But I do think we will see more of this as the months progress.” … see full story at WKAR PBS/NPR