Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • B5

Irina Vaynerman, deputy commissioner of the Human Rights Department. CSL Plasma Inc. declined to address the lawsuit Thursday. the matter is in litigation, we will have no comment as we have not yet been served with the the company said in a writ- ten statement. The suit is in response to a complaint filed by Minne- apolis resident Alice James.

Her attorney said he expects her to also join as a plaintiff. am proud to live in a state where the law demands that people be treated James said in a written statement provided by her attorney, Joshua Newville. hope this case helps to ensure fair treatment for other James is not speaking with the media, Newville said. she is very interested in the outcome of this matter and seeing justice done for both her- self and others in the state of Minnesota, she really want this case focused on Newville said. wants this case focused on CSL Plasma and the broader understanding of gender James was a regular donor at CSL Plasma for years and relied on it as part of her income until the com- pany told her in 2015 that it did not accept donations from transgender people, Newville said.

had a pretty cata- strophic impact on her both financially and he said. According to Newville: James was living in Duluth in 2011 when she began donating at the location there. She identi- fied as a woman. The facility that and forced her to identify as a man in their records. James donated plasma a few times a week for years.

In 2015, she pushed the company to identify her as a woman in their records, and was told she could no longer donate. James filed a discrimi- nation complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in 2016, which investigated and found in 2017 that the alle- gation had merit. The department tried to initiate settlement talks with CSL Plasma Inc. that included recommended pol- icy changes, but the company refused to engage, Vayner- man said. The company reported that it had flat ban on all transgender Vaynerman said, adding that its refusal to engage in set- tlement talks compelled the lawsuit.

The practice contradicts FDA recom- mendations, which allow donors to self-report their gender and recommends out only men who have had sex with other men once or more in the past the lawsuit said. James never met that cri- terion for being screened out, her attorney said. Newville said James attempted to donate plasma in October 2018 at a Min- neapolis location and was denied. have not really explained their rationale or justification behind Newville said. The alleged actions are especially egre- gious, he said, because in 1975, Minneapolis became the first govern- mental body to make dis- crimination based on gen- der identity illegal, and in 1993, Minnesota was the first state in the country to follow suit.

have an important legacy to Ellison said at a news conference announcing the suit. According to the com- website, CSL Plasma is headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla. The parent com- pany, CSL Limited, is head- quartered in Melbourne, Australia. The lawsuit is asking that a judge find CSL Plasma in violation of the state anti- discrimination law, finan- cially compensate James to three times the actual damages sustained as well as damages for mental anguish and order its employees to undergo train- ing on discrimination and submit quarterly reports regarding its deferral of transgender donors at its Minnesota locations, among other requests. The state Department of Human Rights has received 16 complaints between 2016 and this month alleg- ing discrimination against transgender people.

Eight cases are closed cases and eight are open. They involve business, educa- tion, employment, public accommodation and public service settings. Chao Xiong 612-270-4708 Twitter: State files bias suit against plasma firm snow on the ground heading into the spring thaw. year has been differ- ent because a lot of times it would snow early in the year and then we would lose some. Snow some more, lose Schmidt said.

flake fallen is pretty much still out To calculate how much, weather observers across the state trudge outside to col- lect core samples of snow in a tube, measuring the snow- depth, then melting it to see how much water it will produce. The water from the snowpack amounts to to inches across a large swath of the state, with some areas reporting 5 to 6 inches, Schmidt said. ranks near historical high levels for early he said in his report. Underneath all that snow is frozen ground, with frost 2 to 4 feet deep. That will add to the trouble if spring temperatures soar quickly.

A rapid snow melt over frozen ground will mean a rush of water that could over- load rivers and streams, flood- ing roads, fields and possibly neighborhoods. Hope for a gentle melt In Fargo, now a 50 percent chance the Red River will reach about 35 feet, said Amanda Lee hydrolo- gist for the National Weather Service in Grand Forks. That compares to minor flooding that occurs when the river reaches 18 feet, she said. With the new flood forecast in hand, Mahoney will meet with his department heads on Friday to discuss contingency plans in case a rapid meltdown threatens to raise the river. next few weeks will be important to he said.

a little concerned about April Fargo, like many other cit- ies, has spent millions of dol- lars to mitigate damage caused by overflowing rivers. Many have built or bolstered levees, moved homes and businesses and raised some buildings to withstand rising waters. But if the Red River rises to 35 feet, homes and other areas in Fargo will have to be protected, Mahoney said. The city will put up some flood gates, build clay dikes and fill 500,000 to a million sandbags, according to the guidelines in his three-ring binder that pro- vide a course of action at vari- ous flood stages. All of it has been tried, tested and refined over the years when floods inundated parts of the city.

have a town that under- stands floods, and well he said. In 2009, the river reached 40.8 feet, he said. town looked like a combat zone. We had 7.5 million sandbags the same height as the Empire State Building in every neighborhood. It looked like we tore up the whole town to get some As of now, Mahoney said the city has things under con- trol.

Fargo can easily defend itself against a river that rises to 35 feet, he said. you get over 35 feet, when you start to look like Mahoney added. In Granite Falls, where the Minnesota River cuts through town, Mayor Dave Smiglewski said about $40 million spent to mitigate flooding should keep damage to a minimum if the waters rise to major flood stage. Right now only a 50 percent chance of minor flooding, he said. forecast is reassuring, but going to have high water Smiglewski said.

a lot better prepared for it. We have sandbags and equipment to handle it. At this point, I know hope a very good strategy, but hop- ing we have to use For now, a forecast for lower-than-normal tempera- tures could slow the melt, said the Weather Service Schmidt. Temperatures over the next couple of weeks may rise into the 30s during the day and fall into the 20s at night, which is perfect for a gradual thaw. A higher sun angle also will melt some snow, he said.

That adds up to a gentle melt, he said. least what seeing for Schmidt said. Mary Lynn Smith 612-673-4788 Fargo could fill up to 1M sandbags PLASMA from B1 But after years of waiting, support- ers of the ERA want another delay. They would also like the ERA vote to align with the 100th anniver- sary of suffrage next year. Beyond the symbolic meaning, advocates said the change in law is criti- cal to protect all rights.

were left behind the door when the Constitution was written. And that was true of both our federal Constitution and our state Constitu- tion. We were intentionally said Betty Folliard a former legislator and founder of ERA Minnesota This would help courts deal with continuing issues of gender discrimi- nation in areas such as pay inequity and pregnancy discrimination, she said. Large wage gaps exist across gen- der and race, said Rep. Rena Moran, D-St.

Paul, and while this bill solve that, an important step. The House measure would ask vot- ers: the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that equality under the law must not be abridged or denied on account of Abortion opponents have been urging lawmakers to amend the lan- guage to include a line saying, section does not grant, secure, or deny any right related to the accessibility or provision of abortion services, or state funding for those Some people have argued there cannot be equality without the right to abortion, Minnesota Citizens Con- cerned for Life Executive Director Scott Fischbach said, and abortion has hin- dered ERA proposals in other states. pro-lifers that I know do very much believe in he said. we just want to make sure abortion is not included in this Some legislators also noted con- cerns with the use of rather than in the bill. Kunesh-Podein said gender is a more inclusive term, but Rep.

Peggy Scott R-Andover, said not a well-defined term and sex provides more clarity. Scott and oth- ers argued that people who are trans- gender or identify as neither male nor female should not be included. In addition to the measure debated Thursday, another bill aims to make the ERA federal law. The U.S. House and Senate passed the ERA in the 1970s, but too few states ratified the measure by the deadline required to make it part of the Con- stitution.

The other bill would sup- port removing the deadline, with the goal of getting 38 states to ratify the amendment. Jessie Van Berkel 651-925-5044 ERA passes House hurdle ERA from B1 FLOOD from B1 JONES SCHNEIDER renee.jones@startribune.com Rep. Patty Acomb, D-Minnetonka, wiped tears from her eyes after an emo- tional speech by Rep. Duane Sauke, D-Rochester, during the House debate. An Eden Prairie man pulled a weapon during an altercation with teens.

By LIZ SAWYER liz.sawyer@startribune.com An Eden Prairie man who brandished a handgun during a confrontation with young Somali-Americans inside a last fall pleaded guilty to one count of felony terroristic threats on Thurs- day, a move that ensures a lifetime firearms ban. Lloyd Johnson, 55, will be formally sentenced on April 29 but is expected to serve at least three years of proba- tion and up to 90 days in the county workhouse. A second- ary charge of carrying a pis- tol without a permit will be dropped at sentencing. are pleased that Mr. Johnson is taking responsibil- ity for his outrageous behav- said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

he has no criminal record, probation is the rec- ommended sentence. Perhaps the best part of the sentence is he can no longer possess a gun, which means we will all be The Nov. 19 encoun- ter began as Johnson was standing behind two young Somali-American women at the fast-food restaurant on Prairie Center Drive in the heart of the sprawl- ing retail district. The women were trying to pay for their food with a digi- tal app on their smartphone, but it was not working. John- son told them to hurry up, then accused them of trying to use government-funded food assistance.

Jihan Abdullahi, 17, told the Star Tribune last fall that she confronted Johnson over the perceived ethnic slight. are walking away, the man says under his breath, were paying with EBT; why it Abdullahi recalled. Abdul lah i sa id she responded, because black you think my friends and I live under And he said, A 45-second video that went viral on Twitter starts at some point after several young people got into an argument with the man. The video shows a teenage boy and the man pushing each other before the man stumbled backward and out the door. At that point, the teenagers quickly backed away, and sev- eral people shouted that the man was holding a gun.

A gun cannot be seen in the video. In court Thursday, John- son admitted that he pulled a semi-automatic pistol from his jacket pocket while arguing with the teens and held it at his side. He also told the judge that he did not plan to make any self-defense claim. and then ter- rorizing anyone is never said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American- Islamic Relations Minnesota chapter. justice system must come down hard on these reckless purveyors of hate so the consequences are clear to those who would follow in their Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.

Liz Sawyer 612-673-4648 Man pleads guilty in gun incident at Lloyd E. Johnson will have to comply with a lifetime firearms ban. By PAUL WALSH paul.walsh@startribune.com Following vocal concern at the University of Minnesota about an incident outside an on-campus hotel over the weekend, the school issued an alert several days later saying that eight teenage boys confronted two female students and directed abusive language at them while one exposed himself. The eight walked to a light- rail platform moments after the incident Sunday night and have yet to be identified uni- versity spokeswoman Lacey Nygard said Thursday. School officials sent out a campus crime alert late Wednesday afternoon, three days after the incident outside the Graduate Minneapolis hotel at 615 Washington Av SE.

The alert to faculty, staff and students acknowledged that number of members of the campus community have asked about an incident that occurred over the before the notice was issued. According to the alert: The two women were get- ting in their vehicle about 10:50 p.m., when they were approached by eight boys ages 15 to 17. The teens using derogatory lang toward them and one of them his and attempted to get into their vehicle before the teens walked to the light-rail plat- form nearby. Nygard declined to say more about the nature of what the teens said to the women. Police released a vague description of the teen who exposed himself but noth- ing about what the others looked like.

Nygard said police are checking on any video surveil- lance in the area that might help in the investigation. Anyone with information about the incident or the identity of teens is urged to contact campus police at 612- 624-2677 Paul Walsh 612-673-4482 alert says 8 teen boys abused female students The city of Minneapolis has hired Ron Harris as its new chief resilience offi- cer, a grant-funded position that will focus on affordable housing, climate change and economic inequality. The job has been vacant for the past year, since Kate Knuth resigned after seven months in the job. government expe- rience includes working for the city Department of Civil Rights, then-Mayor R.T. Rybak and as an aide to City Council President Lisa Bender.

Most recently, Har- ris, 29, worked on tenant issues for the Department of Regulatory Services. The position is funded through the Rockefeller Resil- ient partnership, designed to help communi- ties across the world adapt to physical, social and eco- nomic change. ANDY MANNIX Mpls. names resilience chief ZSW B5 Friday, Mar. 8, 2019 I DAY, A 8 2 0 1 9 I TA TA I B5.