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Regents, ‘U’ face lawsuit for violating civil rights CONNOR BADE/Daily
Andrea Semiglia and LSA senior Talia Gerstle, Executive Director of the Detroit Partnership, prepare cardboard to be made into theater props at the Franklin Wright Settlement in Detroit Saturday.
Third Detroit Week event focuses on direct service Students volunteer at Franklin-Wright Settlements on city’s East Side By CAROLYN GEARIG Daily Staff Reporter
On Valentine’s Day, 40 University students showed their love for the city of Detroit.
For the third and final event of Detroit Week, students spent Saturday painting walls and building a cardboard school bus at Franklin-Wright Settlements, a human services organization in the city. Detroit Week was a series of three Detroit-focused events organized by the Detroit Partnership, the Black Student Union, Semester in Detroit, LSA Student Government and the Black Volunteer Network.
The other two events included a dinner called The Soup and a panel on race and food justice. The events aimed to raise awareness of challenges facing Detroit, and promote action among the University community. LSA senior Arnold Reed, BSU speaker, and Public Policy junior Blair Sucher, education director for the Detroit Partnership, began planning Detroit Week at the end of fall
Current and former employee make claims on three counts By ANASTASSIOS ADAMOPOULOUS Daily Staff Reporter
semester. “We had the same vision,” Reed said. “When we came together, we were like, let’s do it. We said, ‘What if we could bring other organizations into the fold? There’s a lot of community service organizations on campus and a lot of orgs that would love to do this type of work.’ ” Franklin-Wright Settlements is a neighborhood serSee DETROIT, Page 2A
One former and one current University employee are suing the University and the University’s Board of Regents in federal court over three alleged civil rights violations. The two plaintiffs are Lorie Biggs, who began work in November in 2010, and Jamie Mercurio, who joined in April 2012. Both worked as patient service associates. The two women claim they were sexually harassed by coworkers, and Biggs also claims a documented disability was not properly accommodated. The lawsuit was filed on Jan. 13, 2015. It includes one count of sexual harassment under fed-
BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT
HopCat grand opening draws hundreds with local craft beer Grand Rapidsbased chain opens new location on Maynard Street By LAURA SCHINAGLE For the Daily
About 300 people lined up outside 311 Maynard St. on Saturday morning, braving frigid temperatures and biting winds, as workers inside finished up preparations for the grand opening of Hopcat, a Grand Rapids-based craft beer bar. The chain, which focuses on specialty craft beer and sells food as well, announced in July that it would open its fifth location in the 8,600-squarefoot space that formerly housed part of the Borders flagship store. Leading up to the event, HopCat advertised that it
would offer free “crack fries,” a signature dish of beer-battered French fries, during the grand opening. It also said the first 200 people waiting in line would receive free crack fries every week for a year. Though the heat of July may have seemed distant on Saturday, patrons waiting outside — several of whom camped out overnight — said they were especially looking forward to both the free fries and the beer selection. Public Health graduate student John Lee, along with friends Megan Hayes, physical therapy doctoral student at the University of Michigan—Flint, and Public Health graduate student William Weichsel, scored a spot in line at 5 a.m. Weichsel said the beer selection was the main reason he tagged along. “Two of the beers they have are super rare, by Founders — Canadian Breakfast Stout and See HOPCAT, Page 3A
eral law, one count of failure to accommodate in violation of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 and one count of violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, a state statute. Sexual harassment The lawsuit alleges that the two women were initially harassed by the same person, fellow employee Richard Page, who took photos of Biggs during work that she “considered to be inappropriate and of sexual nature,” asked Biggs for sex, and sent “sexually explicit” messages about Biggs and Mercurio through his work computer. Page is listed as a patient registration and insurance specialist in the University’s directory. Biggs complained to her thensupervisor Jenny Wilson who, according to the lawsuit, told her “there had been previous sexual harassment complaints against Page, but nothing was going to be done about his behavior.” After Wilson left the University in 2013, Biggs and Mercrio See LAWSUIT, Page 3A
Students rally for fossil fuel divestment Community members stage protest for Global Divestment Day By JING JING MA
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Jason Frenzei, Huron River Watershed Council member, shows off the local food hero cape at the closing ceremony of the Sustainable Food Conference at the Michigan League Ballroom Sunday.
Daily Staff Reporter
Seventh Local Food Summit addresses food sustainability
Dozens of students and community members in matching bright-orange shirts emblazoned with the phrase “Global Divestment Day” rallied on the Diag on Friday afternoon in support of fossil fuel divestment. Global Divestment Day was sponsored by the Divest and Invest campaign, a coalition of students, faculty, staff and community members. The protest aimed to urge University officials to divest the school’s interests from fossil fuel companies. LSA junior Nicholas Jansen, the event’s director, said he hoped the rally on the Diag would raise awareness of the fossil fuel divestment movement and mobilize students in support of the cause. He said he believed See DIVESTMENT, Page 3A
‘Food Love’ theme encourages produce awareness, nods to Valentine’s Day By SAMANTHA WINTNER and SAMIHA MATIN For the Daily
University students, together with food lovers, entrepreneurs and farmers, filled Rackham
Auditorium on Sunday for the seventh annual Local Food Summit. Billed as a sustainable food conference, the event promoted stronger relationships with local food businesses, as well as encouraged local entrepreneurs to adopt environmentally responsible business plans. “The intent is to bring people around local food so that they can experience learning from multiple different angles,” said Ann Arbor resident Jason Fren-
zel, one of the event’s organizers. “So we have participants here who are very new to the Local Food Summit and we want to allow them an opportunity to meet people who are very involved in the system and learn a few basics. We also want to create opportunities for people who are currently involved in the system so that they can get a chance to increase networking.” Slow Food Huron Valley led the Food Summit, which was See LOCAL FOOD, Page 2A
Heartbreak
» INSIDE
The women’s basketball team suffered a last-second loss Saturday
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 24 LO: 4
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 67 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS......................5A
SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A S P O R T S M O N DAY. . . . . . . . .1 B