Fast-food worker fired for refusing to serve officers

Fast-food worker fired for refusing to serve officers

DENISON, Texas

A worker at a popular Texas-based fast-food chain has been fired after refusing to serve two police officers.

Denison Police Chief Jay Burch says in a Facebook post that his officers were trying to get something to eat at the Whataburger on Saturday when an unidentified female employee declined to serve them. Burch says the employee cursed at the North Texas officers and alleged “cops beat up my boyfriend and are racists.”

Burch didn’t identify the restaurant. But in a statement, Whataburger corporate communications said Saturday it discovered “an individual employee acted out of line with Whataburger’s values to treat all customers with respect.”

Whataburger says the employee was fired, and the company plans to speak with the officers “to apologize in person and make this right.”

Lawyers: Courts have no say over Trump Twitter feed

NEW YORK

President Donald Trump can block his critics from following him on Twitter without violating the First Amendment despite a lawsuit’s claims that it violates the Constitution to do so, government lawyers say.

Trial attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington submitted papers late Friday to a New York federal judge, saying a lawsuit challenging Trump over the issue should be thrown out.

“The President uses the account for his speech, not as a forum for the private speech of others,” the lawyers wrote. “And his decision to block certain users allows him to choose the information he consumes and the individuals with whom he interacts – expressive choices that public officials retain the right to make, even when those choices are made on the basis of viewpoint.”

Women sue Detroit Free Press in equal-pay lawsuit

DETROIT

Four female photojournalists have filed a pay- discrimination lawsuit in federal court against the Detroit Free Press.

Former and current staff members allege in Friday’s complaint that the newspaper underpaid them because they’re women.

The lawsuit follows a study this year by the newspaper’s union analyzing pay data. It shows the median wage for men was higher than for women in almost every job category at the newspaper.

For example, the lawsuit says male photographers make over $4 an hour more than female photographers.

Free Press editor and vice president Peter Bhatia says the lawsuit has no merit, and the newspaper has a “long-standing commitment” to supporting equal pay.

Porn publisher offers up to $10M for dirt on Trump

WASHINGTON

Pornography publisher Larry Flynt is offering “up to $10 million” to anyone who produces information that leads to President Donald Trump’s impeachment and removal from office.

He lays out the offer in a full-page ad in today’s edition of The Washington Post. During last year’s presidential campaign, Flynt dangled $1 million to anyone who could turn over video or audio capturing Trump behaving in an illegal or sexually demeaning manner. That followed the release of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump bragged of imposing himself on women.

In today’s ad, Flynt asks for any “smoking gun” that is fit to publish and drives Trump from office.

Associated Press