Discrimination

A food poisoning mystery that investigators have yet to solve claimed its 10th fatality Friday, a 12-year-old girl who died a month after eating a contaminated school lunch. Despite almost three months of investigation, health officials cannot pinpoint the source of the elusive, virulent 0157 E. coli bacteria that has sickened more than 6,000 children in the Osaka suburb of Sakai and caused smaller outbreaks across Japan. Farmers have begun dumping fresh produce that consumers are afraid to eat.

The Justice Department announced that the nation's largest corporate-owned day-care chain has agreed to admit diabetic children and monitor their blood sugar. The agreement settles claims that the KinderCare chain discriminated against children who have the disease. The American Diabetes Assn. and others brought a lawsuit against KinderCare on behalf of Jesi Stuthard, 3, after he was denied enrollment in Columbus, Ohio.

Something happened just months after Steve Gunderson became the first openly gay Republican congressman by revealing his years-long romance with architect Rob Morris. Gunderson invited a close friend dying of AIDS to dinner at the exclusive Members Dining Room in the Capitol. The man was clearly failing. He had facial lesions and carried an IV pack on his back. In a few months, he would be dead.

A bus driver who was fired for refusing to hand out coupons for free hamburgers filed a lawsuit Monday accusing the Orange County Transportation Authority of discriminating against him because of his ethical beliefs. "We feel that his belief system should be given the same weight as religious beliefs," said Gloria Allred, attorney for driver Bruce Anderson, who was dismissed June 7. "They are part of his identity," Allred said.

The Los Angeles Community College District is investigating allegations that a gay police officer at Mission College in Sylmar has been subjected to a campaign of harassment and discrimination by co-workers at various offices who learned of his sexual orientation. Officer Anthony Rotella, who has worked at the campus since 1992, publicly leveled a range of allegations Wednesday night, telling the district's Board of Trustees that homophobia is "not only condoned, it's promoted" in the district.

Attorney Gloria Allred filed a discrimination complaint Monday with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of an Orange County transit bus driver fired last week for refusing to hand out coupons for free Carl's Jr. hamburgers. Bruce Anderson, a 38-year-old vegetarian, said the request by his employer, the Orange County Transit Authority, to distribute the coupons to bus riders violated his spiritual beliefs.

Attorney Gloria Allred filed a discrimination complaint Monday with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of an Orange County transit bus driver fired last week for refusing to hand out coupons for free Carl's Jr. hamburgers. Bruce Anderson, a 38-year-old vegetarian, has said the demand by the Orange County Transportation Authority to distribute the coupons to bus riders violated his spiritual beliefs.

The Gay/Straight Alliance, a gay and lesbian high school club formed at a downtown campus here, has taken pride in helping youths struggling with their sexual identity to support each other. "Going to high school when you are gay or lesbian is a miserable, lonely experience," said 17-year-old Kelli Peterson, who founded the club at East High School in December. "I know, I've been beat up twice." But on Tuesday, the Salt Lake City Board of Education voted to squash the club.

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to oppose a ballot initiative that would dismantle affirmative action programs statewide, calling on Mayor Richard Riordan to state his position on the controversial measure, and comparing its backers to Nazis. "This is one sick puppy we can't embrace," said Councilman Richard Alarcon, one of three Latinos on the 15-member council. "[Hitler's manifesto] 'Mein Kampf' comes to mind."