Hasan’s attorneys hired a forensic documents examiner to look at the
notes they did have. In the examiner’s professional opinion, a number of
remarks had been written at a different time than the rest of the notes. All
the notes added at a later time were negative, including “very difficult to
understand,” and “He talks way too much!” Hasan won his case; he was
awarded back pay, damages and court costs.
In some cases, the behavior of the Defendant and Defendant’s council
damages whatever reasonable claims they might have had. In this case, the
employer’s hiring and promotion practices were so blatantly
discriminatory and their attitude so disdainful that they made it easier for
the court to find for the Plaintiff. The Defendants indulged in excessive
delay tactics, which resulted in increased legal costs for Hasan and might
have forced him to drop his suit, which he did not. The County then went
on to appeal the award of court and legal costs, and was firmly slapped
down by the appeals court.
The trial court observed both parties over the course of the litigation,
and specifically found that much of Hasan’s fee award could be attributed
to the tactics of the County. The district court correctly applied the
relevant law and was well within its discretion in determining both
Hasan’s entitlement to the attorney’s fees and the amount ultimately
awarded (Hasan, Decision of the Appeal from the United States District
Court for the Northern District).
Mandhare v. W.S. LaFargue Elementary School
In 1965, at the age of 29, Sulochana Mandhare left her home in the
Maharashtra region of India and came to the United States. At that point in
her life, Ms. Mandhare – a native speaker of Marathi – had been studying
English for almost 20 years.^20
Ms. Mandhare speaks in a soft voice and an English which is
characterized by full vowels in unstressed syllables, distinctive intonation
patterns, aspirated fricatives and stops, and a lack of distinction between
initial /v/ and /w/. She is an intelligent and articulate woman, and she tells
her story in a clear and completely comprehensible accented English
(1994, personal communication).
After some time in the U.S., Ms. Mandhare relates, she decided to
continue her education. She had arrived with undergraduate degrees in