Source: United States Navy
WASHINGTON – Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Strategy, Vice Adm. Gene Black, hosted his Australian counterpart, Rear Adm. Christopher Smith, Royal Australian Navy, Deputy Chief of Navy, for a bilateral strategic dialogue at the Pentagon, Nov. 21, 2022.
Source: United States Department of Justice News
The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a proposed consent decree in federal court to resolve allegations that the Regents of the University of California on behalf of the University of California, Berkeley (collectively, UC Berkeley) violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because much of UC Berkeley’s free online content is inaccessible to individuals with hearing, vision, and manual disabilities. The proposed consent decree was filed together with a complaint setting forth the allegations of discrimination.
“By entering into this consent decree, UC Berkeley will make its content accessible to the many people with disabilities who want to participate in and access the same online educational opportunities provided to people without disabilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This decree will provide people with disabilities access to the numerous free online courses, conferences, lectures, performances and other programming offered by UC Berkeley and its faculty, providing lifelong learning opportunities to millions of people.”
UC Berkeley makes conferences, lectures, sporting events, graduation ceremonies and other university events available to the public on its websites and on other online platforms, including its YouTube and Apple Podcasts channels. It also makes courses available on its UC BerkeleyX platform. Much of this online content is not accessible to people with disabilities because it lacks captions and transcripts for individuals who are deaf and alternative text describing visual images for individuals who are blind. It is also formatted in a way that does not allow individuals with disabilities to access the content using screen readers or other assistive technology.
Under the three-and-a-half-year long consent decree, which requires court approval, UC Berkeley will make all future and the vast majority of its existing online content accessible to people with disabilities. This includes BerkeleyX courses, university websites and video and podcast content on its YouTube, Apple Podcasts and other third-party platforms. UC Berkeley will also revise its policies, train relevant personnel, designate a web accessibility coordinator, conduct accessibility testing of its online content and hire an independent auditor to evaluate the accessibility of its content.
“Through this consent decree, the Department of Justice demonstrates its commitment to ensuring compliance with the ADA by providing individuals with disabilities a full and equal opportunity to participate in and enjoy the benefits of UC Berkeley’s services, programs and activities in equal measure with people without disabilities,” said U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds for the Northern District of California.
For more information on the ADA, please call the Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov. For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt.
Source: United States Department of Justice News
The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Aero Precision LLC, a Washington state firearm manufacturer. The settlement resolves the department’s determination that Aero Precision had a policy of unlawfully screening out certain non-U.S. citizen job candidates, including asylees and refugees, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Under governing law, asylees and refugees have the same eligibility to work in jobs involving access to sensitive defense-related information as U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, and would have to pass the same background check as other employees if an employer requires one.
“Asylees and refugees in the United States are authorized to work and are entitled to fair access to employment opportunities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that all employers, regardless of their industry, have a fair hiring process that does not subject workers to unlawful discrimination.”
The department’s investigation determined that from at least April 2020 until September 2020, Aero Precision routinely implemented a hiring policy that screened out eligible candidates who were not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. Firearm manufacturers in the United States are subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which regulate specific exports of defense articles and services. Absent State Department authorization, employers subject to these regulations must limit access to certain sensitive information to “U.S. persons,” which are defined as U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, asylees and refugees. The ITAR thus does not authorize or require employers to exclude asylees and refugees from consideration and hire only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. By limiting hiring to just U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, Aero Precision placed unnecessary hiring restrictions on its workforce.
Under the settlement, Aero Precision must train staff on the requirements of the INA’s anti-discrimination provision, review its policies to ensure compliance with relevant law and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements.
The Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation.
Learn more about IER’s work and how to get assistance through this brief video. Find more information on how employers can avoid citizenship status discrimination on IER’s website. Applicants or employees who believe they were discriminated against based on their citizenship, immigration status or national origin in hiring, firing, recruitment or during the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify); or subjected to retaliation, may file a charge. The public can also call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); email IER@usdoj.gov; sign up for a free webinar; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER.
Source: United States Navy
A year ago this month, the fuel spill at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on November 20, 2021, significantly impacted the communities, people, and environment in and around the facility, affecting the lives of our service members, civilians, contractors, their families, and the people of Hawaii.
I am incredibly proud of the work of these communities over the past year. I am grateful for the partnership with the State and the people of Hawaii, for the continued progress by Joint Task Force Red Hill to safely defuel the facility, and for the work of Navy Region Hawaii to ensure the health and safety of our Navy families and the safe closure of the facility.
We must continue to take care of our people, the environment, and the communities that our Sailors, Marines, their families, and the people of Hawaii call home. Nothing is more important to me than ensuring we get this right, and the Department of the Navy remains steadfast in its commitment to the health, safety, and welfare of the environment, the people of Hawaii, and the communities of which we are a part.
Source: United States Navy
Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southeast Commanding Officer Capt. Miguel Dieguez announced his selections for the inaugural NAVFAC Southeast Project Manager and Architect of the Year awards, Nov. 10.
NAVFAC Southeast’s Project Manager of the Year was awarded to Michael Davis, project management supervisor, and Lt. Cmdr. Pete DeIuliis, Gulf Coast assistant operations officer, was selected as the Architect of the Year.
“I congratulate Mr. Davis and Lt. Cmdr. Deluliis on receiving this inaugural award,” said Dieguez. “NAVFAC implemented these two new programs allowing us to recognize our best and brightest employees in these disciplines, they both have demonstrated exceptional talent and achievements.”
Davis joined NAVFAC Southeast 13 years ago and now serves as the command’s Project Management Supervisor.
“I am humbled by this incredible honor,” said Davis. “When I consider the professional expertise and dedication of the project management community in our command it makes it very special.”
Davis led a team of five professional engineers and provided active engagement in the development and execution of South Atlantic projects, delivering engineering and project management services to five Public Works Departments (PWDs) and one Resident Officer in Charge of Construction (ROICC) office.
Davis stated, “It is very rewarding for me to collaborate with team members across all business lines within our command while managing a project from cradle to grave.”
Davis superbly managed a $112 million construction project, overcoming significant challenges and combining existing modernization plans with tornado-recovery scope in time to execute same-year funds to sustain refit operations of East Coast TRIDENT Ballistic Missile and Guided Missile Submarine (SSBN and SSGN) fleet.
He accelerated design and construction of two military construction projects (MILCONs) and a restoration-modernization project, totaling $220 million, for Fleet Readiness Center (FRC) Southeast’s F135 power module repair facility and engine test cell.
In addition to his project management duties, Davis filled a critical vacancy as the South Atlantic Deputy Assistant Operations Officer.
“I have always strived for excellence in each and every project and have taken pride in the teamwork it takes to deliver a quality end product,” said Davis. “I am very thankful to the people I work with and extremely grateful for the dedicated project management team of South Atlantic.”
Deluliis received the Architect of the Year award and is one of the few architects in both the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) and NAVFAC enterprise that consists mostly of different engineering disciplines.
“I’m very fortunate to be part of this great organization and honored to have been selected as the first Architect of the Year,” said Deluliis. “It’s easy to feel overlooked or underappreciated as an architect in such an engineering heavy environment but NAVFAC has always done their best to demonstrate commitment to architects and this award is the next step in that process.”
Deluliis became the first CEC architect to graduate from the Virginia Tech Innovation campus located in Alexandria, Virginia, with a degree in Architecture, Urban Design. Since graduation, he developed a formal partnership between the CEC and Virginia Tech that has been utilized by multiple CEC architects.
Deluliis held the position of Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division (FEAD) director at PWD Mayport in the midst of a generational buildup to construct facilities for the East Coast Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet. He directly led a team of over 40 construction and contracting professionals completing $260 million in work in place (WIP) and leading all of NAVFAC Southeast in 2020 with $120 million in WIP.
One of his most challenging projects was overseeing the Integrated Navigation Seamanship and Shiphandling Trainer (iNSST) project at Naval Station Mayport.
“This project was extremely important to the Navy and crucial to getting our sailors properly trained following the fatal collisions involving the USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain,” said Deluliis. “The schedule was extremely aggressive and there were unforeseen conditions right out of the gate, but the team there in Mayport did an amazing job to get this one completed.”
The iNSST is a computerized bridge simulator that enables bridge teams to practice realistic navigation and ship handling skills in a virtual environment.
Deluliis currently serves as the Gulf Coast Assistant Operations Officer at NAVFAC Southeast, where he recently led a team tasked with awarding over $400 million in Hurricane Sally disaster relief projects for Pensacola, Florida.
Davis and Deluliis will next represent NAVFAC Southeast in the NAVFAC enterprise-wide competition for Project Manager and Architect of the Year.