The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a consent decree with the Board of Education of Berkeley School District 87 in Berkeley, Ill. that, if approved by the court, will resolve a religious accommodations lawsuit filed in December 2010.

"The Department of Justice takes seriously its role in enforcing the laws that protect people against such discrimination, and it moved early to respond to this crisis," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

The Justice Department announced today a lawsuit against the manager and owner of the Geneva Terrace Apartments in La Crosse, Wisc., alleging discrimination against African-Americans who were seeking to rent apartments at the complex.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement of its lawsuit alleging that Equity Homes Inc, PBR LLC, BBR LLC and Shane Hartung violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by failing to provide features that would make their multi-family housing developments in Sioux Falls accessible to people with disabilities as required by the Fair Housing Act.

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the owners of Yorkshire Apartments, Thackeray Ledges and Wales Ridge Apartments in Massillon, Ohio, for discriminating on the basis of race and familial status when renting their apartments in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the owners and managers of 23 rental homes in Magee, Miss., for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against families with children.

The Justice Department today announced that Roger Harris, Hediger Enterprises Inc., Carroll Management Group, Forum Manor Associates L.P. and Forum Manor LLC have agreed to pay $295,000 in monetary damages and civil penalties to resolve a Fair Housing Act lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, race and sex discrimination, retaliation and intimidation at Forum Manor Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex in Rolla, Missouri.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit yesterday against a California municipality and a homeowners’ association for discriminating against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska and employees of UNK for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against students with disabilities.

A federal jury today convicted Danilo Velasquez, aka “Triste,” a local leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, in federal court in San Francisco of racketeering conspiracy and related charges.

The Justice Department announced today the launch of a live webinar series on avoiding workplace discrimination. The webinars coincide with the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which created the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC).

Marvin Carcamo, aka “Cyco,” 31; Angel Guevara, aka “Peloncito,” 30; Moris Flores, 22; Jonathan Cruz-Ramirez, 22; and Erick Lopez, aka “Spooky,” 23, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Alsup in the Northern District of California.

The Department of Justice today filed a lawsuit against the University of California, San Diego Medical Center, alleging that the medical center discriminated in the employment eligibility verification process against people who are authorized to work in the United States.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement of its lawsuit against the owners, developers, architect and civil engineers of Park Place Apartments, a 276-unit complex in Louisville, Ky., resolving allegations that those involved in the design and construction of the complex discriminated against people with disabilities.

The sixth San Francisco-area member of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) convicted in August 2011 on racketeering related charges was sentenced today to life in prison.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with S.W.J.J. Inc., or Sernak Farms, based in Weatherly, Penn., to settle allegations that Sernak engaged in discrimination on the basis of citizenship status by preferring to hire temporary visa holders over U.S. citizen applicants and adversely treating its U.S. citizen employees.

The Justice Department filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit yesterday against Home Care Giver Services Inc., a Florida corporation that provides home health aides, certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses to customers who seek home-based care givers.

The $3 billion total for fiscal year 2011 includes a record $2.8 billion in recoveries under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which is the government’s primary civil remedy to redress false claims for federal money or property, such as Medicare benefits, payments on military contracts, and federal subsidies and loans.

The heads of the antitrust agencies of the United States, Canada and Mexico met today to reaffirm their commitment to effective enforcement cooperation.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a consent decree with the town of Rome, Wis., to resolve allegations that the town retaliated against an employee after she made a complaint of discrimination based on sex.

The Department of Justice today filed its largest residential fair lending settlement in history to resolve allegations that Countrywide Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries engaged in a widespread pattern or practice of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers in their mortgage lending from 2004 through 2008.

The Justice Department announced a settlement today with Garland Sales Inc., a Georgia rug manufacturer, resolving allegations that it engaged in discrimination by imposing unnecessary documentary requirements on individuals of Hispanic origin when establishing their eligibility to work in the United States, and that it retaliated against a worker for protesting his discriminatory treatment.

A former CIA officer, John Kiriakou, was charged today with repeatedly disclosing classified information to journalists, including the name of a covert CIA officer and information revealing the role of another CIA employee in classified activities.

Columbus Manufacturing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus Foods LLC, has agreed to pay a penalty and make significant upgrades to settle Clean Air Act violations.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, Fla., alleges that Lee County discriminated against tradesworkers Marco Ferreira, Eduardo Rivera and Leonides Sepulveda by subjecting them to racial and ethnic harassment over a period of approximately two years beginning in 2007 and ending in 2009.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a settlement that, if approved by the court, will resolve the department’s allegations that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Department of Correction violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against female applicants for entry-level correction officer and correction program officer positions at the Massachusetts Department of Correction.

Danilo Velasquez, aka “Triste,” a local leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in San Francisco by U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup to life in prison.

The Justice Department today announced a $20,000 consent decree that resolves a lawsuit alleging that a Park City, Utah, condominium association and its management company violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to grant a resident’s request for a reasonable accommodation.

A federal court announced last week that it had determined the aggregate amount of back pay damages owed to African-American and Hispanic applicants who were discriminated against by the city of New York in the hiring of entry-level firefighters for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).

The Justice Department and Puerto Rico-based Indrescom Security Technology Inc. have agreed to settle allegations that the company discriminated against a work-authorized individual during the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 process by requiring him to present a lawful permanent resident card, despite the fact that the employee had already produced documents establishing his identity and authority to work in the United States, and not allowing him to work when he did not produce the card.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with Wisconsin officials to help ensure that military servicemembers, their family members and U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in Wisconsin’s April 3, 2012, federal presidential primary election.

The Justice Department reached a settlement agreement today with Onward Healthcare, a healthcare staffing company based in Wilton, Conn., resolving allegations that the company posted discriminatory job advertisements on its home page and third party websites that limited its jobs to U.S. citizens.

The Justice Department announced today that the Civil Rights Division will monitor the election on April 3, 2012, in Milwaukee.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed a lawsuit alleging that GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc., a mortgage banker with operations in seven states, violated federal fair lending laws by charging African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates and fees on home mortgage loans because of their race or national origin, not based on their creditworthiness.

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou was indicted today for allegedly repeatedly disclosing classified information to journalists, including the name of a covert CIA officer and information revealing the role of another CIA employee in classified activities.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has settled its lawsuit against the city of New Berlin, Wis., for race discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the city of Jacksonville, Fla., alleging that the city is engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against African-Americans in its fire and rescue department in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit challenges the fire department’s use of written examinations for the promotion of firefighters to four ranks – Lieutenant, Captain, and District Chief, all in the suppression line, and Engineer.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a consent decree with Waupaca County, Wis., to resolve allegations that the county discriminated against an employee by denying her a promotion because of her sex.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has settled its lawsuit against the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) for discriminating against women on maternity leave in violation of the Fair Housing Act. This settlement is the department’s first involving discrimination against women and families in mortgage insurance.

The Justice Department announced today that the Civil Rights Division will monitor the election on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, in Milwaukee. The monitoring will ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group. In addition, the act requires certain covered jurisdictions to provide language assistance during the election process. The city of Milwaukee is required to provide assistance in Spanish.

The Justice Department announced that it has reached two settlements today resolving claims that health care providers refused to serve people with HIV in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has returned an indictment charging Crystal Ann Poole with evading income taxes for over eight years and for defrauding a federally insured bank in Mississippi, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

The Department of Justice today announced the filing of a lawsuit against the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) alleging that NDF discriminated against Ms. Tawnya Meyer, a former employee, when they fired her soon after she announced her pregnancy.

A Delaware company pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Eastern District of Louisiana to negligently discharging oil into the bayous of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, the Department of Justice announced.

The Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) Working Group announced new resources today in the ongoing effort to investigate misconduct, including the launch of a RMBS website to report fraud and the creation of a coordination team to facilitate the various investigations underway around the country.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) to resolve allegations that the NYCTA is engaged in a pattern or practice of religious discrimination.

Wolfgang Roessel of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida to filing a false tax return for 2007, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

SunTrust Mortgage Inc., the mortgage lending subsidiary of the nation’s 11th-largest commercial bank, has agreed to pay $21 million to resolve a lawsuit by the Department of Justice that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination that increased loan prices for many of the qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers who obtained loans between 2005 and 2009 through SunTrust Mortgage’s regional retail offices and national network of mortgage brokers.

The Justice Department announced today it has entered into a consent decree with Pierce County, Wash., that, if approved by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, will resolve allegations that the county discriminated against a female employee by retaliating against her in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII is a federal statute which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion and protects employees who file complaints under any of those bases.

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor elections on June 5, 2012, in the following jurisdictions to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights statutes: Alameda, Fresno and Riverside Counties, Calif.; Cibola and Sandoval Counties, N.M.; Shannon County, S.D.; and the city of Milwaukee.