Plaintiff, who is currently a pretrial detainee at Paul Rein Detention Facility in Fort Lauderdale, asserts claims for violations of his Fourth Amendment rights, the Administrative Procedures Act, false imprisonment, and rights under the Florida Constitution arising from his continued detention in state custody apparently due to an immigration detainer, despite his eligibility for bond on the state charges. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
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Plaintiff, Carlos Tosco Gomez, is in custody at Metro West Detention Center and proceeding pro se. He alleges that he was severely beaten in the foyer of a Target store in Hollywood, Florida, in October 2019. Gomez alleges he was beaten by store security employees and was hospitalized as a result. He is suing for damages. The Court granted Gomez in forma pauperis status and, upon his request, referred the case to the Volunteer Lawyers Project. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
This civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 was screened and allowed to proceed on Plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment Due Process claims of deliberate indifference against four Defendants arising from their failure to protect him from being attacked by other inmates on August 20, 2021 while he was confined at the Pretrial Detention Center in Miami-Dade County. Defendants filed their Answer on April 8, 2022. Discovery is scheduled to close on January 10, 2023. A trial date has been set for May 8, 2023.
Volunteer representation would entail representing Plaintiff during all pretrial proceedings, including discovery, mediation, and at trial, if necessary. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
Pro Se Plaintiff, Leopold R. Brandenburg Sr., is a retired federal employee who has filed this wrongful termination action against the U.S. Department of State. Plaintiff alleges he was unjustly terminated from his consular job with the U.S. Embassy Mexico City after serving three years in a Limited Non-career Appointment. He seeks damages for the wrongful termination and health problems he claims resulted from stress and anxiety caused by the wrongful termination and subsequent litigation. Volunteer representation would entail representing Plaintiff Leopold Brandenburg during all pretrial proceedings, including discovery, mediation, and at trial, if necessary. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
On December 10, 2021, Plaintiff, Yuri Contreras, filed his Complaint against the Florida Department of Corrections, Centurion of Florida, and several employees of the Dade Correctional Institution: five correctional officers, the Warden, and the Inspector General. Plaintiff alleges Defendants failed to protect him from sexual assault by a fellow inmate, retaliated against him for filing a complaint regarding his sexual assault, and effectuated a grievance procedure that discriminated against him on account of his disability. Among Plaintiffs claims, he alleges correctional officers labelled him a snitch and other derogatory designations to incite violence from other inmates against Plaintiff. These officers also allegedly seized and destroyed documents pertaining to Plaintiffs grievances. Defendants conduct allegedly denied Plaintiff due process and equal protection under the law, in addition to violating the Eighth Amendment and Title II of the Americans with Disability Act.
Plaintiff requests injunctive relief and seeks compensatory and actual damages. Plaintiff has until February 1, 2022 to refile his Complaint. Plaintiff states he suffers from intellectual disabilities and only speaks Spanish. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
Plaintiff filed suit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security alleging disability discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation. This is Plaintiff's third attempt to file suit before the Court. Plaintiff has revised his Complaint each time in an effort to satisfy pleading requirements. Plaintiff's most recent Complaint claims he was employed by the Defendant as a Transportation Security Officer at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida. Plaintiff alleges he notified his supervisors of his disability, specifically ADHD, and requested an accommodation after he experienced adverse symptoms when utilizing a new procedural technique. Plaintiff claims he made several requests for accommodation and notified several supervisors of the issue. Plaintiff maintains he was not accommodated and rather was given a "Letter of Counseling." Plaintiff claims several members of management intentionally humiliated him when he was attempting to comply with the new policy, and as a result, Plaintiff alleges he was working in hostile work environment. Plaintiff maintains that he was constructively terminated as a result of his disability and request for an accommodation.
Plaintiff's Complaint is not lacking in factual allegations; however, the Complaint is oddly drafted, repetitive, and confusing. Plaintiff paid the filing fee in full and is in the process of attempting to serve Defendant. However, Defendant has not been served with process to date. Plaintiff must serve Defendant by January 8, 2020. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
Plaintiff brings an FLSA action against pro se Defendant Carlos Garcia alleging overtime wage violations. Clerks Default was entered against Mr. Garcia on October 7, 2021. Mr. Garcia is seeking a volunteer lawyer to represent him in this matter. The Jury Trial is set to commence on January 31, 2022. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
Plaintiff, Michael Grant, is a disabled attorney. Plaintiff is suing Defendant, Noel Stephen, the elected sheriff of Okeechobee County, and others for Retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and various state law intentional torts. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
Pro se Plaintiff, an incarcerated felon, filed a civil rights complaint asserting a claim for deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. Plaintiff alleges that his treating physicians failed to properly care for an infected toe, which was later amputated. He also alleges that his physicians subsequently failed to properly treat his toes following an accident in which he broke three toes. Both remaining defendants have answered the complaint. Volunteer representation would entail representing Plaintiff during all pretrial proceedings, including discovery, mediation, and at trial, if necessary. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
This is RICO Act case brought by a Florida limited liability company which owned various properties and the married couple the owns the LLC against various banks and individuals associated with those banks. The Plaintiffs alleges that the Defendants induced the Plaintiffs to take out a line of credit from Oakes Capital by representing that a line of credit would allow Plaintiffs to purchase properties without having to apply for a commercial mortgage, that Oakes Capital could provide a line of credit a very small interest rate, that the line of credit would have no impact on the Plaintiffs credit, and that Oakes Capital was a major financial institution that maintained billions of dollars in assets. The Plaintiffs contend that those were lies and Defendants never used any of their own money to fund the credit line and, instead, used the properties owned by the LLC as their own, securing loans and mortgages from banks by leveraging the properties. One of the individual Defendants, Joanna Galy, who is described as a manager and partner at Oakes Capital, is now seeking representation through the Volunteer attorney Program. The complaint alleges Galy helped advance, further, execute, conceal, conduct, participate in or carryout the scheme. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov