Workers of outed David Duke campaign contributor may be eligible for unemployment benefits

Workers of outed David Duke campaign contributor may be eligible for unemployment benefits

By Lynda Carson — September 11, 2017

There is some good news for the workers of Clubhouse Jager in Minneapolis who quit their jobs when their employer Julius De Roma was outed as a campaign contributor to David Duke’s failed 2016 Senate campaign.

The lawmakers of Minnesota decided that around 20 employees of Club Jager in Minneapolis who quit their jobs and closed the club after their boss Julius DeRoma was outed for being a campaign contributor to David Duke, are eligible for unemployment benefits, if they need them.

This may possibly mean that unemployment benefits exist for the workers of O'mei restaurant in Santa Cruz, who quit their jobs after a boycott occurred because their boss Roger Grigsby was outed as a campaign contributor to David Duke's failed 2016 Senate campaign.

On August 17, 2016, I wrote an article exposing Roger Grigsby, owner of O’mei restaurant in Santa Cruz, as a campaign contributor to David Duke’s failed 2016 Senate campaign. My story resulted in a boycott of the restaurant, employees quitting their jobs, and the closure of the restaurant.

Additionally, on August 26, I wrote an article exposing some campaign contributors to David Duke in Minneapolis, Massachusetts, and beyond, including Julius DeRoma, owner of Club Jager, in Minneapolis. This story also resulted in a boycott of the club, employees quitting their jobs, and the closure of the club by the employees.

I wrote both stories after the recent violent white supremacist rally that David Duke attended in Charlottesville, which resulted in blood in the streets of Charlottesville, and the death of Heather Heyer when she was run down by an alleged Nazi sympathizer while she was protesting against the KKK, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists. Reportedly, 19 others were injured when the Nazi sympathizer plowed into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators.

According to wikipedia, David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white nationalist, politician, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, Holocaust denier, convicted felon, and former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

What happened in Charlottesville bothered me so much, I felt that I had to do something in response. So I decided to out some of the prominent campaign contributors to David Duke’s failed Senate campaign in 2016, and I sent my stories to the local media in the Bay Area, including to the media in Minnesota, including Minneapolis, and elsewhere.

I also sent my stories to Club Jager in Minneapolis, and the Huge Improve Theater, located in a building owned by Julius DeRoma in Minneapolis.

Some of the businesses connected to those who have been outed recently for making campaign contributions to David Duke’s failed 2016 Senate campaign, including Roger Grigsby, owner of O’meil restaurant in Santa Cruz, and Julius De Roma, owner of Clubhouse Jager in Minneapolis, did not fare too well according to a recent report by Newsweek, and the New York Times.

Both business owners were also outed in an original story that appeared in the San Francisco Bay View Newspaper, and the mainstream media followed suit with their own stories as the boycotts occurred and the longtime establishments reportedly have been shut down.

Much to my surprise, my stories gained a lot of national coverage after there was a boycott of the O’mei restaurant in Santa Cruz, and a boycott of Club Jager, in Minneapolis, with employees in both longtime establishments refusing to work for the owners.

But the real story is not about me, or how I decided to out the campaign contributors to David Duke. The real story is all about the amazing people who decided to make a stand against the forces of hate, the KKK, white supremacy, neo-Nazis, and the likes of KKK fascist David Duke. This includes those who quit their jobs, in addition to those who openly declared that they were going to boycott both longtime establishments owned by Roger Grigsby in Santa Cruz, and Julius De Roma in Minneapolis. Sometimes there is still justice in this world, and the people have spoken.

As part of that justice, the lawmakers of Minnesota decided that around 20 employees of Club Jager in Minneapolis who quit their jobs and closed the club after their boss Julius DeRoma was outed for being a campaign contributor to David Duke, are eligible for unemployment benefits, if they need them.

According to a September 8, 2017 letter from some Minnesota State Representatives (lawmakers), “We are writing you today to encourage the Department of Employment and Economic Development to faithfully administer the law and honor requests by former employees of Club Jager for unemployment benefits. Unemployment benefits, as you well know, are generally unavailable to workers who voluntarily quit their jobs. Minnesota statute, however, provides numerous exceptions to this general rule, which are designed to protect workers while maintaining the integrity of our UI system. Longstanding law contains exceptions for workers who quit their employment because of a serious illness, domestic abuse, stalking, the loss of chid care, or to relocate with their spouse. Further, an exception that has been on the books for 60 years allows workers to remain eligible for unemployment benefits when they quit employment for a good reason. This particular exception is specifically limited in statute to entail reasons that are 1) directly related to employment and for which the employer is responsible, 2) adverse to the worker, and 3) would compel an average, reasonable worker to quit rather than remain in the job.”

“The situation at Club Jager clearly meets this threshold. Aside from the indignity of working for an owner who supports white supremacy, the working conditions at Club Jager became untenable after the Duke story was released. Employees report receiving threatening phone calls at the club, and even being threatened and taunted on the street when recognized as a Club Jager employee. Moreover, the media reports actually led to white supremacists becoming customers at Club Jager in order to show support for Mr. De Roma and his contributions to Duke.”

“Staying on the job would require employees to endure nothing less than to work for an owner who supports white supremacy. It could require them to serve countless groups of white supremacists who are drawn to Club Jager for its notoriety as bar that is sympathetic to racists, white supremacists and Nazi’s, Further, it would be compel employees to withstand threats from members of the public who are outraged by Mr. DeRoma’s support for racism. No one should be expected to continue to work in such a hostile and dysfunctional environment. At a minimum, workers who left Club Jager for a principled, legitimate and humane reason should be able to collect unemployment benefits if they are unable to find new jobs.”

“While it is impossible for legislators to predict the specific situations that will arise when we pass a piece of legislation, the exceptions in Minn.Stat. 268.095 are clearly intended to apply to situations like the one encountered by the workers at Club Jager. These workers are not out to game the UI system, but are simply hard-working Minnesotans who made the same decision all of us would have made in that situation. Our laws, including the exceptions in Minn.Stat. 268.095, are intended to protect people like this."

“We, the undersigned, strongly encourage DEED to approve applications for UI benefits sought by the former employees of Club Jager, for which they would otherwise be eligible.”

Signed by State Representatives, Jim Davnie, Tim Mahoney, Erin Maye Quade, Jason Metsa, Rena Moran, Mike Sundin, Paul Thissen, and Jean Wagenius.

From what I can tell, earlier today, it was the City Pages of Minneapolis, who originally reported on the decision of lawmakers in Minnesota to encourage DEED to approve applications for UI benefits sought by the former employees of Club Jager, for which they would otherwise be eligible.

Recently, Robert W. Hallam, of Stockton, was also outed as a campaign contributor to David Duke, in addition to James Baker of Ephrata, Washington.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

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