Equal Rights Advocates

Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) is an American non-profit women's rights organization that was founded in 1974. ERA is a legal organization dedicated to advancing rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of all gender identities through legal cases.

The organization specializes in advocating for the rights of women in minimum wage jobs, women of color, and immigrant women. ERA is based in San Francisco and led by executive director Noreen Farrell.

Major initiatives and involvement

Workplace justice

In 2018, ERA co-sponsored and played a role in passing a package of anti-sexual harassment legislation, strengthening protections for working people across California, holding neglectful employers accountable, and making it easier for victims to get justice and healing.

In 2016, ERA settled a lawsuit on behalf of women employed by BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, who experienced a sexually hostile work environment, and was discriminated against in promotion and job assignment decisions.[1] The women workers received $3 million in back pay, and BAE made significant changes to its discrimination and harassment policies.

In 2015, ERA sued facilities management giant ABM Industries, Inc.,[2] on behalf of night-shift janitor Maria Bojorquez, who was sexually assaulted, harassed, and retaliated against at work. Under the settlement, ABM agreed to thorough outside reviews for investigations of rape or attempted rape at their company, benefitting thousands of current and future workers.

In May 2012, ERA released a report on pregnancy accommodation law: Expecting A Baby, Not A Lay-Off: Why Federal Law Should Require the Reasonable Accommodation of Pregnant Workers.[3] ERA is a main proponent of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.[4][5][6]

In June 2011, Equal Rights Advocates was among the co-counsel (including the Impact Fund, Cohen Milstein Sellers Toll, PLLC, and other firms) representing Betty Dukes and women Wal-Mart plaintiffs across the county in the historic Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores class action. Dukes v. Wal-Mart was a class action sex discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores challenging its policies and practices of denying equal pay and promotion opportunities to its female workforce. The Supreme Court's ruling against the lawsuit has had a lasting legacy in class action litigation.[7][8][9][10]

In 1999, ERA and co-counsel settled this pregnancy discrimination lawsuit over the Pacific Bell's denial of early retirement benefits to workers who took maternity leave (Pallas v. Pacific Bell). The case covered a class of nearly 10,000 women with a settlement of more than $25 million.

In 1989, ERA challenged the federal government's policy of setting employee salaries based upon earnings in previous jobs, a practice that institutionalized and perpetuated sex- and race-based wage discrimination (Bell v. Kemp).

Equity in schools

In 2019, ERA launched an initiative to End Sexual Violence in Education, and the nation's first pro bono attorney network dedicated to providing free legal help to student survivors.

In 2018, ERA joined forces with other national advocacy groups to sue the Department of Education and Secretary Betsy DeVos over attempts to reverse Title IX protections.[11] This lawsuit is ongoing.

In 2018, ERA with co-counsel represented two scientific researchers at a biomedical research institute in a lawsuit over their employers' inadequate response to sexual harassment and retaliation. The settlement resulted in monetary damages for clients, and the establishment of a model Title IX program specifically focused on curbing the type of sexual harassment common in research labs. These changes helped 2,800+ current graduate students and employees, plus thousands more in years to come.

In February 2012, ERA reached a 1.3 million dollar settlement with UC Davis in a Title IX case ERA filed in 2001 on behalf of UC Davis female wrestlers.[12][13]

In 1993, ERA filed the country's first Title IX class complaint over a "hostile environment" with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights on behalf of students and faculty at U.C. Santa Cruz, who wanted to challenge the rampant sexual assault and harassment on their campus.

In 1995, on behalf of 10-year-old soccer player Amy Love, ERA filed a class-action lawsuit against the California Youth Soccer Association (Love v. California Youth Soccer Association), resulting in the Association repealing its ban on girls in soccer league competitions. One year later, Title IX went into effect, prompting greatly increased participation by girls and young women in student athletic programs.

Stronger California

ERA leads the workplace justice efforts, including on fair pay and harassment for Stronger California which is a collaborative campaign of over 50 advocacy groups and coalitions from across the state. ERA co-founded and chairs this cross-sector network, that works to help Californians combat poverty and build assets, achieve workplace justice and family-friendly workplaces, and expand access to affordable, quality child care.

Equal Pay Today

ERA co-founded with partners across the country the Equal Pay Today campaign, which works to close the wage gap that most harms women of color and low-paid working women.

Established in the early 1980s, ERA's Advice & Counseling (A&C) Program consists of three components: a toll-free, multi-lingual hotline; Know Your Rights brochures; and in-person trainings. The A&C hotline is staffed by law clerks who receive training and supervision from ERA attorneys. ERA serves over a thousand callers each year, providing legal assistance and tracking trends that need immediate redress.[14][15][16]

See also

References
  1. (Aviles v. BAE Systems
  2. Bojorquez v. ABM Industries, et al.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2012-07-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Rochman, Bonnie (May 11, 2012). "Should Pregnant Women Be Accommodated in the Workplace?" – via healthland.time.com.
  5. May 10, Cynthia Foster; PM, 2012 at 05:38. "Local Legal Nonprofit Pushes for More Federal Protection for Pregnant Workers". The Recorder.
  6. "Blog". MomsRising.
  7. Martin, Nina. "The Impact and Echoes of the Wal-Mart Discrimination Case". ProPublica.
  8. Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
  9. PLLC, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. "Wal-Mart Sex Discrimination Class Action Plaintiffs Urge Supreme Court To Uphold Historic Civil Rights and Workers' Laws in Brief Filed Today". www.prnewswire.com.
  10. Jones, Ashby (December 30, 2013). "Law 2014: Within Employment Discrimination, It's a Wage-and-Hour World" – via www.wsj.com.
  11. Green, Erica L. (January 25, 2018). "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Is Sued Over Sexual Assault Guidance (Published 2018)" – via NYTimes.com.
  12. Egelko, Bob (February 17, 2012). "UC Davis settles in sex-bias case over athletics". SFGate.
  13. "UC Davis settles discrimination suit by 3 former female wrestlers". February 16, 2012.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-08-12. Retrieved 2012-07-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2014-01-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "Legal Referral Network". Archived from the original on 2013-06-09.
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