Equal Rights Advocates
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Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) is an American
The organization advocates for the
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 received $3 million settlement, 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 faced retaliation at work. In 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.
In 1999, ERA and co-counsel settled a
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
In 1985, ERA sued the City and County of San Francisco on behalf of Louette Colombano, a 9-year veteran of the city police force, who was subjected to severe, life-threatening harassment, including extreme sexual harassment, alongside other women officers in the city’s first class to include women police recruits. (Colombano v. City and County of San Francisco) After a fraught public lead-up, ERA reached a $800,000 settlement for Colombano on the eve of the trial.
In 1981, the organization brought a class-action sex discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Bernardi v. Yeutter), resulting in a consent decree with inclusive hiring goals and the creation of a $1.5 million affirmative action fund. In 1980, ERA sued Bank of American on behalf of an employee who experienced egregious sex and race discrimination at work (Miller v. Bank of America). This landmark lawsuit extended existing legal precedent to include sexual harassment, resulting in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that employers are liable for injury inflicted by a supervisor. ERA and co-counsel negotiated a landmark Consent Decree requiring the Secretary of Labor in 1979, establishing goals and timetables for hiring women federal contractors. (Advocates for Women v. Usery).
The organization appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge a school district’s forced maternity leave policy and the denial of accrued sick pay for pregnancy-related disabilities in 1978 (Berg v. Richmond Unified School District). Following remand by the Court, a settlement was reached. In 1977, ERA successfully challenged Greyhound’s policy of excluding qualified women bus drivers through minimum height and weight requirements in 1977. (Mueller v. Greyhound Lines West) As a result, Greyhound eliminated the sexist requirements and established female hiring goals.
In 1974, the year the organization was founded, ERA co-founder Wendy Williams argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that the state cannot deny disability insurance coverage to women disabled by pregnancy. (Geduldig v. Aiello) The Supreme Court ruled in favor of discrimination that day, but victory came 4 years later, when Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
Equity in schools and universities
In 2019, ERA launched an initiative to End Sexual Violence in Education, and the nation's first
In 2018, ERA with co-counsel represented two scientific researchers at a biomedical research institute[
The organization played a key role in developing one of the country’s most progressive K-12 public school sexual harassment policies for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in Oakland, California. ERA and Alliance for Girls worked directly with students at the school to develop innovative new policies, which were then passed unanimously by the Board of Education, in 2017.
The organization represented players on the U.C. Berkeley Women’s Field Hockey team in a 2016 lawsuit after the university revoked the team's on-campus practice and competition field privileges to construct a new practice field for men’s football and lacrosse. After filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights on their behalf, ERA negotiated a settlement resulting in a new on-campus field and monetary relief for the student athletes. 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]
ERA and the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund resolved the first case to confirm that schools can be held liable under Title IX for sexual harassment of students by other students in 1997 (Doe v. Petaluma). 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
In 1975, 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
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.
National Free Legal Advice & Counseling Hotline
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
- Advocate
- Legal rights of women in history
- List of women's rights activists
- List of women's rights organizations
References
- ^ (Aviles v. BAE Systems
- ^ Bojorquez v. ABM Industries, et al.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Rochman, Bonnie (May 11, 2012). "Should Pregnant Women Be Accommodated in the Workplace?". Time – via healthland.time.com.
- ^ May 10, Cynthia Foster; PM, 2012 at 05:38. "Local Legal Nonprofit Pushes for More Federal Protection for Pregnant Workers". The Recorder.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Blog". MomsRising.
- ^ Martin, Nina. "The Impact and Echoes of the Wal-Mart Discrimination Case". ProPublica.
- Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Jones, Ashby (December 30, 2013). "Law 2014: Within Employment Discrimination, It's a Wage-and-Hour World". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
- ^ Green, Erica L. (January 25, 2018). "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Is Sued Over Sexual Assault Guidance (Published 2018)". The New York Times.
- ^ Egelko, Bob (February 17, 2012). "UC Davis settles in sex-bias case over athletics". SFGate.
- ^ "UC Davis settles discrimination suit by 3 former female wrestlers". February 16, 2012.
- ^ "ERA: Advice and Counseling". Archived from the original on 2012-08-12. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
- ^ "Community Information Database - Santa Cruz Public Libraries". Archived from the original on 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
- ^ "Legal Referral Network". Archived from the original on 2013-06-09.