WERC Cases, Projects and Collaborations

At WERC 10th anniversary celebration, clinic staff celebrates with Wins clients, CPA organizer and Rosenberg program officer

WERC Victory in Gender Discrimination Case

After two years of litigation, the Women's Employment's Rights Clinic (WERC) has settled a multi-plaintiff gender discrimination case. The clinic represented six journey-level electricians in a Superior Court suit asserting that they were targeted for layoff on the basis of gender, in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. The employer claimed the reason for layoff was a work shortage, but the tradeswomen were removed from the worksite while the employer kept men with less time on the job.

After the trial judge resoundingly rejected the employer's fall 2007 motion for summary judgment, WERC began settlement discussions. The settlement agreement includes both a confidential monetary payment and requirements for ongoing training of supervisory personnel to address issues of gender discrimination and gender-based harassment.

Former WERC students Kenneth Linthicum, Robert Golde, Matthew Wood, and Dyana Prince conducted legal research or witness investigation early in the case. Julie Mercer and Betty Kwan worked on the summary judgment opposition, and Kara Farina prepared a request for judicial notice that accompanied our opposition to the summary judgment motion. Former WERC Graduate Fellow Nira Geevargis gathered crucial co-worker declarations for the summary judgment opposition, and WERC administrative assistant Fe Gonzalez put in countless hours providing support for the litigation.

It took tremendous courage for the clinic's clients, pioneers in women's entry in the trades, to come forward and challenge the layoffs. They feel--as the clinic does--that this case is an important step forward for women working in traditionally male trades, including the electrical industry.

WERC Submits Comments on the Family and Medical Leave Act U.S. Department of Labor
In February 2007, WERC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor in response to the agency's request for information on the Family and Medical Leave Act. More than 80 law professors from around the U.S, signed on to WERC's comments. Clinic students Yaromil Ralph (May '07) and Emily Hobbins (May '07) helped prepare the comments by researching both the legislative history of FMLA and recent sociological studies about the benefits of family leave.

Alumni Magazine Article about the Women's Employment Rights Clinic Golden Gate University School of Law Class Action, Fall/Winter 2004

The Wins Garment Sweatshop Case

In 2001, three San Francisco garment factories (Wins garment), shut their doors and declared bankruptcy after failing to pay wages to hundreds of immigrant workers. The Clinic joined with Sweatshop Watch and the Chinese Progressive Association to advocate for the workers. Through our collective advocacy, nearly $1 million was paid to the workers from a state garment fund established under the California Labor Code to compensate workers that cannot collect wages in situations like the Wins factory shutdown. After a lengthy FBI investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice also indicted the factory owners. In 2007, a federal jury convicted the owners of multiple counts of conspiracy, bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets, and money laundering in the operation of the Wins factories. The owners were now serving federal prison terms on those convictions. Read information about the criminal case at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/2007/2007_05_24_quan.conviction.press.html.

The Wins case is part of WERC's ongoing advocacy on behalf of garment workers.

WERC Issues Report On Enforcement Of Laws Governing The Garment Industry

The clinic was involved for several years in legislative and regulatory work that resulted in the passage of AB 633, the garment accountability bill, and the regulations implementing AB 633.

From 2004 through 2006, WERC participated in a collaborative project funded by the Racial Justice Collaborative, working with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Sweatshop Watch, the Asian Law Caucus, and the L.A. Garment Worker Center. In August 2005, the project issued a study entitled Reinforcing the Seams: Guaranteeing the Promise of California's Landmark Anti-Sweatshop Law. The study documents the successes and short-falls of what many had hoped would prove to be the country's strongest anti-sweatshop legislation, Assembly Bill 633 (AB 633), enacted in 1999. See the full report at http://apalc.org/pdffiles/SWReportFinal.pdf.

Wage & Hour: Cuadra v. Millan

In March 1998, the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Cuadra v. Millan, a case brought by WERC, along with the Asian Law Caucus, California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) and other Bay Area organizations. The suit challenged the state Labor Commissioner's method of calculating back pay claims. The Supreme Court held that wage awards must be calculated back from the date the employee files the wage claim, not from the date that the Labor Commissioner eventually holds a hearing. As a result of this ruling, low wage workers throughout California are now receiving larger back pay awards when they file minimum wage and overtime claims.

Unemployment Insurance Benefits: Posada v. UIAB

WERC successfully challenged a decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (UIAB) that found a group of over fifty Spanish speaking telemarketers at Sprint/La Conexion Familiar who were laid off without advance notice ineligible for unemployment benefits. The 1996 Superior Court decision held that workers could simultaneously receive unemployment benefits and payments from the employer for failure to comply with the 60 days advance notice of facility closure, required by the federal Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

WERC later drafted legislation to codify the victory in the Posada case, and Unemployment Insurance Code Section 1265.1, now provides that workers are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits even if they simultaneously receive funds from their employer related to violation of the WARN Act.

WERC has drafted and testified on numerous legislative amendments to improve the rights of low wage workers under the state Labor Code. Among the successes are laws that create penalties when employers violate meal and break period entitlements, penalties when employers pay workers with checks that bounce, requirements that employer post bonds when appealing wage claims, and the right to use sick leave to care for family members.

Sexual Harassment: Alfaro v. Tanimura & Antle

In 1999, the clinic represented Blanca Alfaro, a Latina farmworker, in a sexual harassment case against the Salinas based agricultural employer, Tanimura & Antle, who terminated Ms. Alfaro after she complained of egregious sexual harassment. With the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Rural Legal Assistance, and WERC representing Ms. Alfaro and others, the parties reached a landmark settlement agreement providing for broad-based injunction relief and $1.85 million in damages for our client and other applicants or employees subjected to sexual harassment. http://www.eeoc.gov/press/2-23-99.html

Equal Pay Class Action: Stiltz v. Beverages & More

In 1998 WERC successfully settled a class action Equal Pay Act and Title VII wage discrimination suit, brought on behalf of entry level sales clerks against a large beverage retailer. The consent decree provided for extensive injunctive relief, back pay and liquidated damages for those women paid lower wages than their male counterparts.

Gender and Race Discrimination: Adams v. Pinole Point Steel

WERC represented African American and female employees in a class action suit for gender and race discrimination in hiring and racial harassment at three East Bay steel processing plants. The hiring claims were settled in 1996 with a consent decree providing for an extensive injunctive relief and a classwide monetary settlement of $1.9 million.

WERC faculty and students are currently working in collaboration with several organizations to address job re-entry barriers for people with past criminal convictions. Along with the National Employment Law Project, All of Us or None (an organization of formerly incarcerated individuals), the East Bay Community Law Center "Clean Slate" practice, and others, we recent organized a statewide convening on both employment and voting rights. The convening was generously funded by the Rosenberg Foundation. One of the WERC's focus areas is the City College of San Francisco, which refuses to consider whether people with prior drug convictions are sufficiently rehabilitated to be employed at the college.

Low wage workers throughout the Bay Area need legal assistance but cannot afford to hire an attorney. WERC students help to fill that critical gap in legal services.

Unpaid Wage Claims Settled Before State Labor Commissioner: WERC student Joy Hlavenka successfully represented an employee who worked for a large janitorial company who did not receive overtime, and meal and break periods. The employer was represented by Littler, Mendelson. WERC Teaching Assistant Yaromil Velez Ralph ('07) assisted Joy with the Spanish-speaking client. Emily Hobbins ('08) successfully represented a young woman before the Labor Commissioner who was not paid her final wages, and when eventually paid, received a check with insufficient funds. In December 2006, with the help of WERC students Lark Curtin, Alice Wong and Dyana Prince, the clinic settled a case on behalf of an optometrist assistant who was denied overtime pay and forced to work during her lunch and breaks. Lark represented the client at a settlement conference and Dyana represented the client at a hearing before an administrative law judge.

Immigrant Worker Fights Retaliation and Intimidation: In the Fall of 2006, WERC students Tammy Martinelli and Monica Jenkins represented a pregnant worker fired after filing minimum wage violations. On the eve of settlement agreement, immigration authorities detained our client's partner and father of her child based on a letter accusing them of egregious criminal conduct. WERC students Galen Lichtenstein and Yaromil Velez researched retaliation and tort claims against her employer. The employer settled the case due to the tireless advocacy of the students and WERC Graduate Law Fellow Nira Geevargis.

Former Desk Clerk Wins Her Unemployment Insurance Hearing: During the Fall 2006 semester, WERC student Dyana Prince successfully represented a former desk clerk of a Single Residency Occupancy Hotel at an unemployment insurance administrative hearing, who was fired for alleged misconduct.

WERC participates actively as a "friend of the court" or amicus curiae in cases of importance to California workers. These cases include:

Murphy v. Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc., 40 Cal. 4th 1094 (2007)

Yanowitz v. L'Oreal USA, Inc., 36 Cal. 4th 1028 (2005)

Reynolds v. Bement 36 Cal. 4th 1075 (2005).

Sav-On Drug Stores, Inc. v. Superior Court, 34 Cal. 4th 319 (2004)

Beck v. Boeing CO., 60 Fed. Appx. 38; 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 3619 (9th Cir. 2003),

Smith v. Rae-Venter Law Group, 29 Cal. 4th 345 (2002) .

Post v. Palo/Haklar & Assocs., 23 Cal. 4th 942 (2000)..

Cortez v. Purolator Air Filtration Prods. Co23 Cal. 4th 163 (2000)

Morillion v. Royal Packing Co., 22 Cal. 4th 575 (2000)

The Clinic often works in collaboration with other legal and community-based groups. We recognize and honor the work of:

• California Rural Legal Assistance http://www.crla.org/ - WERC's co-counsel in Cuadra v. Millan and Alfaro v. Tanamura & Antle
• Sweatshop Watch, the Asian Pacific American Law Center (APALC) and the LA Garment Workers Center, our partners in the Garment Workers Collaborative, (funded by the Racial Justice Collaborative)
• Chinese Progressive Association Community - WERC's community partner in the Wins case http://www.cpasf.org
• Young Workers United, refers low wage workers to the clinic for representation by our students http://www.youngworkersunited.org/
• Equal Rights Advocates, co-counsel in Stiltz v. Beverages and More http://www.equalrights.org/
• All of Us or None, the National Employment Law Project/Second Chance Labor Project, and the East Bay Community Law Center Clean Slate Project - WERC's partners in advocacy on the rights of formerly incarcerated job applicants and employees
• http://www.nelp.org/nwp/second_chance_labor_project/index.cfm
• http://www.ebclc.org/
• http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/news/banthebox.htm
• The Bay Area Workers Rights Collaborative. With a major commitment of cy pres support made available by William Audet and the law firm of Alexander, Hawes & Audet, WERC helped launch a four-agency collaborative providing workers' rights clinics and other coordinated services throughout the Bay Area. The other partners include the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, the East Bay Community Law Center and the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center at the Santa Clara University School of Law.
• http://www.ebclc.org/
• http://www.scu.edu/law/kgaclc/
• http://www.las-elc.org/
• Asian Law Caucus - co-counsel in the Wins Garment case http://www.asianlawcaucus.org/site/alc_dev/
• Boxer and Gerson http://www.boxerlaw.com/attorneys.html
• Siegel and Lewitter http://www.sl-employmentlaw.com/
• Dickson Ross http://www.dicksonross.com/
• Law Office of Judith Kurtz