Racial Equality Program

The Racial Equality Program addresses employment problems faced by persons because of their race, and employment practices that are racially discriminatory. The Program is also committed to protecting affirmative actions plans when threatened, and enforcing statutory or regulatory hiring/employment requirements in economic development projects in order to "level the playing field" in the availability of jobs for racial minorities. As part of the Program, the LAS-ELC has developed special projects in the areas of Affirmative Action and Non-Traditional Employment.

Litigation, especially of class-action cases on behalf of racial minorities in the workplace, is the Program's primary tool for achieving its enormous success over the years. For example, in a historical case against the San Francisco Fire Department, the work of the Program resulted in a more integrated fire department, increased opportunity for people of color in the department and the appointment of the first Black fire chief in the City's history. More recently, in Nevada, the Program team litigated on behalf of the Professional Black Firefighters of Clark County in a similar suit, obtaining over $600,000 in damages for the organization. The Program team also successfully argued two federal appeals involving challenges to the San Francisco Minority and Women's Contracting Ordinance.

In the LAS-ELC's emerging area of Economic Development work, the organization drafted a "First Source" hiring agreement for the Gateway 101 Project in East Palo Alto. The agreement resulted in tremendous hiring and employment opportunities for the residents of East Palo Alto.

In 2004, the Program team, along with co-counsel Pamela Y. Price, successfully represented at trial an African-American individual who had been subject to years of racial slurs and denial of training and employment opportunities. This case, National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Morgan, was argued in front of the Supreme Court by co-counsel with the team's support, resulting in the development of new Title VII law regarding how far back in time a victim of employment discrimination or workplace harassment may hold his or her employer liable for unlawful conduct. The successful appeal led to the Program's ultimate victory in federal District Court.

In 2001, the LAS-ELC filed a class-action lawsuit against Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc. (formerly Ingalls Shipbuilding Company), the largest private employer in the State of Mississippi, on behalf of potentially over 5,000 Black employees who allege that their employer has for decades maintained a racially hostile work environment and discriminated against them in promotions and other terms and conditions of employment. Co-counsel in this matter is Sandra Jaribu Hill of the Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights.

The LAS-ELC and its Racial Equality Program attorneys have a long history of litigating cases regarding racial discrimination and have earned an excellent reputation in the field. The LAS-ELC is well respected among leading civil rights organizations nationwide, the courts, and key political figures. The cases taken by the Program are often referred by civil rights organizations and/or other attorneys, or come to LAS-ELC as a result of the attorneys' excellent reputations in the field.

If you have a complaint and believe you and/or your class fall(s) into the category of workers the Racial Equality Program seeks to serve, you may call for information about one of the LAS-ELC's Workers' Rights Clinics at (415) 864-8208 to determine if a referral is appropriate.

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The Affirmative Action Project

The Affirmative Action Project is dedicated to preserving and defending Affirmative Action programs already in place, and to assisting in the development of such programs in job sectors where women and minorities are seriously underrepresented.

Almost entirely litigation-based, the Affirmative Action project seeks opportunities to develop remedies in race-related workplace discrimination cases that will lead to greater opportunity for women and people of color in the workplace, and to intervene or file amicus briefs in actions where affirmative action programs are under attack.

Brief History
The Affirmative Action Project was established in 1994 as an important part of the existing Race and Gender programs, and as a response to a rash of attacks on Affirmative Action programs brought by private plaintiffs.

Additionally, having been involved in a number of cases where the issue of race and gender-conscious relief was a very large issue, and where the LAS-ELC's work in the area resulted in advanced opportunity for minority and women workers, the LAS-ELC saw an opportunity to bring affirmative action considerations to the forefront when seeking and establishing long-term remedies in cases regarding job sectors where women and minorities are seriously underrepresented.

Past Work
Proposition 209 - The LAS-ELC joined a number of civil rights organizations, taking the role of counsel of record against Proposition 209, a proposition that sought to outlaw the use of race and gender for decision-making purposes by governmental agencies in the areas of contracting, education and employment.

The LAS-ELC has filed amicus briefs in a number of cases where plaintiffs attacked federal affirmative action programs - several at the request of the Clinton Administration, which recognized the effectiveness of the LAS-ELC's work in the area of affirmative action. Significant cases in which the LAS-ELC became involved include the following:

• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, 115 S.Ct. 2097 (1995)
  
• L. Tarango Trucking, et. al. v, Contra Costa County, et. al.
  
• C.S. McCrossan Const. V. Cook, et. al.
  
• Dynalantic Corp. v United States Department of Defense, et. al.

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The Non-Traditional Employment Project

The Non-Traditional Employment Project (NTEP) is a national initiative of the Legal Aid Society- Employment Law Center. NTEP is committed to expanding access to skilled trades, public safety positions and blue collar jobs to women and people of color.

Background and History
The Department of Labor defines certain occupational areas as "non-traditional" because women comprise less than 25% of that workforce. DOL statistics from 1999 show that in the protective services (e.g. firefighters, law enforcement), women on average make up less than 14% of the labor pool; in the building and construction trades, the figure drops to less than 2%. Historically, women have been excluded from these jobs because they have been passed from father to son or uncle to nephew.

Because these types of jobs pay a living wage, do not require a college degree, and offer opportunities for advancement, blue collar and non-traditional jobs are crucial for people without extensive formal education who aspire to rise above poverty level. Many occupations in this area also offer extensive training or apprenticeships, thus giving workers portable skills that can be used wherever he or she chooses to live. Such jobs include the protective service industry (government jobs which offer stability and health insurance) and manufacturing or construction industries (private sector jobs providing skills and good wages).

The Non-Traditional Employment Project (NTEP) was established in September, 1999 as a national initiative of the Legal Aid Society- Employment Law Center and is committed to expanding access to blue-collar and non-traditional jobs to women and people of color. (Although men of color are usually not included in the designation of "non-traditional jobs," NTEP's activities include race discrimination cases in the protective services and skilled trades, where people of color are similarly underrepresented and face significant obstacles to advancement.) Current objectives of the NTEP are to:

• Develop a national resource network of tradeswomen, advocates and public interest lawyers to define the current issues and needs;
• Pursue litigation that will have both regional and national impact; and
• Identify a national litigation strategy to be launched in the next one to two years.

NTEP comes at a critical time in the history of women and work in this country: on the one hand, the number of women in skilled trades and related occupational areas remains very low, and the recent economic downturn, combined with the effects of welfare reform, are intensifying pressures on low-income women facing a competitive job market. At the same time, new regulations and unmet federal goals for women in non-traditional jobs create a window of opportunity.

Current Litigation:

1. Thompson et. al v. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc.: A landmark race discrimination and harassment lawsuit in Mississippi that potentially involves more than 5,000 African American workers at the state's largest private employer. The plaintiffs have alleged both that their employer maintained a racially hostile work environment--which has included the presence of nooses and graphic hate speech in the shipyard--and has discriminated against them with regard to promotions for decades. The LAS-ELC is co-counsel in this case.
2. Dickson v. Regents of the University of California, et. al.: Two cases against the University of California at Berkeley involve the sexual harassment and unlawful termination of a woman stagehand at Zellerbach Auditorium, the university's major performing arts venue. She is only the third woman to ever be admitted to her union, which, far from protecting her, only reinforced and contributed to the hostile work environment, sex and disability discrimination, and retaliation she experienced. The LAS-ELC is the sole counsel for the Plaintiff in this case.
3. The LAS-ELC also represented groups of women and minority firefighters against the Inglewood Fire Department who alleged race and sex discrimination in hiring and promotions. The case raised important issues regarding the firefighter union's obligations to its female and African American members. If you have a complaint and believe you fall into the category of workers the NTEP seeks to serve, you may contact the LAS-ELC's Worker's Rights Clinics at (415) 864-8208, to determine if a referral to the NTEP is appropriate.