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Frequently Asked Questions
ERA's Advice and Counseling Hotline is here to help you
understand your legal rights. Before you call, please read
the following Frequently Asked Questions. You may also review
ERA's Know Your Rights brochures for information on
the legal aspects of your situation.
How the Advice & Counseling Hotline Works
Calling the Hotline
About ERA
Who Can Use the Hotline
Emergency Calls
How the Advice & Counseling
Hotline Works
What is the Advice and Counseling Hotline?
ERA's Advice and Counseling Hotline is here to help you understand
your legal rights and can provide attorney referrals if you
are facing sex discrimination, sexual harassment at work or
at school, pregnancy discrimination, problems with family/medical
leave, and other gender discrimination related employment
issues.
How does the Hotline work?
Most Hotline counselors are law students or volunteer attorneys.
Your information will not be disclosed to anyone outside of
ERA's legal team.
When you speak with a counselor, she will go over how the
Hotline works and ask for your contact information and some
background information about you. The counselor will then
ask you to explain your situation. She will write down your
problem and questions, and find out when you are available
for a follow-up call. She will then end the call.
The counselor will research your questions and consult with
her supervising attorney. When her research is complete,
the counselor will call you back. During this call, your counselor
will explain the law and she may also explain how to take
legal action, give non-legal suggestions, or give you the
names of attorneys or legal organizations in your area that
can provide further assistance.
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I can't call when the Hotline
is open. What should I do?
A message service is available 24 hours a day, seven days
a week. If you cannot call during the times the Hotline is
open, please leave a message with your name, phone number,
and the best times to reach you. A counselor will call you
back during those times.
There was no answer on the Hotline.
Is there another ERA number I can call?
All calls to ERA for legal information, advice, counseling,
legal referrals, or any other general questions pertaining
to legal problems are handled by the Advice and Counseling
Hotline. If you call ERA's business number or an ERA attorney,
you will be directed back to the Advice and Counseling Hotline.
I left a message on the Hotline.
How long will it take to return my call?
We try to return phone calls within two to three business
days, and all calls are returned within two weeks.
I would rather talk to someone in
person. Can I visit the ERA office?
ERA does not take drop-ins. If you come to our offices, you
will be directed to call the Advice and Counseling Hotline.
Will ERA be my lawyer?
Probably not. ERA can assist you in understanding your legal
rights and may also provide referrals to other attorneys.
On occasion, ERA has represented individuals whose cases presented
issues that affected large numbers of women.
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Calling the Hotline
What issues can the Hotline help
me with?
The Hotline can help you if you are facing:
- Different treatment at work or school because of gender
- Unequal pay at work because of gender
- Pregnancy discrimination or maternity leave problems at
work
- Sexual harassment at work or school
- Mistreatment for complaining about gender discrimination
at work
- Family medical leave issues
What information do I need to provide
to the counselor so that the Hotline can help me?
Before you call, try to think through the following steps.
Getting your information together before you call will make
it easier to get the help you need.
- Make an outline of the things that happened to you in
the order that they happened. When you are explaining your
problem to your counselor, you will need to tell her about
the events related to your problem in the order that
they occurred.
- Write down all relevant dates. Try, as much as possible,
to tell us the specific date that things happened. If you
don't know the date, try to remember the month and year.
- If you have filed complaints or lawsuits, have those papers
nearby. We may need you to review them during the call for
dates or other information.
- Let us know about any formal or informal complaints that
you have made about the discrimination.
- Tell us if your employer or school officials began treating
you or your child differently after you took action to address
the discrimination.
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Will I speak with a lawyer when I
call the Hotline?
Attorneys do not usually answer Hotline calls. When you call,
you will speak with a law student counselor who will discuss
your questions with a staff attorney and then call you back
with legal information pertaining to your situation.
If I call the Hotline, will ERA
contact my employer?
No.Your call to ERA is confidential.
What kind of questions will
I be asked when I call the Hotline?
Most of our questions will pertain to the specific details
of your problem. The counselor will also ask questions about
your race, age, family size, immigration status, and income.
All information you share with us is voluntary and confidential.
If we know these details, we can give you a more accurate
assessment of how the law applies to your specific situation.
If my problem isn't gender discrimination,
is there another place I can call?
ERA only provides advice and counseling about issues that
deal specifically with gender discrimination at work or at
school. You may be able to get help for other legal problems
at one of these Web sites.
American
Civil Liberties Union
Bay Area
Legal Aid
Directory
of California and Nevada Legal Services Program Employment
Law Center
Lawyers’
Committee for Civil Rights
National
Center for Lesbian Rights
National
Women’s Law Center
NOW Legal
Defense and Education Fund
Youth
Law Center
Who are the attorneys that
ERA refers?
Most of ERA's attorney referrals come from the National
Employment Lawyers Association Membership Directory and
the National Lawyers Guild Referral Directory. We may
also refer attorneys and organizations that ask to be placed
on our referral lists.
Some phone numbers and addresses we send as referrals may
have changed since we last updated them. Be sure to verify
contact information before attempting to call or visit an
organization or attorney we refer you to. ERA does not guarantee
the quality of services provided by referred attorneys. Always
use your own discretion when hiring a lawyer.
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About ERA
What does ERA do?
ERA works to uphold the laws that prohibit gender-based discrimination
in the workplace and in education by representing women and
girls in class-action lawsuits. ERA also works to help women
and girls understand their legal rights through programs like
the Advice and Counseling Hotline. Learn
more about ERA.
Is ERA a government agency?
No. ERA is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1974
by four women attorneys, and ERA remains independent of any
governmental connections. ERA is not a government agency and
you cannot file an official complaint with ERA for workplace
discrimination.
What kind of questions does ERA NOT
handle?
ERA only provides advice and counseling about issues that
deal specifically with gender discrimination at work or at
school. ERA cannot provide advice about:
- Domestic violence
- Sexual harassment outside of work or school
- Divorce
- Child custody
- Discrimination or mistreatment at work or school that
is not based on gender
- Prisoner's rights
- Criminal matters
- Police misconduct
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However, we can provide referrals to other organizations
that may be able to help you with these issues.
Who Can Use the Hotline
Do I have to have a certain income
in order to use the Hotline?
No. Anyone who has a question about a gender discrimination
problem may use the Hotline, regardless of income.
Do I need to be a U.S. citizen to use
the Hotline?
No. ERA's Advice and Counseling Hotline provides confidential
legal information to all callers, regardless of citizenship.
We will not disclose your citizenship information to anyone
outside of ERA's legal team. Also, if you are an undocumented
immigrant, there are important factors that you should consider
when you are deciding whether to take legal action. Telling
us your undocumented status will help us accurately advise
you on those additional factors.
Can
a non-English speaker use the Hotline?
Yes. ERA's counselors have access to interpreters in approximately
150 languages. If we receive a message in a language other
than English or Spanish, we will work to identify the language
and find an interpreter as quickly as possible. However, we
can find an interpreter faster if the original message is
left in English on behalf of a non-English speaker. If you
leave a message on behalf of a non-English speaker, please
include the person's name, contact information, and spoken
language in the message. We will call the non-English speaker
with an interpreter who is fluent in their language.
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Can
callers with disabilities, including those who may be speech
or hearing impaired, use the Hotline?
Yes. ERA understands that individuals with disabilities have
historically confronted challenges in the workplace and at
school. Insofar as these challenges relate to gender discrimination,
we can provide legal advice. We are also able to provide referrals
to legal organizations that provide assistance to those with
disabilities. ERA’s counselors also have access to TDD
services.
Can I call the Hotline on behalf
of someone else?
Not usually. Conversations between a person and a legal advisor
for the purpose of obtaining legal advice are protected from
forced disclosure in a legal proceeding. This protection
may not extend to conversations between a legal advisor and
a person seeking advice about another person's legal problem. Because of this, we prefer to speak directly to the person
with the problem.
If you believe that your minor child has been discriminated
against based on her gender, you may call the line on her
behalf. If the person with the problem has a disability that
prevents her from communicating with our counselors, you may
call and describe her disability so that we can make arrangements
to communicate with her. You should not discuss the details
of her problem when you call.
I already have an attorney; can
the Hotline still help me?
If you have an attorney, ERA may not be able to advise you.
If you are unsatisfied with your attorney and you are looking
for a replacement, we can provide referrals to other attorneys.
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Emergency Calls
I need to talk to someone right away.
What do I do?
Because your counselor must speak with her supervising attorney
before providing advice, the counseling process can take up
to one week. ERA's counselors usually cannot provide same-day
assistance. If you have an approaching legal deadline, you
may call during the hours the Hotline is open, and request
that we fax or send you a list of attorneys who might be able
to represent you quickly. ERA generally does not represent
individuals who call the Advice and Counseling Hotline.
What should I do if I've been sexually assaulted or if I am being stalked?
If you are a victim of sexual assault or your safety is in
danger, you should contact the police immediately.
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