Each of these fellowships offer recent law school graduates the opportunity to obtain training and experience in litigation and other aspects of public interest practice.  Skadden and EJW Fellows design unique projects that address a range of legal issues, including the economic rights and working conditions of low-wage workers, immigrants’ rights and access to justice, civil rights, and equity and access in education.  ERA’s Ruth Chance Law Fellow assists ERA staff attorneys with ongoing litigation, direct legal services, and policy advocacy efforts.

ERA was founded in 1974 as a public interest law firm dedicated to ending discrimination against women and girls.  ERA’s mission is to protect and secure equal rights and economic opportunities for women and girls through litigation, advocacy and direct services.

ERA has been a pioneer in advancing gender equity in work and schools for women and girls across the country since its founding.  Through our campaign approach—which incorporates public education, legislative advocacy, and litigation—ERA seeks to assist women and girls throughout a life-long continuum: from ensuring access and equity in educational institutions, to combating sex discrimination in employment, to advocating for policies that make the workplace more hospitable to working families.  From assisting in the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act to arguing seminal gender rights cases before the United States Supreme Court, ERA is known for being the home of visionary leaders, unflinching advocates, and hard-nosed litigators for justice.  Interested individuals can find more information about ERA’s programs and projects by visiting ERA’s website.

ERA seeks to sponsor a Skadden and/or EJW candidate to develop a project in one of ERA’s issue priority areas: (1) ending sexual harassment and wage theft against low-wage and immigrant women workers; (2) expanding and ensuring equal opportunities for women in traditionally male-dominated industries; (3) promoting policies that advance equal pay and decrease the gender wage gap; (4) combating pregnancy and familial status discrimination in the workplace; and (5) fostering equity in education through full implementation and enforcement of Title IX.  Individuals interested in becoming fellowship candidates are encouraged to visit our website at www.equalrights.org/our-work/ to learn more about ERA’s campaigns.

Applicants for the two-year Skadden Fellowship and EJW Fellowship should consult those programs for more details about selection process and requirements.

Those applying for Skadden and/or EJW Fellowships who would also like to be considered for the Ruth Chance Law Fellowship should indicate their interest on the Project Area Interest Form.

Criteria for sponsorship for a Skadden or EJW Fellowship include:

•  Juris Doctor from a U.S. law school awarded in 2013 or 2014.
• Knowledge of and demonstrated commitment to women’s rights and legal issues affecting women, people of color, and other populations that are deprived of civil and/or human rights.
• Dedicated team player with a commitment to collaboration and the highest level of client service.
• Strong academic performance; excellent legal research and writing skills.
• Ability to problem-solve, exercise sound judgment, take initiative, and work independently.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills; Spanish fluency strongly preferred.
• Admission to California Bar or plans to sit for July 2014 bar exam.

ERA will accept applications for Skadden/EJW Fellowship proposals through July 10, 2013.

All individuals who wish to be considered for a 2014-2016 Skadden or Equal Justice Works Fellowship must complete the project area interest form and submit the following materials by July 10, 2013:

i.            Cover letter;

ii.            Resume;

iii.            Law school transcript;

iv.            Brief legal writing sample of 5-10 pages; and

v.            Completed project area interest form.

Cover letters should not exceed 2 pages and must describe the applicant’s interest in ERA as an organization, his/her relevant skills and experience, and the Fellowship(s) for which s/he would like to be considered.

Candidates interested only in the Ruth Chance Law Fellowship should submit the same materials as described above by no later than October 28, 2013.

Please send completed initial applications to: jreisch@equalrights.org with the subject line “Completed Initial Fellowship Application 2014.”  E-mail is preferred, but paper applications can also be mailed to: Equal Rights Advocates, Attn: Jennifer Reisch, 180 Howard Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94105.  Please note: Applications submitted by regular mail must be received by the July 10, 2013 deadline.

Equal Rights Advocates is an equal employment opportunity employer and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex (including pregnancy), gender, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, medical condition including genetic characteristics, mental or physical disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity (including transgender status), weight, height, linguistic characteristics (such as accent and limited English proficiency, where not substantially job-related), citizenship status, or any other basis prohibited by law. ERA also prohibits discrimination based on a perception that an individual has any of the characteristics of the protected classes of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, mental disability, physical disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation, and further prohibits discrimination against an individual who is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics. ERA will also make reasonable accommodation for disabled applicants and employees, unless such accommodation would result in undue hardship.

In 2011, ERA started working with an informal coalition of Bay Area women’s advocacy groups and government agencies to develop a series of events around Equal Pay Day.  The group formalized their coalition in 2012 to become the Bay Area Equal Pay Collaborative (BA=$C) to promote fair pay practices among employers and to increase awareness and empowerment around fair pay issues through events and trainings.  The group spans from Santa Clara County to San Francisco and the East Bay and is working on a calendar of events to continue its fight for equal pay for all women.

BA=$C Member Esther Peralez-Dieckmann from the Santa Clara County Office of Women’s Policy applauds ERA’s role in the Collaborative:  “Since 1974, ERA has stood by women of all ages and all walks of life.  ERA has improved the lives of countless women and families across the country through effective education, support, and legal advocacy.  Women like a female hotel worker in San Jose, who recently testified, ‘Making a living at 65 should not have to be painful or humiliating.’  BA=$C thanks ERA for its contributions to the fight for equal pay and workplace justice.”

Members:  Equal Rights Advocates, Coalition for Equal Pay, Katherine & George Alexander Community Law Center, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, the Santa Clara County Office of Women’s Policy, U.S. DOL Women’s Bureau- Region 9, U.S. DOL Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs-Region 9, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, San Francisco District.

Among the group of 75 litigators and 25 corporate attorneys, Noreen stands out as a public interest attorney. Also on the list of honorees are ERA Board member Gay Grunfeld (partner at Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP), famed former San Francisco city attorney Louise Renne and current California attorney general Kamala Harris.

Farrell was recognized for her leadership of ERA as well as her lawyering in Bojorquez v. ABM Industries,  Mansourian et al. v. Regents of of the University of California, and Brust et al. v. Regents of the UC. In describing to the Daily Journal why she took these cases on, Noreen said ERA picks cases based on areas in school and the workplace where there’s an “epidemic of injustice.”

Essential Functions
• Assist ED with a variety of administrative, calendaring, office management, and fundraising tasks;

• Serve as primary liaison to the ERA Board of Directors, coordinating communications, scheduling meetings, and performing administrative/secretarial duties;

• Responsible for daily office operations (processing mail, maintaining supplies, overseeing equipment, and other duties as assigned);

•  Assist with technical needs of office and coordinate with outside vendors;
• Create and update documents and spreadsheets (typically advanced level MS Excel and MS Word required)
• Assist with special events, both internal and external, as needed;
• Assist ED with various human resources functions, including office orientations for new staff, volunteers and interns;
• Assist Development, Finance and Legal Departments with special projects as needed. 

Minimum Qualifications
• Minimum three years relevant and stable office experience;

• BA or equivalent; bilingual in Spanish and English a plus;

• Legal experience is a strong plus, as is experience assisting ED and/or Executive Board of a non-profit organization;
• Intermediate to advanced skills in MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook;

• High comfort with office systems and technology; experience handling technology needs of small office;
• Beginner or intermediate skills in Access or Filemaker Pro or Raiser’s Edge a plus;

• Highly organized and punctual;

• Excellent written and verbal and communications skills;

• Ability to interact professionally with coworkers, Board members, and members of the public;
• Ability to problem-solve, demonstrate sound judgment and maintain strict confidentiality;
• Ability to work under pressure in a busy environment and willingness to learn new things and take on challenges;
• Operate multi-line phone system, office equipment including copier, fax machine, mailing machine, computer;

• Unimpeded use of upper extremities and ability to lift up to 30 lbs.

How to apply: Please submit a cover letter, resume, references, and (optional) 2-page maximum professional writing sample to the attention of Noreen Farrell at info@equalrights.org.  No calls please. Position open until filled, so apply immediately.  ERA is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and actively recruits women, people of color, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQI individuals.

Jenny Yang

Congratulations to Cohen Milstein partner Jenny Yang, whose appointment as a commissioner to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was approved by Congress on April 25.

Yang is a partner at Cohen Milstein, where she worked along-side ERA to challenge sex discrimination against retail workers in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores.

“Given Jenny’s long dedication to ensuring equal opportunity for all workers and her highly regarded legal skills, we are confident she will continue to serve the law and the country well in this new role,” said ERA Executive Director Noreen Farrell.

The luncheon, which attracts more than 800 lawyers and community leaders, is anticipated all year. This year, we’re thrilled to welcome equality activist Lilly Ledbetter, our keynote speaker, as well as a group of gender justice activists we’ll be honoring for their continued work.  Sponsor or purchase a table/ticket now!

Ledbetter, who sparked national legislative change after she sued her employer Goodyear Tire & Rubber for gender discrimination in 1998, will appear as a keynote speaker. ERA is proud to support the continuing efforts of activists like Ledbetter to close the wage gap.  More information about the luncheon and Lilly here:  http://events.equalrights.org/

Derek Tisinger, a California fire chief, testified before the state legislature about the discrimination he faced at work when he became the sole caregiver of his young sons. Derek’s supervisors repeatedly questioned whether he could perform his childcare duties and work at the same time, despite his long history as a good employee. Read his testimony here.

Convinced? Tell your state legislator to support working families and pass SB 404. A sample letter of support can be found here. You can find contact information for your local legislator here.

Discrimination against pregnant women is a very real economic problem. Read ERA’s report ”Expecting a Baby, Not a Lay-off: Why Federal Law Should Require the Reasonable Accommodation of Pregnant Workers” and ERA’s accounting of  the effects of pregnancy discrimination on real women.

Other stakeholders from across the country have also come out in support of the PWFA. You can read a letter from the president-elect of The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or one from Hawai’i Civil Rights Commission. Or you can check out this letter to Congress, signed by dozens of organizations advocating for the passage of the bill. The PWFA is already supported by over 100 members of Congress. In the below video, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) discusses why.

A sample letter of support you can send to your member of Congress can be downloaded here. You can find contact information for your local congresswoman or congressman here and here.

The new proposed class includes women at California Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores who allege that company managers discriminated against them because of their gender, denying them pay increases and promotions offered to male employees.

The new motion was filed in the Northern District court in San Francisco, where over 12 years ago ERA and co-counsel first filed the original Dukes case — a nationwide suit on behalf over over 1 million Wal-Mart employees.

Previously, District Judge Charles Breyer denied Wal-Mart’s motion to dismiss the new iteration of the case.

To learn more about the new motion, click here for a press release. To support ERA’s continued efforts to combat pay discrimination, check out our Close the Gap campaign.

Judge Breyer is expected to hear the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in July.

“The women who first brought this case have waited over 12 years to have their claims heard. Without a class action, their rights cannot be vindicated,” said Renick. “It is time that the merits of their claims against Wal-Mart are heard in court.”

The case, filed on behalf of Wal-Mart employee Betty Dukes and others, began in the same U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, in June 2001 when the plaintiffs brought suit against Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart, alleging pay and promotion discrimination. The District Court certified the national class in 2004, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court decision on class certification in 2010.  Wal-Mart appealed the Ninth Circuit’s ruling to the Supreme Court, which reversed the decision in June 2011.

The current case for class certification is “markedly different” from the case that went to the Supreme Court in size and scope, according to plaintiffs’ counsel Christine Webber, of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC. “We are asking the District Court to grant certification of these narrower classes based on our conviction that they are in full compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s new guidelines for class actions in employment discrimination cases.”

The classes include only women who were subject to pay and promotion discrimination at 250 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores in two California Wal-Mart regions and one California Sam’s Club region from 1998 through 2002. The case excludes women who worked as store managers or pharmacists during that time period as well as any claims for promotion into co-manager or store manager positions.

“When low-wage women workers come together as a class, they have a better chance at getting equal pay and advancing at their jobs.  That is why the brave women of Wal-Mart have filed this case,” said plaintiffs’ counsel Noreen Farrell, executive director of Equal Rights Advocates (ERA).

In addition to past evidence of pay and promotion discrimination, attorneys for the plaintiffs also submitted substantial new evidence, including the declarations of more than 80 women charging pay and promotion discrimination, new testimony and documents specific to the California regions concerning pay and promotion practices, and a new analysis showing statistically significant patterns that women fared far worse in pay and promotions than their male counterparts in the California regions.

Named California plaintiffs include current Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., workers Betty Dukes, a 19-year employee who works at a cashier/greeter in a Contra Costa County Wal-Mart, and Christine Kwapnoski, a 27-year employee who works as an assistant manager in a Contra Costa County Sam’s Club, a Wal-Mart division. Also named are former employees Edith Arana, of Los Angeles County; Deborah Gunter, of Riverside County; and Patricia Surgeson, of Sacramento County — all of whom worked at Wal-Mart stores in California.

A hearing on the motion for class certification before the District Court in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is expected in July 2013.  For more information about the case, visit www.walmartclass.com.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., plaintiffs are represented by Hadsell Stormer Richardson & Renick LLP, Pasadena, Calif.; Impact Fund, Berkeley, Calif.; Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, Washington, D.C.; Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), San Francisco, Calif.; Davis Cowell & Bowe, LLP, San Francisco, Calif.; and the Law Office of Sheila Thomas.

                                                                                                                                Contact:

Editor’s Note: Copy of motion, plaintiffs’ profiles                              Pam Avery

and interviews  available                                                                              Pavery@conoverandcompany.com

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