Justicia laboral

Nuestro enfoque

With support from law students and pro bono attorneys, Public Counsel’s Audrey Irmas Gender Justice Project provides free legal services to low-income women experiencing discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace or who have questions about their employment rights. We help women file complaints, negotiate with employers, and pursue legal remedies. When clients present with related employment or economic issues, such as wage theft, misclassification, and/or denial of benefits or reasonable accommodations, we address those issues too. Our clients include former foster care youth, transgender women, recent immigrants, women with disabilities, single mothers, and other women in low-wage jobs who have been unfairly treated or abused at work. Our goal is to empower women to stand up and speak out against workplace abuse, and to increase access to justice for those least able to obtain legal representation.

Our Gender Justice Project works with Public Counsel’s impact litigation team, Opportunity Under Law to bring lawsuits challenging systemic gender discrimination impacting women workers. Some examples include: misclassification, wage theft and egregious sexual harassment of exotic dancers in the nightclub industry; unfair scheduling practices which disproportionately impact women caregivers; and discriminatory practices in California’s workers compensation system. In addition, Public Counsel regularly provides public comment and participates in lawsuits as Amicus, drafting or signing on to legal briefs addressing issues of critical importance to working women, LGBTQIA+, immigrant and low-wage workers.

Public Counsel’s Audrey Irmas Project is a member of the National Women’s Law Center Legal Network for Gender Equity. Through this network, Public Counsel provides free consultation and advice to victims of sexual harassment and/or discrimination at work or school, and assists women to access legal services through the network. Public Counsel is also a member of CLIWA – the Coalition for Low-wage and Immigrant Worker Advocates, the California Work & Family Coalition, the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (CPEDV), and the LA-based Fair WorkWeek Coalition. Public Counsel both receives and provides referrals through these community connections.

As a member of the Stronger California Advocates Network, Public Counsel’s Gender Justice Project works in partnership with community-based organizations and the Legislative Women’s Caucus in Sacramento to promote legislation that strengthens economic security and empowerment for women. Priority areas include poverty reduction, fair pay and work opportunities, family-friendly workplaces, and increased access to affordable, quality childcare, including strengthening laws against sexual harassment, increasing funding for child care, and providing greater workplace protections for domestic workers, warehouse workers and garment workers. We also works closely with the California Work & Family Coalition to advocate for laws extending and strengthening access to paid sick, pregnancy and family medical leave for California workers, especially those in low-wage, hourly jobs.

Abogamos ante organismos locales como el Ayuntamiento de Los Ángeles y la Junta de Supervisores del Condado para promover los derechos e intereses de las mujeres y niñas con bajos ingresos y aportar una "lente de género" a los debates económicos y políticos. Nuestros esfuerzos incluyen la colaboración con los sindicatos locales para proteger la salud y la seguridad de los trabajadores durante la crisis de Covid-19 y para obtener una remuneración por riesgo para los trabajadores de primera línea de las tiendas de comestibles; el cabildeo para que las ordenanzas locales aborden las prácticas de programación injustas; y el apoyo a los esfuerzos más amplios de Public Counsel para legalizar la venta ambulante en Los Ángeles.

Por último, reconocemos la necesidad de aumentar la concienciación sobre los derechos de las mujeres y los recursos legales y recursos disponibles para los trabajadores de bajos ingresos cuyos derechos han sido violados. Con este fin, Public Counsel está creando asociaciones en toda la comunidad y trabajando con los sindicatos locales y los centros de trabajadores para educar a las trabajadoras sobre las protecciones estatales y locales existentes. Nuestras actividades incluyen la divulgación a las organizaciones comunitarias, presentaciones, y el desarrollo y la difusión de los materiales "conoce tus derechos" en una gama de temas, desde la discriminación por embarazo y el acoso sexual, a la igualdad de remuneración y el robo de salario. Recientemente, Public Counsel recibió una subvención del Santa Monica Westside Legacy Fund para ampliar el acceso a la información y los servicios jurídicos a las mujeres de bajos ingresos que viven en el Westside de Los Ángeles.