In The Media

“[I]t’s not humane or cost-efficient to force back to work new parents, folks who are sick or injured, or their family caregivers before they’re ready. . . . But by having a state disability insurance and paid family leave system that doesn’t provide enough income for families to live on, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

LAAW client Ashley Badis notes that she is grateful to Patsky Mink and others who originally championed Title XI, noting that “I didn’t want [my sister] or any of the other students to have to go through what I did” in being denied equal access to athletic facilities and opportunities.

Staff attorney Katie Wutchiett describes the delays that workers have routinely faced with accessing benefits administered by the Employment Development Department. LAAW has "heard from folks who are having a hard time getting just that one-on-one, you know, ‘What is the answer to this question? I’m confused. I’m running out of money. What can I do?’”

In the article, LAAW Attorney Elizabeth Kristen discusses the importance the issues involved in the case: "Sports participation for girls isn’t just about going on to the Olympics—it’s about going to college, it’s about getting a job, it’s about getting higher wages. It really sets this platform for character development for the rest of their lives,” Kristen said. “So girls who are deprived of this in high school, it’s really robbing them of so much in their futures.”

The article discusses LAAW’s case on behalf of Laura Zuniga, a female truck driver, who was sexually assaulted by her co-driver and then later told by her employer to finish the route. As Ms. Zuniga told the Guardian, “[t]he way the company treated me, I felt worthless.”

As LAAW argued in its brief to the appellate court: “These overbroad inquiries and exams will continue to effectively screen out applicants with disabilities.” The California Supreme Court has now decided to review this issue.

In the article, Katie Wutchiett, staff attorney in LAAW’s Work and Family Program, said she hopes that next EDD will expand language support for people seeking state disability insurance and paid family leave. “We are committed to work with EDD to ensure this forms an example for (state disability insurance and paid family leave) and those programs aren’t left behind.”

LAAW Staff Attorney Katie Wutchiett discusses how workers can access COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Days, recently enacted into law in California and retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022. “[I]t’s important for workers to know that they can use the two banks of 40 hours in whatever order they choose and do not need to exhaust one bank before switching to the other.”

The article discusses how the delays hurt workers, many of whom wait years to receive their hard-earned wages, and makes it harder to recover money for their claims.