In The Media

Due to "widely criticized bottlenecks in processing unemployment applications during the pandemic deluge," the Employment Development Department (EDD) has been slow to send denial notices to Californians seeking unemployment compensation, significantly delaying critical appeals processes for those who are wrongfully denied benefits. Due to delays, many applicants are not being paid or receiving their determination notices. "'They are sitting in limbo,' said Daniela Urban." Furthermore, those who have been through the appeals process note that the process is fairly "cumbersome." "'All the correspondence is through the mail or by fax,' said Alexx Campbell, a staff attorney at Legal Aid at Work in San Francisco. 'Most people don’t have access to a fax machine. It’s quite miserable for people.'"

The recent passage of Prop 22 in California has allowed Uber, Lyft, and other companies to override California Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), which was passed last year to extend employee classification to gig workers, allowing these companies to classify their workers as independent contractors rather than employees. LAAW attorney George Warner clarifies that many occupations are still governed by AB5, despite Prop 22's passing. "AB5 has [a] particular effect on service sector jobs. 'All sorts of low-wage industries have misclassification issues,' said George Warner, an attorney with the wage protection program at Legal Aid at Work. 'Prop. 22 won’t affect those industries.'"

Temple University highlights LAAW's Elizabeth Kristen's work to help Nelson Henry Jr., an African American WWII veteran, upgrade his discriminatory "blue discharge" to an honorable discharge. "Between 1941 and 1945, more than 48,000 soldiers—many of them Black or LGBTQIA+—were given a blue discharge...[which] left a stain on veterans’ records that discouraged employers from hiring them." Mr. Henry passed away earlier this year due to complications caused by COVID-19.

Elizabeth Kristen, Director of LAAW's Gender Equity and LGBTQ Rights program, discusses the importance of California's 2019 ban on "no rehire" clauses, which prohibits departing employees from seeking future employment with an employer or an employer’s related entities. “'It was awful to have clients sign these because they could basically be locked out of an entire industry,' says Kristen. 'It has been very helpful to have really clear guidance on no-rehire clauses because it was so bad for workers in low-wage jobs and so potentially retaliatory.'”

Through virtual clinics via Zoom and phone, students at Berkeley Law have been able to assist low-income employees that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic through participation in LAAW's Workers' Rights Clinic. "'Every night, we’re taking what they’re learning in law school and bringing it to the community,'" LAAW's Mike Gaitley says. “'This keeps them grounded in why they went to law school in the first place.'"

LAAW's George Warner discusses a recently released report on California's Employment Development Department (EDD) with the SF Chronicle. "'The report highlights a number of troubling realities of how the department currently operates,' said George Warner." The EDD issued the report alongside an announcement that the department has stopped taking new applications for unemployment benefits until October 5, 2020 "while it 'resets' itself to 'help prevent backlog growth.'"

Bloomberg discusses Legal Aid at Work's case against the State Bar of California on behalf of students with disabilities who are forced to take the bar exam in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The trio of test takers argued they should be allowed to complete the exam online. They said the two-tiered system is 'unfair and dangerous' to disabled test takers 'forced to test in person and endure risks to their health and test performance.'"

Kim Turner, of LAAW's Gender Equity & LGBT Rights Program and Fair Play for Girls in Sports Project, writes in the Providence Journal about her alma mater Brown University's disappointing record on Title IX. "It’s utterly heartbreaking to see the school skirting its legal and moral responsibilities."

LAAW's George Warner talks to the Los Angeles Times about California's new unemployment benefits, which will provide $300 per week to qualifying Californians, highlighting the fact that $300 per week is "untenable for unemployed families" and these benefits are only guaranteed for three weeks.