Read about our recent work below.

Recognition and Respect

June 21, 2019

Charlotte Kamai, Legal Aid at Work

Today, more girls and women than ever before are participating in high school and college sports. Sports benefit physical and mental health, and also teach girls important life skills – team work, goal-setting, perseverance, the value of hard work. Girls who participate in high school sports do better on tests, graduate at higher rates, and … Continue reading “Recognition and Respect”

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LAAW Attorney Stacy Villalobos Comments on EEOC Investigation Backlog in Vox Article

June 14, 2019

Staff Attorney Stacy Villalobos comments on the issue of the lack of full investigations by the EEOC into workplace discrimination.  https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/6/14/18663296/congress-eeoc-workplace-discrimination

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LAAW’s Efforts to Fight Gender Discrimination in Hawaiʻi Covered by KITV

KITV - June 10, 2019
LAAW's efforts to fight against unfair treatment of girls at Campbell High School in Hawaiʻi is covered by KITV. The lawsuit alleges that Hawaiʻi's Department of Education has committed multiple violations of federal civil rights law by denying girls at Campbell the same athletic opportunities, treatment, and benefits that it provides boys—such as providing fewer teams to girls, inferior locker room space, and subpar competition facilities. The lawsuit followed approximately ten months of attempts by the ACLU of Hawai‘i to get DOE to voluntarily improve the way it treats girls, as required by federal law.
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Court Documents Reveal Hawai’i Department of Education Choosing Legal Maneuvering Over Gender Equity

- June 6, 2019

HONOLULU  (June 6, 2019) – Rather than actually fix gender inequities in Hawai‘i public schools, the State Department of Education (DOE) is simply hoping to run out the clock. Documents filed yesterday in federal court by the ACLU of Hawai‘i, Legal Aid at Work, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (“Plaintiffs’ counsel”) reveal that DOE has … Continue reading “Court Documents Reveal Hawai’i Department of Education Choosing Legal Maneuvering Over Gender Equity”

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Nelson Henry Jr. in Uniform

Discriminatory “Blue Discharge” Finally Reversed After 75 Years in Case Brought by Legal Aid at Work and Golden Gate Law School’s Veterans Advocacy Clinic

June 5, 2019

Legal Aid at Work

Nelson Henry turns 96 in a few days.  At his birthday party, he will also be able to finally celebrate receiving the “honorable” military discharge status he was wrongfully denied in 1945 because of his race. Back in 1945, the Army gave Mr. Henry a “blue discharge”—so named because it was printed on blue paper.  … Continue reading “Discriminatory “Blue Discharge” Finally Reversed After 75 Years in Case Brought by Legal Aid at Work and Golden Gate Law School’s Veterans Advocacy Clinic”

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LAAW’s Victory for 95-year-old Black WWII Veteran Wrongfully Discharged Because of His Race is Covered in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia Inquirer - June 4, 2019
LAAW's successful efforts to upgrade our client's military discharge to "honorable" status was profiled in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mr. Henry had been kicked out of the Army in 1945 with a "blue discharge," which was used to deny minority service members (primarily African-Americans and Lesbian and Gay service members) their hard-earned benefits. "I’m still wondering if it’s a dream,” Henry said Tuesday in his Logan Square apartment. “I’m not sure how many more days I have left, but I may not ever get over it. It’s a great feeling.”
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LAAW’s Racial Economic Justice Work Profiled in the San Jose Mercury News

San Jose Mercury News - May 29, 2019
Staff attorney Stacy Villalobos's efforts to help workers obtain and retain employment regardless of criminal conviction history was profiled in the San Jose Mercury News. " Stacy . . . travels around the Bay Area holding training sessions to inform people with criminal records about their rights. When she asks in the sessions if the participants have encountered the kinds of questions the [ban the box] law was written to stop, she said, 'almost everyone in the room raises their hands.'”
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The Philadelphia Inquirer Covers LAAW’s Advocacy for 95-year Old Black Veteran in Trying to Rectify Decades-old Wrong

Philadelphia Inquirer - May 3, 2019
The story discusses how our client, Nelson Henry, was kicked out of the Army in 1945 with a "blue discharge." Blue discharges were used to deny minority service members (primarily African-Americans and Lesbian and Gay service members) their hard-earned benefits after they had served this country so honorably.
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Alexis Alvarez speaks with KSPC 88.7 fm on Disability Awareness Day

KSPC 88.7 FM - April 4, 2019
Senior Staff Attorney Alexis Alvarez spoke with KSPC 88.7 about her disability rights work, and about the barriers and other issues that persons with disabilities face every day in the fight for equal treatment.
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