FREE LEGAL CLINIC – WORKPLACE & EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS
Do you have legal questions about your workplace & employment rights?

Consultation provided by the Asian Law Caucus for low-wage workers on work-related problems including unpaid wages, overtime, wrongful termination, discrimination/harassment, health and safety, and more…

WHEN?
By Appointment
on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month
Please Call: 415-896-1701

WHERE?
Asian Law Caucus
55 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94111

*Bring your ID, proof of income, and any documents relating to your question

*Languages supported: Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, English.
For other languages, please advise us of your specific language need when making your appointment or bring your own interpreter.

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Attorney Volunteers Needed for ALC Workers’ Rights Clinic

Pro Bono Volunteer Attorney Application Form

The Asian Law Caucus is seeking attorney volunteers for its Workers’ Rights Clinic, held at the ALC office at 55 Columbus Ave. The clinic is held on every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Clinic provides legal information and referrals to low-income, monolingual Asian immigrants and others who require assistance with employment issues. The Clinic is staffed by the ALC’s employment attorney.

Attorney volunteers can work as intake processors or consulting attorneys, depending on their level of experience with employment law. They are required to commit to a minimum of 3 clinics every 4 months, comply with our confidentiality policy, and attend a substantive and procedural training/orientation session (experienced employment attorneys exempted). This helps ensure that we provide consistent, professional service, as well as accurate and appropriate legal advice and information.

Volunteers who are fluent in South Asian, Southeast Asian, and East Asian languages are particularly needed. For more information, please contact Winnie Kao, Employment Attorney, at (415) 896-1701 x 102. Click here to fill out the Pro Bono application form.

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Asian Law Caucus Files Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit Against Nail Salon Chain

On September 13, 2011, the Asian Law Caucus and the law firm Davis Cowell & Bowe filed a wage and hour class action against Natalie Salon, a popular San Mateo County California nail salon chain, on behalf of current and former salon employees. Natalie Salon has locations in Redwood City, San Mateo, Los Gatos, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park.

The suit charges Natalie Salon and its owner/operators with a wide range of state wage and hour violations. These alleged violations include failing to pay employees required overtime, confiscating portions of employees’ credit card tips, and unlawfully deducting amounts from employee wages for minor “infractions” like dropping nail polish. The suit also claims that Natalie Salon has unlawfully failed to reimburse employees for work-related expenses, provide employees with required meal periods, furnish and maintain accurate wage and hour records, and pay employees all wages owed at discharge.

If you work or have worked at a Natalie Salon location in the last four years, please contact Asian Law Caucus employment attorney Winnie Kao at (415) 896-1701 x.102 or winifredk@asianlawcaucus.org.

For more information click the links below and continue to check back for updates.

Press Release

Complaint

For more information about Davis Cowell & Bowe, see: http://www.daviscowellandbowe.com/

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Post-9/11 Employment Discrimination

In the years since September 11, 2001 and the onset of war in Iraq, South Asians, Muslims, Sikhs, Arabs, and others in the United States have faced greater discrimination at the work place. Individuals who are particularly identifiable as part of these communities based on ethnic names, clothing (turbans and headscarves), accents, or other characteristics are especially vulnerable. In addition, workers in the service industry (sales reps, restaurant workers, receptionists, and the like) as well as those in security-related positions (truck drivers, security guards, defense industry researchers) also seem targeted. The Caucus represents individuals in these scenarios and conducts public education on the issue.

Nail Salon Project

In 2007, TIME magazine named working in a nail salon one of the worst jobs in America because of the toxic products used in most shops. The nail salon industry, where an estimated 80% of the nail salon workers in California are Vietnamese, has become an economic cornerstone of the community. Nail salon workers, an overwhelming majority of which are women of reproductive age, are chronically exposed to chemical hazards, infectious diseases, and ergonomic hazards. The Asian Law Caucus’ Nail Salon Project provides bilingual community education to raise awareness for workers in the nail salon industry to organize and advocate for their rights. The Nail Salon Project also engages in legislative and administrative advocacy, produces issue briefs, and makes policy recommendations. The three overarching goals of the Nail Salon Project are to improve language access to workplace health and safety information, chemical reformulation of toxic nail products, and to promote the development of a green standard for the nail salon industry through a worker based agenda.

Taxi Worker Project

Described as a “sweatshop on wheels,” the taxi industry provides some of the most low-paying, dangerous, and economically unstable jobs in the country. In San Francisco, drivers are largely immigrant, and due to their status as “independent contractors,” most make far less than minimum wage. Meager pay combined with long, odd hours, poor working conditions, and employer exploitation make cab drivers an increasingly vulnerable and yet underserved community.

Through the Taxi Worker Project, the Caucus addresses the labor conditions of San Francisco cab drivers by focusing on three major issues: (1) workplace health and safety, (2) taxi company exploitation, and (3) fair wages. Through an innovative combination of legal advocacy and community organizing, the project provides legal education and representation to taxi workers, empowers them to actively struggle for their rights, and supports sustainable worker organizing campaigns through policy advocacy and litigation.

Airport Screeners

Six years ago, thousands of seasoned airport security screeners nationwide lost their jobs when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) fired all existing screeners and required them to apply for their jobs anew, and pass a new hiring test that many workers felt was discriminatory and unrelated to their ability to do the job. Immigrants, people of color, women, and older workers lost out in disproportionate numbers. In the Bay Area, these changes hit the Filipino community particularly hard, since many Filipino workers had held airport jobs in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.

In 2002, with the support of several local Filipino community groups, the Asian Law Caucus brought discrimination claims on behalf of former airport screeners against the TSA and the private company that had designed and administered the new hiring test based on TSA guidelines. An uphill legal battle ensued – several courts in other cases around the country found that the statute creating the TSA shielded the agency from many workers’ rights claims.

At the end of 2007, ALC and the law firm of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen and Dardarian, working pro bono, successfully helped 18 former Bay Area airport screeners resolve their claims against the testing company. The resolution followed a 2006 finding by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that the hiring test discriminated on the basis of race, national origin, gender, and age. Because the claims were resolved through the EEOC’s conciliation process, the terms of the settlement are confidential.

The Asian Law Caucus salutes the airport screeners who we had the honor of representing during this long campaign against workplace discrimination, as well as our partners that organized, advocated, and provided expert aid to the screeners, including Filipinos for Affirmative Action, Filipino Community Center, FOCUS, Judith Kurtz, the law firm of Minami Tamaki, the Impact Fund, and Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen and Dardarian.

Paid Family Leave Collaborative

The Asian Law Caucus was a founding member of the Paid Family Leave Collaborative – a collaborative to raise awareness of Paid Family Leave. Only 38% of Asian Americans in California were aware of Paid Family Leave, according to a 2007 UCLA survey.

Visit their website for more information: 
PaidFamilyLeave.org

For additional materials click here.