Bayview/Fillmore Employment Law Clinics to Open
The LAS–ELC is establishing new Workers’ Rights Clinics for residents of San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point and Western Addition neighborhoods. The Clinics will be based in local community centers where attorneys and experts in employment law will conduct outreach in the community to target the most pressing needs of residents, and will work with community partners to develop responsive educational programs such as workshops, trainings, and self-help guides.
The Clinics will offer legal advice, counseling, and representation where necessary on a wide range of employment issues, including recovering unpaid wages, collecting unemployment insurance benefits, and opposing discrimination. In addition to helping workers, the Clinics will seek to involve the private bar in assisting small business owners in the neighborhoods by providing consultation about fair employment practices.
The LAS–ELC is launching the new program because residents of the historically African-American communities continue to face barriers to employment and struggle with workplace discrimination and harassment.
Skadden Fellow, Community Lawyer Tamika Butler Helps Workers Where They Live
Tamika Butler, coordinator
Tamika Butler, 25, knew she wanted to be a public interest lawyer when she applied to law school. “As a gay, African-American woman, I wanted to help underrepresented communities—which included my friends and family,” she says.
As a military kid, Tamika moved around a lot while she was growing up. Her family lived in Greece, Las Vegas, and Japan before settling in Nebraska when Tamika was a teenager. She went to college there before moving to California to attend Stanford Law School.
As a law student, Tamika worked at the Stanford Law School Community Law Clinic in the low-income community of East Palo Alto. Upon graduating in 2009, she was awarded the highly competitive Skadden Fellowship, described by The Los Angeles Times as “a legal Peace Corps.” The two-year fellowship provides a full time salary to outstanding law school graduates who want to provide legal aid services to traditionally underserved populations, including the working poor. Skadden Fellows create their own public interest law projects, and the Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center became Tamika’s sponsoring organization and home office.
“I want to be a lawyer in the community that people trust and come to,”
—Tamika Butler
Tamika’s project will set up Workers’ Rights Clinics in two historically African-American San Francisco neighborhoods, Bayview-Hunters Point and the Western Addition, where legal services for the poor are scarce. She will provide legal advice and counsel to people with workplace problems and consult minority-owned small businesses about fair employment practices.
“I want to be a lawyer in the community that people trust and come to,” says Tamika.
“My goal is to set up a one-stop shop for people with employment issues,” Tamika explains. “Some people who come to us may not know they have a legal problem; they just know they’ve been refused family leave, or gotten laid off. We can explain their rights under the law, write a letter to their employer, or if it’s something bigger, take legal action on their behalf.”
Tamika is doing the groundwork to establish the legal clinics, getting out in to the community and talking to people to learn about their needs. She plans to host workers’ rights workshops and is meeting with churches and neighborhood organizations that might house the legal clinics. She will work out of these local satellite offices one or two days a week while continuing to work at the LAS–ELC. “It’s important to be visible and accessible to the community, but it’s also important to have the assistance of other attorneys at the LAS–ELC who specialize in different areas of the law,” says Tamika.
When Tamika was in law school, her dad lost his job. It was a difficult time, Tamika recalls. “My dad didn't want to talk about it. It was clear he was hurting.”
“The experience showed me there is a lot of shame and stress associated with layoffs. People are worried about paying the bills, feeding their children. They need someone they can turn to.”
“As a community lawyer, I get to help people from beginning to end. I can provide a shoulder to cry on, and I can put law into action. At the end of the day, whether or not I am able to get them their job back or get them their back wages, I can listen to them. I can help them assert their rights. I can help them get on with their lives.”