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We had a great 2022, so this month we're taking a step back and sharing some of the year's biggest moments. Thank you to our supporters, who gave us the ability to fight so hard in 2022! We’re excited to continue this work in 2023.
We'll be taking a break and closing our offices the last week of the year. We hope the remainder of your holiday season is restful and fulfilling.
In solidarity,
The Public Justice Team
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Clean Water Act Victory
Public Justice's Environmental Enforcement Project saw a big win this month in its Clean Water Act (CWA) citizen suit in Alabama. First filed in 2016, this case alleged that mine operator Drummond Company had discharged acid mine drainage into an adjacent river from a coal waste pile at its Maxine Mine site. The site is located on the banks of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River in Praco, Alabama.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that groundwater discharges from a similar facility in Maui are covered under the CWA if those discharges are the functional equivalent of a point-source discharge. That ruling ultimately expanded the CWA's reach, making this month's decision in our case the first besides Maui to apply the new standard.
Our consent decree was filed in May and ultimately approved in August 2022, read more about it here.
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Millersville University Win
Our Students' Civil Rights Project celebrated a ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, affirming critical Title IX protections for victims of dating violence and domestic abuse.
Public Justice joined the Women's Law Project to file an amicus brief in support of the estate and family of Karlie Hall, a student at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. Ms. Hall was abused and murdered in her dorm room by her non-student boyfriend.
The Third Circuit's January 11 opinion confirmed that Millersville can be held liable under Title IX for failing to protect Ms. Hall — a "clear recognition that schools have an obligation to respond to known sexual harassment that happens within their control regardless of the identity of the harasser," our Alexandra Brodsky told Inside Higher Ed.
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Philadelphia Gay News Op-Ed: Title IX Should Protect All Students
Catherine Barnes, the mother of a non-binary child in Pennsylvania, published an op-ed in the Philadelphia Gay News on February 23, urging the U.S. Department of Education to ensure Title IX protects all gender-nonconforming students, regardless of where they live: "More than half of LGBTQ students are bullied, and when their schools won’t do the right thing, they need clear legal protections. That’s why I’m hoping that the U.S. Department of Education will soon publish new regulations requiring schools across the country to protect gender non-conforming students."
Public Justice and the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania represented Jamie in their administrative complaint against the school district. Learn more about the case here.
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California Senate Bill 1149 Introduced
On February 16, Senator Connie Leyva introduced the Public Right to Know Act (SB 1149) in the California State Senate. SB 1149 would protect Californian's’ access to information about dangerous public hazards that are discovered during litigation.
“It is unconscionable that vital information that could protect the safety and lives of Californians could be kept from the public because of decisions that seem to prioritize the bottom line of companies than the well-being of residents across our state," said Senator Leyva in a public statement.
As part of our longstanding efforts to end court secrecy and ensure a transparent and fair justice system, Public Justice was proud to co-sponsor this bill alongside Consumer Reports.
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Congress Passes Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021
We joined our allies to celebrate Congress's passage of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. This bill will ensure that workers who experience sexual assault or sexual harassment on the job — as well as people who experience these abuses in education, housing or health care — have their day in court. Our Access to Justice Co-Director Karla Gilbride published a blog post on the importance of ending forced arbitration for sexual harassment survivors and beyond.
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Karla Gilbride Argues Morgan v. Sundance Before SCOTUS
Our Access to Justice Project Co-Director Karla Gilbride argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in our case, Morgan v. Sundance. On March 21, Karla argued on behalf of Robyn Morgan, a former Taco Bell employee who sued her employer Sundance, Inc., for failing to pay her and similarly-situated workers for all their work, including overtime.
Sundance spent months in court, but when it didn't like how the proceeding was going, it shifted gears and tried to force the case into arbitration. Morgan argued that Sundance waived its right to arbitrate, but the Eighth Circuit found no waiver because Morgan had not shown "prejudice" from Sundance's dilatory conduct. Karla argued that the Eighth Circuit ruled incorrectly because by requiring a showing of prejudice, it had applied an extra requirement to prove waiver of the contractual right to arbitrate, something that doesn’t apply to the waiver of any other contract right.
Read the full transcript of Karla's argument.
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Forced Arbitration: Hearing in the Senate, Passage of New Law, and Op-Ed in The Hill
On March 8, our Executive Director Paul Bland testified on a panel before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs regarding the harms of forced arbitration in the financial space. Paul was joined by Public Justice Board Member Myriam Gilles.
“Through ending forced arbitration in this sector, Congress can ensure countless Americans are no longer denied their day in court and are no longer forced into a system where they are unlikely to prevail," Paul told committee members.
Earlier in the month, President Biden signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, a major victory in the fight for access to justice. Shortly after, we published an op-ed in The Hill, urging Congress to pass a bill with even broader protections against forced arbitration, known as the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (FAIR) Act.
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Protecting the First Amendment for Journalists
We celebrated a victory in our suit challenging a series of Texas statutes that created criminal and civil penalties for journalists using drones to capture images.
On March 29, a Texas district court struck down the state law, ruling that it was unconstitutional, and that photography producing journalism is protected by the First Amendment. We partnered with the Yale Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic and Jim Hemphill of Graves Dougherty to represent the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), whose members rely on drones to safely report on various newsworthy activities.
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Ban on Kansas Ag-Gag Law Stands
In a major victory for animals, workers, and transparency in the animal agriculture industry, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit that struck down Kansas' Ag-Gag law for violating the First Amendment. Enacted in 1990, the Kansas Ag-Gag law was the oldest in the country.
The law made it a crime to engage in activities essential for conducting undercover investigations that reveal the horrific treatment of factory-farmed animals and workers. In 2021, the Appeals Court upheld the lower court's ruling that Kansas' Ag-Gag law was unconstitutional by silencing those who expose the inhumane conditions associated with factory farms that are a matter of public concern. The Supreme Court's cert denial, issued on April 25, leaves that important rule in place.
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SCOTUS Win: Morgan v. Sundance
We were thrilled to announce that on May 23, the U.S. Supreme Court released its opinion in our case, Morgan v. Sundance, ruling unanimously in favor of our client Robyn Morgan, holding that no prejudice is required for the waiver of arbitration agreements and that courts cannot "make up" new rules that favor employment arbitration.
"We are hopeful that [the] decision will bring Ms. Morgan a step closer to a fair result in her dispute with Sundance, and we're also hopeful that it will send a message to all corporations who include arbitration provisions in their contracts with workers and consumers those arbitration provisions will be treated just like any other term in their contract — no worse, but also no better," said our Access to Justice Co-Director Karla Gilbride, who argued the case before the Supreme Court.
Read the full statement.
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Clean Water Act Cleans Up Black Warrior River
in Alabama
In a major victory for the health of the Black Warrior River in Alabama, we joined the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Black Warrior Riverkeeper on May 17 to file a proposed consent decree which would force Drummond Company to clean up its abandoned Maxine Mine site. This consent decree — which was ultimately adopted in August 2022 — follows more than five years of litigation against Drummond for discharging polluted water into the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River since mining operations ceased in the 1980s, harming residents across Alabama for decades.
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Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
In our June issue of Justice Briefs, we condemned the United States Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which threatens the lives, health, and autonomy of millions:
We believe abortion is a fundamental human right. For more than 50 years, Roe v. Wade ensured a person's autonomy and liberty to choose what happens to their own body, free from legislative interference. Last week's decision severely undermines that right and even threatens past precedents that protect LGBTQ rights and more.
Additionally, communities of color, rural communities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ communities, and those who already face disproportionate access to healthcare will suffer the most from being further denied the healthcare they need. Because of this ruling, people across the country and in states that have already made abortion illegal will die.
As advocates for social justice and change, we know that reproductive justice is inextricably tied to so many of the issues we fight for, including workers' rights, consumer rights, voting rights, environmental justice, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ rights.
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Happy 50th Birthday, Title IX!
This month also marked the 50th anniversary of the federal civil rights statute Title IX, which protects people from sex discrimination in education and other federally-funded programs. For years, our Students' Civil Rights Project has used Title IX as a powerful tool to hold schools accountable when they fail their students.
Under the Trump Administration, former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gutted Title IX protections for student survivors of sexual harassment, making it easier for schools to shirk responsibility to their students.
For more than a year, we joined our fellow allies and student advocates in urging the Biden Administration to undo these harmful provisions and release proposed changes that support and protect survivors. On the same day that Title IX was enacted 50 years ago, the U.S. Department of Education finally released its proposed regulations. Read our full statement on the proposed regulations.
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Public Justice Holds 40th Annual Gala in Seattle
At our first in-person gala since 2019, we met in Seattle on July 18 to honor changemakers from across the nation, including:
- 2022 Champion of Justice Hillary Rodham Clinton
- 2022 Huntington Hero Susan Gombert
- 2022 Illuminating Injustice awardees June and Angie Provost of Provost Farm
- Arthur Bryant, recipient of our inaugural Legacy Award
We were also excited to present the 2022 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award to the legal team behind McCollum et al. v. Robeson County et al., a landmark case that secured $75 million in damages on behalf of two North Carolina men who spent more than three decades in jail for wrongful convictions.
The winning team was one of four outstanding finalists. Each finalist was recognized with a short documentary, which premiered at the Gala and can be viewed on our YouTube channel. View photos from the Gala on our Flickr page.
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Debtors’ Prison Project Helps Erie Moore’s Family Find Justice
In an important victory for the family of Erie Moore, a Black man who was assaulted and beaten to death by correctional officers in a for-profit prison, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a district court’s ruling on July 22, allowing the case to proceed to trial. Most notably, the Fifth Circuit rejected the private company's attempt to invoke qualified immunity for its employees — a doctrine that insulates government officials from civil lawsuits.
"Erie Moore was arrested for disturbing the peace. It’s a misdemeanor in Louisiana, where he was from. And he was taken to a for-profit detention center. 24 hours later, he was declared brain dead — and the facts that emerged after this happened were pretty alarming," Debtors' Prison Project Director Leslie Bailey shared with a gathering of Public Justice Board Members and American Association for Justice colleagues earlier this year.
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Smithfield Lawsuit is Approved to Move Forward
On July 22, we received the exciting news that our Food Project's lawsuit against Smithfield Foods will move forward! When major COVID-19 outbreaks struck Smithfield’s meat processing plants in 2020, the company told consumers that closing plants to protect workers’ lives would result in national meat shortages. It also reassured the public that its pandemic safety protocols were keeping workers as safe as possible.
Our lawsuit, filed with Food & Water Watch, alleges both claims are false. The country was never in danger of a meat shortage: at the height of the pandemic, Smithfield increased its exports and held billions of pounds of meat in warehouses. Meanwhile, Smithfield has consistently failed to implement essential safety measures and its employees still face dangerous working conditions.
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Congress Needs To Modernize the Supreme Court and Bring It Into the 21st Century
Public Justice announces a policy position on the U.S. Supreme Court with op-ed by Paul Bland, published August 23.
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Ohio State University Appeal Prevails
In a 2–1 decision, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of our lawsuits against Ohio State University and its decades-long role in enabling the sexual abuse of hundreds of students and others by school-employed physician Dr. Richard Strauss.
This reversed a district court’s dismissal of the cases, which was based on OSU’s assertion that the victims’ claims were untimely because the statute of limitations had expired. We argued that most survivors weren’t aware that what happened to them was abuse until 2018, when the university publicly announced it was investigating allegations of Strauss’ abuse. We also argued that — by OSU’s own actions — none of the survivors were aware of the role the university played in enabling and concealing Strauss’ abuse.
In a sweeping victory, the Sixth Circuit agreed, stating in its September 14 opinion that “plaintiffs adequately allege that they did not know and could not reasonably have known that Ohio State injured them until 2018,” rejecting OSU’s claims that the survivors should have taken action sooner.
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Karla Gilbride Testifies Before Senate
On September 13, our Access to Justice Co-Director Karla Gilbride testified before the Senate Health, Employment, Labor, Pensions (HELP) Committee for her nomination to serve as General Counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
"The laws the EEOC enforces represent some of this country’s greatest ideals: that everyone should have opportunities in the workplace free from barriers caused by bias, harassment, or a failure to accommodate their religion or their disability," said Karla during her powerful opening statement.
Karla's confirmation vote is expected within the next few weeks. Though we would miss Karla greatly if she is confirmed, we're proud to support her and urge Senators to swiftly confirm her nomination.
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End Anti-Trans Discrimination in Credit Reporting Practices
On September 12, our Vice President of External Affairs Steve Ralls and organization ally Bodhi Calagna co-authored a widely read op-ed in the Los Angeles Blade about ending anti-trans discrimination in the credit card industry.
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Iowa Ag-Gag Law Found Unconstitutional For a Third Time
We celebrated another exciting win in our ongoing fight against Ag-Gag laws, this time in Iowa. For a third time, a court has ruled that the state’s attempt to bury undercover investigations into its agribusiness sector is unconstitutional. This Iowa law created a new crime of trespassing to engage in video and audio recording, gagging free speech by criminalizing undercover investigations at animal facilities. In the absence of meaningful federal laws regulating factory farms, undercover investigations have played a critical role in educating the public about the conditions under which their food is produced.
We’re proud to join the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Iowa CCI, Bailing Out Benji, Food and Water Watch, and PETA for this round in our ongoing fight to ensure transparency and accountability in our food system.
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Palmer v. Amazon
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals correctly rejected a district court’s earlier dismissal of a worker-filed legal action against Amazon.
Although the 2nd District ruled for Amazon on some issues, it also held that OSHA does not have primary jurisdiction on these matters, affirming the workers’ right to use New York Labor Law to demand a safer workplace.
In 2020, our clients filed their case on behalf of all workers at JFK8, Amazon's Staten Island fulfillment center. Working conditions in the warehouse failed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the facility and beyond. A district court initially dismissed the suit, reasoning in part that these serious safety claims could only be taken up with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) — not the courts. We argued this was an incorrect and concerning deference to OSHA, which has failed to regulate corporations and take action against unsafe workplace conditions during the pandemic.
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Welcoming Our New President
Tom Sobol
Our Karen Ocamb spoke to Tom about what he hopes to accomplish while at the helm of Public Justice, as well as his ongoing work fighting profits-over-people practices at pharmaceutical companies.
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Supreme Court Denies Cert in Fairfax County Title IX Case
The U.S. Supreme Court denied the Fairfax County School Board’s (FCSB) request for the justices to take up our client’s Title IX case and gut student survivors’ rights. In 2017, after receiving reports that a classmate had sexually assaulted Jane, school officials conducted a sham investigation and failed to provide her with the support she needed to feel safe in school. As a result, Jane struggled academically, emotionally, and physically. After the Fourth Circuit ruled against the school, FCSB filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court. While considering whether to grant cert, the Court called for the views of the U.S. Solicitor General, who filed a brief opposing the school’s petition. On November 21, the Supreme Court denied cert.
“What a shame the School Board wasted taxpayer dollars asking the Supreme Court to adopt positions the Fourth Circuit and the Department of Justice have called ‘absurd,’” our Student Civil Rights Project Staff Attorney Alexandra Brodsky said.
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Public Justice Food Project Reveals Hormel Deep Dive
In 2016, Public Justice, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and the Richman Law Group filed a joint lawsuit against Hormel Foods, alleging the company misled consumers with advertising of its Natural Choice® brand of lunch meats and bacon. Through discovery, the suit confirmed that there was no difference between Natural Choice and Hormel’s other product lines.
On November 15, our Food Project revealed these truths and more by cataloging and sharing many of the documents and testimony from the case. This deep dive introduced revelations — many in Hormel’s own words — about Hormel’s factory farm practices and the lengths it went to deceive consumers about its Natural Choice products. Not only is this an eye-opening look into big agriculture’s business practices, it’s a reminder that open and transparent courts are a vital part of our right to know about what we consume.
View the Hormel Deep Dive.
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Debtors’ Prison Project Files Bail Challenge in Los Angeles County
On November 14, our Debtor's Prison Project (DPP) joined several civil rights groups to file a lawsuit on behalf of all individuals in Los Angeles who are incarcerated simply because they cannot afford bail. In Los Angeles County, when someone is arrested they are automatically held in custody until their first contact with a judge at their arraignment, which often takes several days. While they are held, they are exposed to dangerous, unsanitary conditions and do not receive even basic medical care. Their only chance at returning home until the arraignment is to make bail. The amount is predetermined by the arresting officer’s charge and where that fits on an arbitrary schedule.
Arrest does not mean guilt. Many people who are arrested in Los Angeles will never be charged with a crime, but their pre-arraignment incarceration creates personal and financial crises just the same. We look forward to continuing this fight in 2023.
Check the Debtors' Prison Project page for updates about this and other DPP cases.
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Public Justice Joins First Cases
Under New Arbitration Law
In March, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (EFASASHA). We are now beginning to see the meaning of this law interpreted through litigation.
In partnership with the American Association for Justice, the National Women’s Law Center, the National Employment Lawyers Association, RAINN, Rise, and Lift Our Voices, we recently filed amicus briefs in two cases of first impression. In them, we clarify that under EFASASHA, a plaintiff does not need to first somehow prove or prevail on a sexual harassment dispute for their case to be heard in court. The brief states, “Court must determine from the face of the complaint whether EFASASHA applies and, once it applies, the case remains in court regardless of whether the plaintiffs’ claims for sexual harassment are ultimately successful.” Additionally, our brief reiterates the intent of the EFASASHA is not to separate and send only sexual harassment claims to court, but to keep the entire case in the same forum.
We will continue to look for opportunities to weigh in on this emerging area, and we encourage our colleagues with EFASASHA questions to contact the Access To Justice team at access2justice@publicjustice.net.
Read more about the briefs and cases.
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40 Years, 40 Cases:
A Public Justice Timeline
Learn more about some of our favorite cases on a timeline that spans four decades.
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Ohio State University's Request for Rehearing in Sixth Circuit Denied | | | |
Finally, our Karen Ocamb recently interviewed this year's Huntington Hero honoree, Sue Gombert, and the first honoree, Tonia Allison — who both share information about themselves and their commitment to Public Justice. Sue and Tonia bookend 2021's Huntington Hero Kelly Simon, whom you can learn more about here. | |
Double your impact before December 31st!
As we celebrate the end of our 40th anniversary year, your generosity gives us the tools we need to take on the biggest systemic threats to justice of our time: abusive corporate power and predatory practices, the assault on civil rights and liberties, and the destruction of the earth’s sustainability.
Our Board President Tom Sobol has committed to matching every dollar given between now and the end of the year, up to $50,000! That means your tax-deductible gift to Public Justice today will have double the impact. Can we count on you to further the fight for justice in 2023?
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Public Justice welcomes this month's new members — your unwavering commitment to our mission of combating injustice helps us reach our goals. | Questions? Contact us here. | | | | |
