We hope each and every one of you enjoyed a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday wherever you were. During this month of gratitude and giving thanks, we want to extend a special thank you to all our supporters, members, and partners across the country who help make our work possible and stand alongside us in supporting students, consumers, workers, farm and food workers, and more. We couldn't do any of this without you.
This November, we continued our fight to advance workers' rights and climate policies that hold factory farm polluters accountable. We also joined our allies to uplift several hearings covering key issues like forced arbitration's role in silencing survivors of sexual harassment and assault and the urgent need to pass the FAIR Act. You can learn more about these efforts in detail below.
This month, we also paused to join our allies in collective grief and anger over Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal, reminding us of why we are fighting for a just system that works for all. This means continuing the vital work in dismantling the systemic racism and white supremacism that continues to pervade our country's institutions and legal system.
As NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill states: "Rittenhouse’s actions before, after, and during that night in Kenosha, and the impunity afforded to his actions do not exist in isolation from the larger context of racism, lax gun laws, and the deep flaws in our criminal justice system that so powerfully shape public life in this country."
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Fighting to End
Forced Arbitration
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This month, the House Judiciary Committee held several hearings regarding the future of forced arbitration.
We believe both bills represent important first steps toward ending forced arbitration as we continue our efforts in urging passage of the FAIR Act, which would end forced arbitration for all Americans once and for all.
As we continue to cover these important hearings in the future, be sure to follow along and join is in the fight on Twitter, using #EndForcedArbitration.
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Holding Factory Farm Polluters Accountable |
In late October, we joined 24 ally organizations and groups to file a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency urging it to enforce federal air pollution laws against factory farm polluters after almost two decades of inaction.
Our petition calls for the Biden Administration to end the Air Consent Agreement, which has allowed thousands of the nation's largest factory farms to continue polluting without punishment and essentially receive protection from EPA enforcement action for over 16 years.
“Multiple administrations have carried on this policy of agricultural exceptionalism where ag, cloaked in a false narrative of family farmers, has expanded the industry,” our Food Project Senior Attorney Brent Newell told Civil Eats. “Over the last several decades, the number of industrial dairy and hog operations have grown, and the amount of liquefied manure creating methane has increased while EPA is standing idly by. EPA needs to end the consent agreement.”
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SCOTUS to Hear
Wage Theft Case on Forced Arbitration
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This month, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., a class action lawsuit involving more than 500 employees at Taco Bell who sued over unpaid overtime.
Public Justice serves as co-counsel in this important case regarding forced arbitration and the standard for waiver of the right to compel arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act. Following years of litigation in court, Sundance (a company that owns more than 150 Taco Bell franchises) has argued that the case should now be moved to arbitration. We disagree.
“We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will resolve the circuit split and hold that arbitration should be treated just like any other contractual right," our Access to Justice Project Co-Director Leah Nicholls told Law and Crime. "Further, we hope that the Supreme Court will make clear that parties cannot play forum games and switch to arbitration whenever court proceedings become unfavorable.” |
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This month, our fight for worker justice in the food and farm industry was amplified in our latest case on behalf of Michigan's undocumented workers.
On November 4, we joined Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice to file a lawsuit on behalf of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center to ensure that undocumented immigrants who are injured at work receive workers' compensation wages in Michigan.
The lawsuit, filed in the State of Michigan Court of Claims against the Governor of Michigan, challenges the Michigan Court of Appeals’ 2003 decision in Sanchez v. Eagle Alloy, which lets employers and insurance companies off the hook for failing to compensate undocumented workers injured on the job. The lawsuit states that Michigan’s continued denial of undocumented workers’ access to workers’ compensation wages contravenes Michigan Supreme Court precedent and violates due process.
“Workers’ compensation laws exist to protect workers and their families, not to create loopholes for corporations to further exploit working people,” said Public Justice Food Project Litigation Director David Muraskin in our press release. “Getting injured at work should never mean losing your income or ability to take care of your family. All working people, regardless of immigration status, should be able to take the time they need to recover from a workplace injury.” |
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Michigan's practice of punishing undocumented workers who suffer workplace injuries must end. Everyone deserves a safe and healthy workplace and the support needed to recover when injured — no matter who you are or where you’re from.
We're proud to stand with MIRC and Sugar Law in this important case. To learn more, visit:
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Our blog post about Maria, a mother of five who was denied workers' compensation due to her immigration status after getting injured while working at a pumpkin packing facility.
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Our case page, which includes the full complaint and case background.
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Our press release, including a letter to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib signed by 43 ally organizations showing support for Michigan's undocumented workers.
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In addition to fighting for the rights of immigrant workers in the court system, we also joined our allies including HEAL Food Alliance and Food Chain Workers Alliance to drum up support for a new bill that would ensure protections for our country's meatpacking workers.
Introduced by Senator Cory Booker and Representative Ro Khanna, the Protecting America's Meatpacking Workers Act would strengthen worker safety and increase protections for the more than 1.3 million meatpacking workers who were disproportionately impacted by the COVID pandemic.
Over the last year, we have seen how longstanding, systemic inequalities and abuse within the food system contributed to the high rate of COVID infections and deaths in meatpacking workers across the country. This bill would provide essential protections including limiting line speed waivers and enhancing protection from retaliation for workers who speak up. No one should be forced to choose between their safety and their livelihoods. This bill would give workers the power to change that.
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“The Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act is critical to keeping those who feed us safe and healthy," our Food Project Senior Attorney Brent Newell said in our joint press release on the bill's introduction. "Safe line speeds, access to proper medical care, and an OSHA standard for COVID-19 and other airborne diseases protect workers from an industry that consistently prioritizes profits over worker safety."
We believe in a just food system free of exploitation, and PAMWA is an important first step toward achieving that.
Learn more about the bill here and join us tomorrow at 2:00 PM ET for a discussion with our allies on why this bill is so critical. Register here. |
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Thank you to all our members and supporters who joined us in Raleigh this month for our Fall Board meeting! To all those who were unable to make it, we missed you and look forward to reuniting with you at a future in-person meeting!
A complete album of photos from our 40th Anniversary Kickoff Celebration can be found here. |
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Our work in fighting Ag-Gag laws has a new home on our Food Project's website! This new webpage includes information on how we're working to strike down these unconstitutional laws that stand in the way of a just and transparent food system.
From Arkansas to Wyoming, you'll learn about how we're tackling these laws in each state and the status of our cases. You'll find all legal documents and additional resources for each case.
A just, healthy, and thriving food system requires transparency. That's why we work to strike down Ag-Gag laws across the country that punish whistleblowers for exposing what happens behind the closed doors of factory farms and slaughterhouses.
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This year, we are excited to announce that we will receive an award for supporting FCWA and members in a USDA civil rights complaint, the Rural Community Workers Alliance's challenge against Smithfield, FCWA's federal policy advocacy work; and for challenging Arkansas' Ag-Gag law.
We're so honored to receive this award, which we see as a testament to the Food Project's organizing, communications, and legal work. The awards ceremony will take place virtually on Thursday, December 2 at 8:00 PM ET.
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Public Justice welcomes this month's new members — your unwavering commitment to our mission to combat injustice helps us reach our goals.
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