Every year, Outten & Golden makes substantial financial, pro bono, and collaborative contributions to non-profit organizations and the communities within our firm’s regions: New York City, San Francisco Bay Area and Washington DC. O&G’s contributions seek to help individuals and groups receive support regarding workplace fairness from a variety of angles.
During the past ten years, O&G has contributed more than $3.0 million to more than three hundred non-profit organizations that advocate for workers’ rights, civil rights, and the rights of low-wage workers. Included in these contributions are recipients of the O&G Public Interest Award. Each honoree receives $20,000 over four years, plus support from O&G for cases and projects during that time frame. For more information about our Public Interest Award and past recipients, please visit the award’s page.
Beyond the Public Interest Award, O&G has co-counseled with a wide variety of public interest groups and non-profit organizations nationally. The firm also has collaborated with various organizations to provide a wide array of services, training, technical assistance, and other support to attorneys and advocates. O&G attorneys sit on the boards of - and contribute substantial time and energy - to many non-profit organizations as well.
O&G has also contributed more than 15,000 hours of lawyer pro bono time during the last ten years. Our pro bono work has supported class action lawsuits and individual cases. The Class Action Practice Group predominantly represent employees who have been victims of unlawful discrimination in the workplace (including harassment by their employers) and employees who have been victims of wage theft by their employers (e.g., unpaid overtime and misappropriated tips). When employers violate employment laws, they often do so simultaneously against groups of similarly-situated workers. In those situations, class actions allow employees to vindicate their rights as a group, which is more efficient economically, creates strength in numbers, and may result in systemic changes.
The O&G Public Interest Committee (PIC) focuses much of its work on representing individuals with just and worthy causes who could not otherwise afford legal services. The firm takes such cases because they call out for justice and/or because they promote the public interest.