On May 24, 2018, Outten & Golden’s Washington, DC office hosted an award ceremony as part of the firm’s annual Public Interest Award program, which began in 2010. The New York office hosted a similar award ceremony on March 6, 2018.
Outten & Golden typically honors one organization each year that is engaged in cutting-edge grassroots activities to protect and enforce the rights of workers, particularly low-wage workers. Each award consists of $20,000, with an initial grant of $10,000, plus $2,500 each year for the following four years. The firm decided this year to honor two organizations: the New York event honored Damayan Migrant Workers Association, and the Washington, DC event honored the Public Justice Center.
Damayan Migrant Workers Association (Damayan) is a New York-based nonprofit that empowers Filipino domestic workers and other marginalized low-wage workers to fight for their labor, health, gender, and immigrant rights. Established in 2002, Damayan’s mission is to build a solid membership base and develop workers’ leadership from the grassroots, to combat labor trafficking, to fight labor fraud and wage theft, and to demand fair labor standards to achieve economic and social justice for all. Damayan is a pioneer and leader in the anti-labor trafficking and domestic workers’ movement. Through its anti-labor trafficking campaign BAKLAS, (meaning “break free” in Filipino), Damayan has proven that trafficking survivors can win against powerful employers, reunify their families, and become social justice leaders. Damayan co-anchors Beyond Survival, the anti-trafficking campaign of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. To learn more, please visit https://www.damayanmigrants.org/.
The Public Justice Center (PJC) pursues systematic change to build a just society. Founded in Maryland in 1985, the PJC uses legal advocacy tools to pursue social justice, economic and racial equity, and fundamental human rights for people who are struggling to provide for their basic needs. The PJC is a civil legal aid office that provides advice and representation to low-income clients, advocates before legislatures and government agencies, and collaborates with community and advocacy organizations. The PJC’s Workplace Justice Project works primarily with low-wage workers to enforce and expand their right to an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work using a variety of strategies including: legislative, regulatory and other policy advocacy, litigation, and coalition development. Using a strategic approach to combat identified systemic problems that negatively affect the lives of low-wage workers, the PJC has achieved significant results in a variety of sectors and industries. To learn more, please visit http://www.publicjustice.org/.
Outten & Golden LLP focuses on advising and representing individuals in employment, partnership, and related workplace matters both domestically and internationally. The firm counsels individuals on employment and severance agreements; handles complex compensation and benefits issues (including bonuses, commissions, and stock/ option agreements); and advises professionals (including doctors and lawyers) on contractual issues. It also represents employees with a wide variety of claims, including discrimination and harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, disability, national origin, religion, and age, as well as retaliation, whistleblower, and contract claims. The firm handles class actions involving a wide range of employment issues, including economic exploitation, gender- and race-based discrimination, wage-and-hour violations, violations of the WARN Act, and other systemic workers’ rights issues.
Outten & Golden has nine practice groups: Executives & Professionals, Financial Services, Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination, Family Responsibilities & Disabilities Discrimination, Lesbian Gay Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Workplace Rights, Discrimination & Retaliation, Whistleblower Retaliation, Class & Collective Actions, and WARN Act.
Outten & Golden has offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
For media inquiries, contact Managing Partner Wayne N. Outten at (212) 245-1000, @email.
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