Removing Barriers to Employment
A steady job is the surest path to financial stability, and every worker deserves fair treatment on the job and a fair shot at being hired and promoted.
Were you treated unfairly at work or when applying for a job?
How we help
We represent workers who have been wrongfully fired. We challenge discrimination in hiring, promotions, and on the job, including discrimination based on race, disability, national origin, sex, or age. We fight sexual harassment and abuse on the job.
We also help caregivers and other workers who have been barred from their profession by an agency finding against them. When those findings are unfair, we challenge them so people can return to work. And we help workers understand their rights and hold employers accountable when they break the law.
$1 million+
Relief for displaced Yakima Valley farmworkers after NJP’s lawsuit on behalf of eight workers led to a state investigation
Child protective services falsely stated that I had child neglect charges on me, and I was unable to pursue my certified nursing career. … No one else would take my case. But my NJP attorney took it. I’m grateful to NJP for helping clear my name so I can work.
Yvonne, NJP Client
Legal Aid Matters
Losing a job can quickly lead to missed rent, lost health coverage, debt and depression. Workers who stand up for their rights may initially face retaliation, but they can also win back their jobs, lost wages, or compensation, and their cases can change how an employer treats everyone who works there.
When one worker wins, others see that help is available and they don’t have to tolerate mistreatment.
Beatriz’s Story
Employee Forces Company To Change Sick Leave Policies
After 30 years in fruit packing, Beatriz was fired for getting COVID. She lost her income and her home, and her family had to scatter. When other attorneys told her to let it go, she found NJP and fought back, winning compensation and forcing her employer to overhaul its sick leave policies so other workers won’t be punished for getting sick.
Case Study
Removing Barriers to Employment
Ending Automatic Disqualification
In 2012, NJP began working to remove barriers to employment for low-wage workers with a past finding by Child Protective Services (CPS). Under state rules, a CPS finding of abuse or neglect, even a relatively minor one, such as leaving a child alone at home years ago, automatically disqualified people from jobs in health care and child care.
NJP found that these rules created racial disparities, disqualifying Native Americans up to three times as often as other workers. Case by case, NJP worked to understand why people were being barred from work.
Through litigation and legislation, NJP led the state to create the Certificate of Parental Improvement program. Instead of disqualifying people automatically for past CPS involvement, the state must now review whether they are actually suitable to work in health care or child care.
As a result, thousands of previously disqualified workers can now show they are fit to work with vulnerable people and get jobs in the fields they trained for.
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