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Transgender Know Your Rights Manuals

// July 18th, 2009 // 12101 Comment »http://prernalal.com/2009/07/transgender-know-your-rights-manuals/Transgender+Know+Your+Rights+Manuals2009-07-19+04%3A12%3A49Prerna // All things LGBT

I was goggling myself today and found out that the Transgender Know Your Rights manuals that I had worked on last Spring at the National Lawyers’ Guild are finally available online!

Employment
Housing
Immigration
Criminal

The immigration one is probably the manual most meticulously put together probably because I really knew the subject area but also due to the fact that immigration law is more confusing than any other area of law.

Oftentimes, approval of asylum depends more on the random immigration judge assigned by the clerk than on the merits of the case, according to a 2006 study called “Refugee Roulette” by Philip G. Schrag, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center. 30% of applicants win asylum in San Diego compared to the U.S. Average of 40%, while 54% of applicants win asylum in San Francisco immigration courts.15 According to the same study, female immigration judges grant asylum at a 44 percent higher rate than their male colleagues.

It’s good to see my research made the final cut!

Know Your Rights – Undocumented Workers Entitled to Workers’ Compensation

// May 16th, 2008 // 184No Comments »http://prernalal.com/2008/05/know-your-rights-undocumented-workers-entitled-to-workers-compensation/Know+Your+Rights+-+Undocumented+Workers+Entitled+to+Workers%27+Compensation2008-05-16+05%3A00%3A39Prerna // Human Rights, Immigration

The need to institute fair labor laws and protections across the board, regardless of immigration status, is something I have blogged about previously–and the courts in many states agree!

Take this decision from South Carolina as an example, rendered just last December:

In a decision that is sure to unleash political firestorms at both the state and national level, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled last week that illegal immigrants have the same right as any other worker to receive payments from the state’s workers’ compensation system.

In the matter of Curiel v. Environmental Management Services, the Court ruled unanimously that “disallowing benefits would mean unscrupulous employers could hire undocumented workers without the burden of insuring them, a consequence that would encourage rather than discourage the hiring of illegal workers.”

Here is a guide to states with rights for undocumented workers to claim workers’ compensation -

• California Court of Appeal Reaffirms Right of Undocumented Workers to Workers’ Comp Benefit

Here is a list of rights undocumented workers have in California

To receive a minimum wage of $8 per hour

To earn overtime pay — with some exceptions — after working more than eight hours per day or more than 40 hours in one week

To file wage claims with the state labor commissioner if they believe their employer has violated state wage laws

To file workplace safety and health complaints with Cal/OSHA, the state’s workplace safety and health program

To work in an environment free from retaliation for exercising their rights.

• Maryland – Design Kitchen and Baths, et al. v. Lagos - Undocumented Workers are Covered for Injuries on the Job
  
• Florida Court of Appeal: Hoffman Does Not Preempt State Workers’ Compensation Law
• Georgia Appellate Court Upholds Workers’ Compensation Coverage for Undocumented Worker
• Michigan Supreme Court Vacates Order Granting Motion to Appeal in Workers’ Compensation Case
• Minnesota Supreme Court Refuses to Limit Workers’ Comp Recovery in Cases Involving Undocumented Workers
• New York Court Rejects Discovery of Workers’ Immigration Status in Workers’ Compensation Claim
• Ohio Appeals Court Upholds Undocumented Workers’ Right to Workers’ Compensation