Time's Up Legal Defense Fund

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Formation 2018
Founder Roberta Kaplan, Tina Tchen, Fatima Goss Graves
Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Website Website

Time's Up Legal Defense Fund (TULDF) is an organization that provides legal and media support to individuals who have been subject to workplace sex discrimination, such as sexual harassment. The fund is housed and administered by the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), a 501(c)3 non-profit. It is operated independently from the organization Time's Up, which operates as an advocacy group, and the Time's Up Foundation, a non-profit which raises funds for the TULDF. The New York Times called the TULDF "[Time's Up]'s crown jewel."

History

The Time's Up Legal Defense Fund was co-founded in 2018 by Time's Up's Roberta Kaplan and Tina Tchen[1][2][3] and NWLC's president and CEO Fatima Goss Graves[4] and is operated separately by the NWLC, a 501(c)3 organization,[5] which both houses and administers the fund.[6][7][8] TULDF's director is Sharyn Tejani.[9][10]

In August 2021 Kaplan and Tchen resigned from their roles in the Time's Up organization and TULDF after an investigation into New York governor Andrew Cuomo's sexual harassment allegations revealed Time's Up leadership had advised Cuomo while he was fighting the allegations.[11][12]

Funding

The initiative is funded by direct donations and through donations to the Time's Up Foundation.[13][14] The initial fundraising GoFundMe campaign by Time's Up for the legal defense fund in 2018 received $21 million in two months.[15]

Work

TULDF provides legal and media support to individuals who have been subject to workplace sex discrimination, such as sexual harassment.[6]

TULDF pairs women who need representation with local attorneys willing to help.[16][17] Attorneys provide an initial free consultation.[18] The attorneys then apply for TULDF funds to defray the costs of representing the alleged victim.[16][19] According to NWLC's Graves, some lawyers are able to take such cases pro bono, but having a fund to pay those who can't afford to do so means the organization can attract more attorneys to help with such cases.[16] Graves told CBS News that the biggest obstacle TULDF faced in helping with requests is that women don't request help early enough.[19]

By March 2018 over 1800 women had requested support and over 500 attorneys had signed up.[16] According to the NWLC, 98% of these requests were from women.[20] That year TULDF supported the sexual harassment class action suit filed against McDonald's by employees of a Michigan franchise group[21][22] a suit by a former Wal-Mart employee,[23] and a suit by Chicago Fire Department paramedics.[10]

By February 2019 the organization had 800 lawyers signed up and had assisted in over 100 cases.[24] Tchen in February 2019 said the organization had received requests for support from thousands of women representing 60 industries, and that two-thirds of the women were lower-income.[24] San Francisco's Lega Aid at Work said their organization had received funds for five of their cases.[24]

A 2020 report by NWLC on the cases reported to TULDF found that seven of ten women requesting assistance had experienced retaliation when reporting workplace sexual harassment.[25][26] More than half of women reported that their harasser was someone to whom they reported.[25][26]

The organization's 2021 Annual Report said that TULDF had assisted 4800 women, a third of whom identified as women of color and three-fourths of whom identified as lower-income.[14] The annual report said the organization had provided media assistance in 300 cases, and that in cases where a decision had been reached, 90% had been decided in favor of the complainant.[14]

TULDF also awards grants to other non-profits serving low-wage workers who have experienced workplace sexual harassment.[4] In August 2018 they awarded 18 grants, including Alianza Nacional de Campasinas, Forge, Asian/Pacific Islanders Domestic Violence Resource Project, Interfaith Worker Justice, and National Domestic Worker's Alliance.[27]

Reception

The New York Times in 2019 called the TULDF "[Time's Up]'s crown jewel"[24] and in 2021 said the initiative represented possibly Time's Up's most significant achievement.[8]

References

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