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Proposed Changes in Federal Rules Threaten to Rig Courts in Favor of Corporations, against Working People

Posted on 02/06/2014

For Immediate Release

Contact Michael O’Keefe Cowles, Attorney, Equal Justice Center – Dallas
469-203-2150
mcowles@equaljusticecenter.org

Dallas Hearing on Feb. 7 to address controversial changes to federal courts
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A hearing on proposed changes to alter the federal rules of civil procedures is set for Friday, Feb. 7, in Dallas. The proposed rule changes would significantly alter our legal system, making it much harder for poor people, small businesses, and all those with minimal resources to access the justice system and have their day in court.

Opponents of the proposed changes include national and state-wide civil rights and workers’ rights organizations as well as local private lawyers, including the NAACP, the Equal Justice Center, Alliance for Justice, National Employment Law Project, National Employment Lawyers Association, and many others.

“These changes would create an unnecessary hurdle for working class people to exercise their rights and have their day in court. The changes fundamentally alter the balance in the justice system in favor of big corporate interests,” said Michael O’Keefe Cowles, head of the Dallas office of the Equal Justice Center.

“Currently poor and working class people already face barriers to the justice system because their claims are often for minimal amounts, and they often cannot obtain an attorney. The proposed rules would further restrict access to justice for these people by restricting what information litigants could have access to when facing bigger and much more well-funded corporate opponents,” said Cowles.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure establish how civil lawsuits are filed, pursued, and tried in federal courts. The proposed Rules changes would severely limit discovery, decrease the number and length of depositions and remove incentives to preserve critical documents. This will have a chilling effect on civil rights, employment discrimination, and other protections because the information needed to prove these types of case is often in the sole possession of the corporation.

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    Thanks for Supporting EJC at our 17th Anniversary Celebration and Peter Pan Mini-Golf Fundraiser

    Our October 4th fundraiser was an outstanding success, thanks to all those who supported EJC's work by helping sponsor the event and to the many of you who joined us in person or in spirit. The mini-golf fun and the justice camaraderie flowed every bit as freely as the beer from 4th Tap Co-op Brewery washing down the Franklin BBQ and Clay Pit vegetarian curry.

    Even If you weren't able to sponsor or attend on October 4, it's never too late to Consider Donating or to Become an Event Sponsor, whom we will continue to celebrate throughout the year in recognition of your generous support for EJC, for workplace justice, and for immigrant justice across Texas.

    As we now return to the vitally serious business of upholding justice for immigrant and low-wage working families in this challenging era, we are all the more grateful to enjoy the high-spirited and uplifting support we garner from people like you.

  • The Equal Justice Center continues to empower immigrant and low-wage working people to enforce their fundamental employment rights - even in this era when the rights of immigrants and workers are under widespread attack. Our clients' determined action, backed by EJC's legal representation, have recouped nearly $1 million in wage cases in the last year alone.

    With our newest successes in 2018, EJC and its clients have this year surpassed a new milestone – more than $11 million total recovered in wage cases for low-wage working men and women, since EJC began its wage justice work with a small staff back in 2003.

    These wage recoveries have come in cases brought by landscapers, restaurant workers, construction laborers, asbestos removal workers, agricultural and food processing workers, and cleaning service workers, among others. Their claims typically challenge employers’ complete non-payment of any wages; failure to pay workers for all of their work hours; or violations of laws requiring payment of minimum wage, overtime, or prevailing wage laws.

    The EJC clients who have brought and won these cases include U.S. citizens, authorized immigrants, and undocumented immigrants. EJC provides legal assistance to working people regardless of their immigration status.

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