Let’s give a warm welcome to the Center for WorkLife Law’s new Co-Directors! As announced earlier this year, Liz Morris and Jessica Lee are now leading WorkLife Law in our fight for economic security, racial justice, and health equity for workers, students, and the families they care for.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce that will make it more difficult for the federal government to protect workers, students, and all Americans from discrimination, health and safety risks, financial threats, and other harms.

Read WorkLife Law’s newly published Annual Report and learn about what our team has been doing to support pregnant people and family caregivers across the country. This report captures our impact from July 2023 to June 2024.

Liz Morris and Cynthia Calvert, who have counseled and trained hundreds of employees, businesses, and attorneys on the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, outline what leaders need to know to support their pregnant workers while avoiding unnecessary EEOC charges and litigation.

About 1 in 5 women experience anxiety or depression during pregnancy and postpartum. In order to bring more awareness to maternal mental health month, WorkLife Law has created new resources for workers to understand their rights at work while experiencing perinatal mental health conditions– including a video spotlighting our senior attorney Juliana Franco who shares about her own mental health struggles after having her son.

Today the U.S. Department of Education formally adopted their long-anticipated regulations implementing Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. The Pregnant Scholar, an initiative of the Center for WorkLife Law, applauds the Department for providing a strong interpretation of the law that both protects millions of pregnant and parenting students and provides clear guidance for educational institutions. Read our full statement here.

Today the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision (EEOC) released their much anticipated regulations implementing the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA). The Center for WorkLife Law applauds the EEOC for providing a strong interpretation of the law that both protects millions of workers and provides clear guidance for employers.

A recent KFF Health News article reported that private health insurers have delayed the availability of a revolutionary postpartum depression treatment. Our senior staff attorney Juliana Franco’s letter to the editor in response was published this week. In it, Juliana explains how mental health care providers can use the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act as a tool to support their patients who need time off for appointments or other changes at work. Juliana also shared about her own experience with postpartum depression.

As WorkLife Law’s founding director Joan Williams recently announced, she is passing the baton to the next generation of WorkLife Law leaders this summer. Incoming Co-Directors Jessica Lee and Liz Morris are excited to step into their new roles leading the Center in our fight for economic security, racial justice, and health equity for workers, students, and the families they care for. Click here to read their message introducing themselves and sharing their vision for WorkLife Law’s future.

Twenty-five years after founding the Center for WorkLife Law, Director Joan C. Williams is passing to the next generation the leadership of the Cener’s work advancing legal protections for caregiving workers and students. This summer, Liz Morris, the Center’s Deputy Director, and Jessica Lee, its Senior Staff Attorney, will become co-directors of the Center for WorkLife Law. Joan will start her own next chapter as the founding director of the Equality Action Center at UC Law SF, along with SVP Jamie Dolkas and Research Director Rachel Korn. Click here to read Joan’s letter announcing the big news and celebrating that we now have two organizations focused on moving us to a world without inequalities based on race, class and gender.