The Center for WorkLife Law is pleased to welcome Jessica Dimas as our new Reproductive Justice for Farmworkers Legal Fellow. Jessica is joining our team to advance the rights of pregnant and lactating farmworkers in California thanks to our newly awarded Agricultural Community-Based Projects grant from the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative (PERC).
Through the Dar a Luz: Legal Rights for Farmworkers in Pregnancy and Postpartum helpline, Jessica will help workers get relief from employment discrimination and access workplace accommodations, state disability insurance, and paid family leave. Jessica will also help spread awareness throughout the state by designing new training and materials to equip community health workers and healthcare providers in supporting farmworkers who want to prevent prenatal pesticide exposure. Â
A first-generation graduate of Tufts University and the University of San Francisco School of Law, Jessica is passionate about supporting immigrant communities that face language, access, and other systemic barriers. Jessica worked at a plaintiff-side employment law firm, was a Peggy Browning Fellow at a firm specializing in ERISA and employee benefits law, and externed with the Work and Family team at Legal Aid at Work during law school. Before law school, Jessica was an immigration paralegal, the coordinator of a workers’ rights helpline and immigrant relief fund project, and a Fulbright Scholar in Chiapas, Mexico.