Timeline: Our History

1970s

Visit these pages for a fuller list of our legal achievements over the years:

• Workplace & Economic Justice
• Education Equity

Watch a short video about ERA’s Origin Story

1974

• Equal Rights Advocates incorporated as a nonprofit with Nancy Davis as Executive Director.
• ERA co-founder Wendy Williams argues before the U.S. Supreme Court that California cannot deny disability insurance coverage to women disabled by pregnancy (Geduldig v. Aiello). While ERA lost that battle, victory came 4 years later, when Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

1975

• For nine-year old Amy Love, ERA puts an end to “no girls” rule at county sport championships. (Love v. CA Youth Soccer Association)

1976

• ERA launches the first national Lesbian Rights Project to defend lesbian workers and families. The project later incorporates as the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

1977

• ERA successfully challenges Greyhound’s policy of excluding qualified women bus drivers through minimum height and weight requirements, resulting in landmark settlement eliminating sexist criteria. (Mueller v. Greyhound Lines West)

1978

• ERA challenges school’s forced maternity leave policy before U.S. Supreme Court. (Berg v. Richmond Unified School District)

1979

• ERA negotiates landmark consent decree requiring the Secretary of Labor to establish goals and timetables for hiring women federal contractors. (Advocates for Women v. Usery)

1990s

Watch a short video about ERA’s work in the 1980s-1990s

1991

• ERA and partners achieve landmark win confirming Title VII legal protections to undocumented pregnant workers, a ruling benefitting hundreds of thousands across the state. (EEOC & Castrejon v. Tortilleria La Mejor)
• ERA and partners successfully challenge in U.S. Supreme Court “fetal protection” policies used to exclude women from certain jobs. (United Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls)

• ERA plays a key role in passage of the California Family Rights Act, ensuring employees 12 weeks of job-protected paid family leave (and setting the stage for similar federal reform in 1993).

1995

• ERA co-counsels on precedent-setting case confirming school liability for peer sexual harassment under Title IX. (Doe v. Petaluma School District)

1999

• ERA ends 13-year legal challenge of employer practice diminishing retirement benefits to workers who took maternity leave with $25 million settlement for 10,000 workers. (Pallas v. Pacific Bell)
• ERA and partners secure wage and hour, as well as safety protections, for immigrant garment workers. (Does 1-8 v. ASC Fashion, US Boys, et al)

2010s

Watch a short video about ERA’s work from 2015-2020

2010

• ERA obtains justice (and $2.5 million trial win) for top notch fire academy recruit dismissed based on gender and motherhood status. (Maher v. County of Fresno)

2011

• ERA pushes CA SB 299 to ensure uninterrupted healthcare for pregnant workers.

2012

• ERA bring suit to challenge the removal of female athletes from a collegiate wrestling team, resulting in a trial win and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal precedent confirming school liability for decision to provide fewer sports opportunities to female student athletes.  (Mansourian v. UC Regents)

2013

• On the 50^th anniversary of the federal Equal Pay Act, ERA co-founds the Equal Pay Today campaign to help close gender, race, and LGBTQIA+ pay gaps with partners across the nation. The campaign has been the force behind 150 stronger fair pay laws in states since 2013.
• ERA joins case defending Professor Lucy Marsh against pay discrimination, resulting in a $2.47 million settlement and college practices. (Marsh v. University of Denver Sturm School of Law)

2014

• ERA launches the Stronger California Women’s Economic Security Campaign with dozens of partners and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, resulting in 50 groundbreaking policy wins between 2015 and 2023 combatting poverty, expanding access to childcare, and ensuring fair pay, safety from violence and other workplace reforms, helping 30 million workers across the state, and setting the stage for similar reforms across the nation.
• ERA passes the California Fair Pay Act as strongest fair pay law in the nation (which was later replicated in 42 other states).

2015

• After a 9-year legal battle, ERA wins suit on behalf of female janitor assaulted by a supervisor and retaliated against when she complained. The case was featured in “Rape on the Nightshift” documentary and launches the Ya Basta Coalition resulting in policy reforms helping 200,000 women janitors. (Bojorquez v. ABM Industries)

2016

• ERA wins landmark class action settlement ensuring fair pay and promotion for women workers in ship repair industry. (Aviles v. BAE Systems)
• ERA works alongside women field hockey players at UC Berkeley denied equal playing fields on campus, resulting in new state-of-the-art facilities.

• ERA supports passage of bills raising the minimum wage and ensuring a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.

2017

• ERA launches the Initiative to End Sexual Violence in Education to address Trump-era Title IX rollbacks and leads sexual harassment school policy reforms benefiting 30,000+ students (Oakland School District).

• ERA passes one of nation’s first state laws prohibiting reliance on prior salaries to set hiring wages, now replicated in over a dozen states.

2018

• ERA brings suit challenging rollback of student sexual violence survivor rights by Trump Administration, resulting in high impact changes in school proceedings. (Survjustice Inc, et al. v. Elisabeth DeVos et al.)
• ERA-sponsors nation’s strongest package of anti-sexual harassment legislation passes in CA
• ERA fights against sexual harassment in male-dominated fields and leads legal victory in Alaskan gold mine. (Hurst v. Sumitomo Pogo)

2019

• ERA serves as amici in Ninth Circuit case holding that the Equal Pay Act does not permit reliance on prior salary in setting hiring pay. (Rizo v. Fresno County Office of Education)

• ERA brings legal action for high school student forced from school after her sexual assault, which results in sizable settlement and school reforms benefitting thousands of students (Virginia M. v. Sacramento).
• ERA legal action against a research institute addresses sexual harassment that pushes women from science programs.
• ERA successfully pushes passage of SB 493, setting the nation’s gold standard of rights and protections to student survivors of sexual violence.