ERA welcomes accomplished civil rights advocate Catherine Bendor as Director of Litigation

July 30. 2024

For Immediate Release
Jul 30, 2024

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

Catherine Bendor joins Equal Rights Advocates with decades of experience leading national efforts to advance civil rights with a focus on gender, racial and economic justice.

Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), one of the nation’s leading organizations advocating for gender justice, announced the hire of Catherine Bendor as its Director of Litigation. For many years, Bendor has supervised and litigated federal court anti-discrimination cases and advocated to advance gender, racial, and economic justice. At this critical moment for civil and constitutional rights in this country, Bendor’s expertise will invigorate and amplify the ERA legal team’s work for gender justice and human rights nationwide.

“Catherine is an accomplished leader with extensive legal expertise and the ability to build power among partners,” said Noreen Farrell, Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates and Chair of Equal Pay Today. “Her track record in civil rights litigation and advocacy speaks volumes about her dedication and impact. We are ecstatic to bring her aboard at a time when our fight for gender justice is more crucial than ever. Catherine’s vision will strengthen our efforts and energize our legal team to achieve even greater strides in advancing gender justice.”

Bendor’s career spans litigation, policy advocacy, and public education work. Before joining ERA, she served as Special Litigation Counsel and Deputy Chief in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she led numerous federal court anti-discrimination lawsuits. She represented the Department at its first-ever trial of a case alleging a pattern of sexual harassment of tenants and handled numerous other lawsuits alleging sex discrimination and discrimination based on familial status in the housing context, and led a large-scale investigation to address the sexual abuse of incarcerated women by correctional staff in a state prison.

Prior to the DOJ, Bendor engaged in impact litigation, policy advocacy, and public education to protect and expand the rights of low-income individuals, including advocating for domestic violence survivors as the Legal Director and Staff Attorney at the National Homelessness Law Center (formerly the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty). There, in addition to engaging in litigation, she worked to advance the rights of low-income people through legislative advocacy and work with executive branch agencies, drafted reports and conducted presentations and training for other attorneys and the public.

“I am excited to join ERA to build on the extraordinary momentum of their legal team, which has led groundbreaking litigation resulting in significant progress for working women and students facing gender, racial, and economic injustice,” Bendor said. “ERA’s mission aligns perfectly with my passion for advancing civil rights and equity. I look forward to collaborating with the talented team at ERA and our partners across the nation to continue the vital work of challenging discrimination and uplifting the voices of those most affected by injustice.”