Since its founding, the Legal Defense Fund has fought for the rights of Black Americans to work, live, and thrive without racially imposed barriers. In one of our first cases in 1940, LDF secured a vital decision that required equal pay for black and white teachers. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF’s economic justice practice continues the fight to increase fairness and equal opportunity for Black Americans in all aspects of the economy.
On November 17, 2015, the LDF joined more than 70 civil and human rights organizations in filing an amicus curiae brief in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a challenge to the Supreme Court’s 1977 ruling in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, which affirmed the constitutionality of fair share͟ provisions for public sector unions. Oral arguments before the Supreme Court are scheduled for January 11, 2016.
