The mission of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland (WLC) is to serve as a leading voice for justice and fairness for women by advocating for the protection and expansion of women’s legal rights through legal assistance to individuals and strategic initiatives to achieve systemic change.
The Employment Law Hotline (ELH) is a legal resource in Maryland; mostly women, but also men, call from across the state and speak with an experienced volunteer lawyer about issues such as sexual harassment, hostile work environments, discrimination, FMLA and ADA violations, and a wide range of other employment-related matters. Several governmental agencies enforce the state and federal laws that prohibit employment discrimination. However, these agencies do not have the resources or mandate to provide information and advice. ELH fills the gap for workers and educates callers about possible self-help options and identifies cases to be recommended to a referral panel.
The Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle grant helped leverage volunteer time and expertise via a hotline that enables women to receive legal resources on issues on sexual harassment, hostile work environments, discrimination and a wide range of workplace issues. One hundred seventy-five (175) pro-bono hours of service were acquired; 72 percent of the 339 calls were female; 79% had income of less than $40; and many received sufficient information to resolve their questions.