South Africa Apartheid Class Action
Zeldes & Haeggquist is proud to serve as class counsel in a South Africa Apartheid class action, filed in the Southern District of New York on behalf of South African plaintiffs. The Complaint alleges that five multinational companies collaborated and acted purposefully with the South African government to commit human rights violations including apartheid, itself a crime against humanity. Other claims allege complicity in extrajudicial killings, torture, de-nationalization, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment during the apartheid regime. The companies named in the suit are Barclays Bank PLC (Barclays), Ford Motor Company (Ford), General Motors Corporation (GM), Daimler AG (Daimler) and International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). The case is moving forward, after the court denied Defendants' motions to dismiss in part in a 136-page order on April 8, 2009, and on September 3, 2009, the South African government withdrew its opposition to the case proceeding in the United States in the District of New York.
Girls Think Tank
Zeldes & Haeggquist, LLP is committed to giving back to the community they live in and to the neighbors around them. Towards this goal, Helen Zeldes and Alreen Haeggquist currently sit on the Board of the Girls Think Tank a local non-profit grassroots organization of women and men providing a forum for community, collaboration, creativity, and hands-on public service. The purpose of the Girls Think Tank is to foster a culture of empowerment amongst its members and in the community by providing a vehicle for change on local issues that confront us daily. Whether it's homelessness, trafficking of women, gang violence, or carbon emissions, Girls Think Tank members put their heads, hearts, and hands together to provide solutions that both provide a public service for the community and a sense of pride that they are doing something about the issues that matter most to us.
Winter Survival Backpacks
As members of the Girls Think Tank, Ms. Zeldes and Ms. Haeggquist annually partake in what is now known as the Girls Think Tank's signature project - distributing Winter Survival Backpacks. These backpacks are given to displaced men, women and children living on the streets of San Diego during the coldest months of the year. Each backpack provides people living on the streets with a sleeping bag, blanket, a hat, gloves, socks, some snacks and water. Along with the backpacks, Ms. Zeldes, Ms. Haeggquist and other GTT members also collect and pass out used jackets and shoes to the men and women living on the streets.
California Innocence Project
Recently, Alreen Haeggquist was awarded with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the California Innocence Project for carrying out and promoting the spirit and ideals of the CIP through her legal work and community service.
Genesis Diez
Amber Eck is a volunteer for Genesis Diez in Ensenada - a non-profit organization which serves orphans, migrant, indigenous and disabled children in Baja. Amber recently returned from a volunteer trip to Rancho Genesis in March, 2010, working on construction projects at the ranch, and serving needy local children and families.
Pro Bono Service
Amber Eck is committed to pro bono service and has litigated two high-impact pro bono cases brought in conjunction with the ACLU:
•· Sanchez v. County of San Diego, 464 F.3d 916 (9th Cir. 2006), reh'g denied 483 F.3d 965, 966 (9th Cir. 2007) - a class action brought on behalf of welfare applicants seeking to enjoin the County's "Project 100%" program whereby investigators from the D.A.'s office (Public Assistance Fraud Division) enter and search the home of every person applying for welfare benefits. The case was reported in the Harvard Law Review, the New York Times, and was even the subject of a "Colbert Report" feature and
•· Badua v. City of San Diego, 296 F.3d 701 (9th Cir. 1999), an action alleging that the City's Long Term Disability ("LTD") plan violated the Americans With Disabilities Act ("ADA") because it provided substantially less coverage to individuals with mental disabilities, such as manic depression, than those with physical disabilities. Co-counsel Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund ("DREDF") described it as one of the most important cases of the year, and commended the "talent, effort and commitment" of Ms. Eck and the plaintiff team.
Taking Care Of The Earth
Zeldes & Haeggquist, LLP is an aspiring green office. Our goal is to become a paperless office - we use real plates and cups at our office, have a scanner instead of a copier, and are conscientious of our business' impact on the planet. To help offset our carbon footprint, we are proud participants of the Nature Conservancy's "Plant a Billion" campaign. We are planting trees in an endangered South American rainforest. You can find out more, or plant a tree, by clicking on the "Plant a Billion" image below.
