Accomplishments

This year marks the Equal Rights Center's 25th Year Anniversary. For a quarter of a century the ERC has been dedicated to advancing civil rights. Please join the ERC in protecting civil rights for the future.

Recipient of the 2007 Hugh A. Johnson Jr. Memorial Award. The Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia (HBA-DC) bestowed the ERC's substantial efforts in the advancement of the Latino community.
Recipient of the 2001and 2000 Fair Housing Testing Awards presented by The Urban Institute of Washington, D.C. The ERC received the awards for making significant contributions to the Housing Discrimination Studies, national housing discrimination research projects conducted by the Urban Institute and funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
National reputation for winning landmark civil rights cases.

Published the first of its kind report depicting discrimination against victims of domestic violence in the District of Columbia in trying to find housing.
Perfected the use of paired testing to challenge discriminatory sales, rental and redlining practices.
First to develop and use investigative techniques to combat discrimination in housing against victims of domestic violence.
Initiated the regional fair housing planning process in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
Partnered with D.C. agencies to present a series of fair housing symposia.
Established clear liability under the federal Fair Housing Act for unscrupulous lenders who target disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods.
Convinced developers of multi-family housing coast to coast to better comply with federal requirements for accessible housing.

Set a national standard for the use of testers in employment discrimination cases.
Undertook the first national assessment of employment discrimination on the Internet.
Created the first judicial precedents upholding the standing of private organizations and testers to litigate equal employment opportunity claims on the basis of test-generated evidence.

Published a series of studies documenting disparities in employment practices affecting women, Latinos and older Americans.
Achieved landmark standards in disability rights settlements against the largest private hospital in Washington D.C. – Washington Hospital Center – and against the largest chain of restaurants in the nation – Subway.
Established the use of paired testing to investigate public accommodation civil rights complaints in the retail, taxicab, Internet delivery, and restaurant industries and gained a national reputation for the use of paired testing to identify new, subtle, and insidiously sophisticated forms of discrimination.
Eliminated the epidemic of source of income discrimination in Washington, D.C.
Established one of the most trusted teams in the nation to investigate violations of immigrant rights.