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May 9-15, 1997
| Front Page | In
This Week's Issue | Subscribe | Special
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AsianWeek |
May 9-15, 1997
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| Chan: "If you're going to take away affirmative action, you damn better enforce the civil-rights laws." |
In Robert Chan's opinion, he was born too late. The 39-year-old San Francisco attorney wished he could have participated in the civil-rights movement during the late 1960s. To Chan, who longed to make a contribution to the cause, the rallies, the protests, the struggle were just moments caught on videotape.
So, when the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called him this past December to serve as co-lead attorney in a class-action lawsuit against United Parcel Service (UPS) that alleges racial discrimination, Chan jumped at the chance.
"As an Asian American who has watched the old films of the '60s and the civil-rights movement, I have really acquired an appreciation for the blood and sacrifice that went with that movement and the sacrifices that were made by African Americans to help us attain all of the civil rights that we enjoy today," said Chan, whose phones have been ringing off the hook from hundreds of African American UPS employees from throughout the United States who want to join the class-action suit.
"I have always regretted that I didn't grow up in the [civil-rights] era and had the chance to participate," Chan continued. "But when the call came from the NAACP, that was my chance. ... I wanted to participate."
Last Wednesday, Chan and other attorneys representing 16 UPS employees--and on behalf of all other African American employees earning hourly wages--filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif.
The lawsuit charges that African American employees were routinely passed over for promotions and were assigned dangerous delivery routes because of their race. Some of the plaintiffs also accuse management of doing little or nothing in response to their complaints of hostile work environments, where they were subjected to racist name calling and jokes.
The trial date has not yet been set.
For Chan, a successful private-practice business lawyer, this case is a bit different from his usual area of work. But he is confident that it will prove a rewarding experience; otherwise, he would not have taken the job.
"I have always had a practice where I have been very picky about the cases I take," Chan said. "They have to be cases that interest me. ... I felt this case [with UPS] has merit.
"I have a very comfortable business practice and unless the right case comes along, I'm not going to learn employment law and become an expert. If you take on any case, it is your duty to become an expert. If I don't have the time or the energy to desire to become an expert, I won't take the case."
And the civil-rights cases he does take on have been extremely successful.
When he worked with a prominent San Francisco law firm, he won a case in Fresno that involved four Mexican American women who were illegally strip-searched. The case not only resulted in a decision in favor of the women and more than $1.5 million in damages, but changed the political landscape of the area. The case empowered the Latino community there to step up to leadership positions, he said.
Chan, a graduate of Hastings School of Law, has also worked on a high-profile case in which a mentally disabled Chinese American man was accused of attacking a white woman in San Francisco Chinatown. He is currently in the middle of another potential class-action lawsuit on behalf of African American employees who were allegedly discriminated against by a major food distributor.
The UPS case has the potential to ease the pressure of what Chan calls a distressing time for civil rights, especially in light of the rollback of affirmative-action programs.
"Now as the affirmative-action laws are being stricken from the books, I think it all the more important that we seek enforcement of the civil-rights laws that we have," said Chan, who first came across the disparity of access to the legal system when he left a comfortable corporate job to work as a public defender in the late 1980s. "If you're going to take away affirmative action, you damn better enforce the civil-rights laws."
A 1.5-generation Chinese American, Chan came to the U.S. from Hong Kong when he was 4 and grew up in San Francisco's Fillmore District, a predominantly African American neighborhood. His father worked long hours as a cook; his family, as did most other immigrant families during that time, struggled to succeed in their adopted land. So when Chan told his parents he wanted to become a lawyer instead of going into the sciences, which to them had more of a guarantee for financial success, they were disappointed.
"It was the old stereotype of how are you going to be successful in this profession because there ain't no Chinese in this profession," Chan said.
When Chan started at Morrison and Foerster, a large corporate law firm in San Francisco, in the 1980s, he was one of two APA lawyers on staff. Although he acknowledges that the field today welcomes APAs, he says there is still a long way to go. And he encourages more APAs to get involved in a profession that for him has been extremely rewarding
"I think lawyers--even though we've gotten a lot of bad press--have the ability to have a positive impact on society," Chan said. "Not [all lawyers] get that opportunity. I consider it a privilege. You're lucky if you get the chance.
"So, I consider it very fortunate that the UPS case and the other cases that I have done before came my way," he continued. "But you have to win them. With the opportunity comes the obligation."