Worker Justice Project comes to Queens

Attorney Megumi Saito will lead The Legal Aid Society’s Worker Justice Project in Queens. Photo courtesy of Legal Aid.

By David Brand

A Legal Aid Society initiative that combats employment discrimination against workers with arrest or conviction records is coming to Queens. 

Attorney Megumi Saito will lead the Queens expansion of the Worker Justice Project, a program that receives city funding and fights the denial of jobs or licenses based on an applicant’s history of court-involvement or arrests. New Yorkers are often denied jobs, even if past charges have been dismissed, in violation of civil rights laws..

“I have never seen a judge sentence someone to unemployment, but for a lot of New Yorkers, that’s how it feels,” Saito said. “Whether an arrest is dismissed or results in a conviction, they still have rights.” 

Worker Justice Project staff also advise Legal Aid’s criminal defense attorneys about the employment consequences of criminal case dispositions to limit the impact on future job opportunities. 

Saito joins staff attorneys Melissa Ader, who is based in Manhattan and Joshua Carrin, who works in Legal Aid’s Brooklyn office, on the Worker Justice Project team. Legal fellow Caroline Lowry and paralegal case handler Tiffany Pesante work on the initiative as well. 

“The Worker Justice Project provides crucial and life-changing services to New Yorkers with arrest or conviction records by helping them fight discrimination and break down unjust barriers to employment,” said Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of Legal Aid’s Criminal Defense Practice.

“All New Yorkers who have come in contact with the criminal legal system should be afforded the opportunity to be productive members of their community, and we’re proud to now have these critical legal services available for Queens residents.”