UBER, FOSTER FARMS, TARGETED BY IMPACT FUND GRANTEES IN WINTER FUNDING ROUND

Impact Fund Makes Quarterly Winter Grants of $110,000 to Support Impact Litigation 

Berkeley, CA 01.07.21 – The Impact Fund, the nation’s only charity providing broad support to advance the use of impact litigation as a tool to achieve economic, environmental, racial, and social justice, has just made recoverable grants totaling $110,000 in its winter cycle to fund four lawsuits protecting the rights of marginalized communities threatened by uncaring corporate interests and small-minded government.

“As we face a slow and uneven recovery from the pandemic, it’s especially important that we remain vigilant against injustice and continue to support low-income and BIPOC communities that suffer,” said Impact Fund Executive Director, Jocelyn Larkin.

Wheelchair users face many obstacles to accessibility; companies that know better should do better. In cities like San Francisco, Uber has an "UberWAV" program that allows users to call a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle ("WAV"). But Uber has refused to make that program available to users in other cities around the United States - including New Orleans. The ADA requires that transportation companies (which the statute explicitly defines to include "demand responsive systems" like Uber) provide equivalent service to customers with disabilities. The Impact Fund has made a grant to help fund the case being pursued by Stephan Namisnak and Francis Falls, two NOLA residents who use wheelchairs, asking Uber to live up to its legal duties under the ADA.

In another case funded, the Animal Legal Defense Fund is seeking to end the wasteful and barbaric practice by Foster Farms of electrocuting chickens in what would otherwise be safe drinking water in the water-scarce San Joaquin Valley. This process is notorious for causing animal suffering and for the massive amounts of water it requires. Foster Farms uses more humane and less wasteful procedures elsewhere.

While Foster Farms uses four million gallons of water daily to slaughter and process chickens for private profit, community members in Merced County are subject to water rationing, and many wells are running dry—particularly in rural and unincorporated areas. Because 60% of Merced County residents identify as Hispanic, and 22% of Merced County residents live at or below the poverty line, low-income people of color are disproportionately affected by Foster Farms’ egregious water use. 

The case seeks to reduce the amount of water Foster Farms uses by converting to a method of slaughter that needs less water. 

The third grant is to Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability to bring the slumlord of the Oasis Mobile Home Park in Coachella Valley into line and meet their obligations. The mobile home park is home to approximately 1,900 people, the majority of whom are Latinx. Living conditions at Oasis are terrible. The small private water system serving Oasis is contaminated with arsenic at concentrations that exceed eight times the legal drinking water standard. In addition, Oasis residents rely on a series of private septic tanks and a crumbling collection system that causes sewage to overflow and collect in the streets and near homes. Residents are affected by frequent water and power outages, the streets are unpaved and flood when it rains, and wild dogs harass residents. The residents have now banded together to demand improved living conditions.

The fourth case funded is on behalf of the First Nations government of Gitxaala Nation in British Columbia. The province currently allows mineral claim registration with no prior notification or consultation with the Indigenous peoples who claim the land. The case argues that the mineral claims should be quashed because the provincial government did not fulfill its constitutional duty to consult with the affected Indigenous peoples. 

Helen Kang, chair of the Impact Fund’s Grant Advisory Committee said: “Litigation is always difficult and doubly so when communities don’t have the necessary funds to access justice. The Impact Fund can make a difference when litigation is the last option because government policy and private choices ignore basic human rights and the public good.”

Letters of inquiry for the Impact Fund’s spring grantmaking cycle are due January 12. 

Grants Made In Winter Cycle

Grantee                                                                                           Amount                     Case Name

Law Offices of William Most, L.L.C.                                       $15,000                    Namisnak v. Uber

Animal Legal Defense Fund                                                   $25,000                   ALDF v. Foster Poultry

Farms

Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability                     $30,000                   Juntos por un Mejor

Oasis v. Scott Lawson dba

Oasis Mobile Home Park

Gitxaala Nation                                                                    $40,000                   Gitxaala Nation v

Minister of Energy, Mines

& Petroleum Resources &

WEM Western Energy

Metals Ltd. 

  Total                         $110,000