LOS ANGELES, CA – Bet Tzedek Legal Services congratulates Kevin Kish on his appointment by California Governor Jerry Brown to be the next Director of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. In this position Kevin will be responsible for setting priorities for and enforcing the state’s anti-discrimination laws, leading the effort to ensure and protect all Californians’ civil rights.
“Kevin Kish has been a powerful and inspiring advocate at Bet Tzedek, and we will miss him greatly,” said Jessie Kornberg, Bet Tzedek’s President & CEO. “But there is no one better suited for this job than Kevin, who has devoted his career to these very issues.”
Kevin Kish, Director of Bet Tzedek’s Employment Rights Project leads the agency’s employment litigation, policy and outreach initiatives. He has led trial and appellate teams in employment and trafficking suits, including prevailing in the first civil case to reach a jury verdict under the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act. He developed and teaches an employment-law clinic at Loyola Law School and frequently speaks on issues related to poverty, employment, human trafficking and human rights.
Mr. Kish joined the Employment Rights Project in 2004 as a Bet Tzedek fellow representing workers in wage and hour claims in various low-wage industries in Los Angeles. After clerking for Judge Myron Thompson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Mr. Kish returned to Bet Tzedek in 2006 as a Skadden Fellow. In 2012 and 2013, he was named a Top 75 Labor & Employment attorney in California by the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Mr. Kish graduated from Yale Law School in 2004, and holds a B.A. in sociology/anthropology from Swarthmore College.
About Bet Tzedek
Founded in 1974, Bet Tzedek pursues equal justice for all by providing high-quality, free legal services to low-income, disabled and elderly people of all racial and religious backgrounds. One of the nation’s premier public interest law firms, Bet Tzedek uses direct legal service, impact litigation, community outreach and legislative advocacy in the areas of consumer rights, employment rights, elder justice/caregiver law, Holocaust reparations, housing, human trafficking, public benefits and real estate to serve more 20,000 people every year.
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