Tracie Washington
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Radio: Bio of Tracie Washington
September 3, 2006
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Tracie L Washington is a very proud native New Orleanian, with deep roots in Louisiana. Tracie graduated in 1985 from Carleton College, and was the recipient of a Title IX Fellowship at Drake University, where in 1986 she was awarded a Master of Public Administration degree and elected to Pi Alpha Alpha. She moved to Austin, Texas and in 1989, Tracie received her juris doctor from the University of Texas School of Law.
For over sixteen years Washington has maintained a general civil practice concentrated in education law, civil rights, and labor and employment law, including both traditional labor management relations and counseling and litigation in connection with disputes between employers and individuals in the non-union setting. She has served as general counsel to the Austin, Texas transit system and to the New Orleans public school system.
Since 1989, Washington has authored numerous papers and traveled throughout the country speaking at seminars on important issues of employment law, including "Managing Leaves," "Tiptoeing through the ADA and Worker’s Compensation Minefields," and "Diffusing Disaster: Prevention and Management of Violence in the Workplace." In addition, she has authored the "Employment Law Desk Reference for Financial Institutions."
Post Hurricane Katrina, Washington's practice has focused on protecting the civil rights of individuals affected by this national catastrophe. Since returning from Texas, where she and her son evacuated until December 2005, Tracie has been counsel in several cases involving the rights of New Orleans Katrina survivors, including Kirk vs. City of New Orleans and Ray Nagin, litigating the rights of all New Orleans home-owners to constitutionally guaranteed notice and opportunity to be heard prior to their houses being bulldozed; Powell vs. Quality Inn Maison St. Charles, litigating the rights of evacuees living in hotels funded by FEMA to adequate notice prior to eviction; Lott vs. Orleans Parish School Board, litigating the rights of returning New Orleans public school students to immediate re-enrollment and admission to publicly funded Orleans Parish Schools; McWaters vs. FEMA, intervention on behalf of Louisiana FEMA hotel residents, seeking a restraining order against FEMA from evicting Louisiana evacuees on February 13, 2006; ACORN et al. vs. Kathleen Blanco, Governor – State of Louisiana, litigating the voting rights of New Orleans evacuees and their right to equal access to the franchise as promised by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the U.S. Constitution; and Anderson vs. Jackson, suing on behalf of public housing residents fighting for their rights to return home. In addition, Washington has served as counsel to immigrant workers in the New Orleans area on advocating worker justice issues.
On March 13, 2006 Washington began service to the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, as director of the Gulf Coast Advocacy Center. She is involved in a wide range of community activities, including the Junior League of New Orleans, Trinity Episcopal Church, the Carrollton Boosters, and the Omicron Nu Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. She has one son, Jacob Matthew, a very precocious 13-year old future civil rights leader.
Year-End Roundup with Robert Dreyfuss, James Ridgeway, Julia Whitty, and Others
Robert Dreyfuss, Mother Jones correspondent
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