Julie Su

(March 7, 2011) Governor Jerry Brown has appointed Julie Su, litigation director at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), as chief of the California Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement.

As labor commissioner, the division chief adjudicates wage claims, investigates discrimination and public works complaints, and enforces labor law and the Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders.

Su has worked at APALC since 1994. Founded in 1983, APALC describes itself as a nonprofit organization “dedicated to advocating for civil rights, providing legal services and education, and building coalitions to positively influence and impact Asian Pacific Americans and to create a more equitable and harmonious society.”

In a statement released by APALC folowing her appointment, Su said, “I am truly honored to have been appointed by the Governor to lead California’s labor law enforcement agency. It’s a tremendous opportunity to make an impact and I look forward to the challenge of ensuring a more fair and just workplace for both employees and employers.”

Biography

Su served as lead counsel in a 1995 federal lawsuit involving 80 Thai and Latino garment workers found laboring in a barbed wire-enclosed apartment complex in El Monte, California. She co-founded Sweatshop Watch and was one of six “national leaders” to appear in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History exhibit on sweatshops.

In addition to litigating many cases on behalf of low-wage workers, Su has filed lawsuits to end discrimination and segregation in education and the workplace.

She received the MacArthur “Genius” fellowship in 2001, has been honored as an international human rights activist and was named one of the “Top 75 Women Litigators” in California in 2005 by the Daily Journal, in addition to many other awards.

In January, she was a visiting professor at the UCLA School of Law.

Su also has guest lectured at the law schools of Northeastern University, Michigan, University of Southern California, and served as practitioner-in-residence at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

She is the author of articles in scholarly journals on such subjects as the untold civil rights stories of Thai garment workers, corporations and economic justice, and coalitions.

Su earned a B.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.

The position requires confirmation by the state Senate.