I’m Paula Brantner. Originally I was an employment lawyer.
I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I was a little kid. So I became one, graduating in 1992 from UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, CA. I knew when I arrived at law school that I wanted to do something to help others. After some of my first legal internships, I quickly gravitated towards employment law. Early in my legal career, I represented workers through a nonprofit helping low-income workers, a national LGBT civil rights organization, and small employment law firms. More recently, I worked for a national association of employment lawyers and the leading union federation’s program for non-union members.
Then I was a nonprofit executive at Workplace Fairness.
From 2001 to 2019, I was associated with the nonprofit organization Workplace Fairness. I first was the program director and then became the executive director in 2008. Workplace Fairness (WF) was founded back in 1994 to educate workers about their legal rights and promote pro-worker public policy. With very limited resources and staff, WF began building the Internet’s best resource on employment law and workplace developments specifically designed for workers. I used my legal background to translate difficult employment law concepts for a lay audience who needed to understand what to do when something bad happened at work, like discrimination, harassment, wage and hour problems or a workplace injury.
Workplace Fairness is a terrific organization, and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish. Today, the Workplace Fairness website at www.workplacefairness.org has over 400 pages of FAQs on employment law topics, one of the very first nonprofit blogs (Today’s Workplace), and a free e-newsletter with the latest workplace developments (Workplace Week). There’s also a listing of employment attorneys who can help our site visitors with their workplace problem. The Workplace Fairness website now gets several million visitors each year (over 4 million as of fall 2016) and was twice nominated for a Webby (2006, 2008). Until June 2019, I continued my affiliation with the organization as a Senior Advisor, developing content for the WF website and assisting lawyers and workers rights organizations with their websites, website content and digital marketing strategy.
Now I solve harassment prevention problems through PB Work Solutions, LLC.
I’ve worked with those who have been sexually harassed and assaulted throughout my career. Early in my career, I was involved in some of the important legal battles under Title VII (workplace harassment) and Title IX (harassment in schools and colleges). Through PB Work Solutions, I use my perspective from 25 years + worth of focusing on those who have been targeted, NOT those employers worrying about getting sued. By the time #MeToo came along, I was already doing trainings for those trying to figure out solutions to harassment. My trainings incorporate the EEOC’s best practices and move beyond the policies on the page to equip everyone to know how to respond to harassment and be part of the solution. For the last year, I’ve been setting up and running an innovative and comprehensive prevention program for the Democratic Socialists of America, a nationwide organization of over 50,000 members who wants to incorporate its harassment policy in over 250 chapters nationwide. Between drafting model policies, providing independent reporting and investigation services, and presenting trainings that put all the pieces together, I make sure that employers and organizations adopt a comprehensive approach to harassment prevention that actually encourages reporting and ensures consequences for misconduct. In these historic times, I know my work makes a difference.
I also counsel those stuck in toxic workplaces.
I started PB Work Solutions, LLC, to help people in toxic workplace situations fix them. I’ve talked to literally thousands of workers in person or via telephone, and millions more through the Internet throughout my career. As an employment lawyer, every day I saw workplace situations where someone needed help, but a lawyer was not necessarily the best person to provide that assistance. Chances are, you may not have a legal case, or even if you have one, you might not want to pursue it. Lawyers accept as clients only a small fraction of the people they talk to: some as low as only 3-5% of the potential clients who contact them. Because lawyers are so focused on helping their potential clients who will actually move forward with litigation, they may not have time to listen to your full story and advise you beyond limited legally-focused parameters.
I realized there had to be a better way. Over and over again, usually on a very limited basis, I now advise people about fixing what they can then moving on to something better. Through this approach to workplace navigation, I can help those who need more personalized assistance than a website could provide (even a comprehensive one like Workplace Fairness).
Paula’s also a social entrepreneur, web content strategist and into techy stuff
In the process of learning about how to run a successful website and make money from doing it, I ran Workplace Fairness like a lean startup before Lean was a thing. I based my entrepreneurial strategy on my experiences at Startup Weekend, where in the course of a weekend, you build a startup company. At the 2013 Lean Impact Summit in New York City, my presentation on WF’s lean methodology won the People’s Choice Award. I was selected as a Google Fellow for the 2009 Personal Democracy Forum conference. I’m a former co-organizer and occasional speaker at NetSquared DC (Net2DC), where “social changemakers and technological forerunners come together….” I also know about SEO, content marketing, website redesigns and generating income from affiliate relationships. I’ve come a long way from law school, when the Internet barely existed….
Some other random stuff Paula knows and/or cares about
- Pandas: Since 2006, I have volunteered for the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC as an Asia Trail Interpreter. I talk to visitors from around the world about the National Zoo’s pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, Tai Shan, Bao Bao, and now Bei Bei. I’ve visited pandas worldwide, including those who are part of the two major breeding programs in China and the other U.S. zoos (Atlanta, GA; (formerly) San Diego, CA; and Memphis, TN). Two of the pandas born at the National Zoo have returned to China, and I’ve visited Tai Shan and Bao Bao in their new home. Knowing so much useful and useless information about pandas has also led to some interesting speaking opportunities: Story League DC; Nerd Nite DC; PechaKucha Silver Spring.
- Karaoke: I used to be really scared of karaoke. First, I overcame my fear of singing publicly to be ready for a Workplace Fairness karaoke fundraiser. Then I got all crazy about it, singing every year at Netroots Nation, and at home in the DC metro area at Kostume Karaoke. Formerly I was in District Karaoke, a local karaoke league, on the team “I Knew You Were Treble.”
- Camping at Assateague: As a little girl, I read the Misty of Chincoteague books. I couldn’t have imagined then that one day I would hang out on the beach with Misty’s descendants, the wild ponies of Assateague. On multiple occasions, I’ve camped on Assateague and been to the Chincoteague Pony Penning, and it’s one of my favorite places in the world to be. I’ve also watched horses destroy a tent and take over a campsite — not my favorite thing.
- Roller Derby: For a year, I was a member of the DC Rollergirls women’s flat-track roller derby league. I was Rock Clobster, #B-52 (Claw for short). It’s a really tough sport and I wasn’t very good at it, but I met some great people and learned a lot from the experience, which prepared me for dealing with some bad workplace situations.