Karen Erickson

Karen Erickson retired as an Attorney Advisor in the Investigations Unit of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) where she worked beginning in 2008. Karen provided advice to the Enforcement Unit regarding legal and investigative matters and conducted appeal hearings. Prior to this position, she provided clients with employment counseling and litigation matters for Tamsin R. Kaplan & Associates, P.C. Before attending law school, Karen was employed as an Area Manager, Consultant and Instructor for LexisNexis. Karen is trained and certified as a mediator and is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and Suffolk University School of Law. Karen served as President of the Women’s Bar Foundation and Treasurer of the Women’s Bar Association. She has mediated cases for the MCAD and served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer.

For her Access to Justice Fellows project, Karen will volunteer with the Fair Employment Project (FEP) whose mission is to reduce violations of employment civil rights. FEP counsels Massachusetts workers of limited means about their rights on the job and the legal process. FEP collaborates with other organizations to provide affordable representation or other services and offers appropriate self-help assistance. FEP takes a problem solving approach to meeting clients’ needs. Workplace law is complicated, and there is a difference between how the law is supposed to work and the real life choices people face when their paychecks and livelihoods are at stake. FEP helps people understand the legal landscape so they can make better informed decisions.