Margaret H. Zhang
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marzhang.bsky.social
Margaret H. Zhang
@marzhang.bsky.social
2.4K followers 1.2K following 730 posts
Law prof @ Widener University Delaware Law School. Reproductive justice, workplace justice, environmental justice. Philly. She/her.
Blog (legal news for new and aspiring lawyers): marzhang.wordpress.com
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marzhang.bsky.social
Thank you to Mitchell Hamline Law Review for the stellar editorial assistance with this! The article is also now updated on SSRN, with helpful abstract if you want the down-low quickly.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Abstract What federal policy would make the biggest difference for the U.S. populace? Paid family and medical leave, said vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Although a federal right to paid leave from work for family or medical issues is still years away, paid leave laws are sweeping the country quickly: paid family and medical leave is now the law in thirteen states and the District of Columbia, and even in states that voted against Governor Walz’s vice presidential bid, voters approved paid sick leave laws by ballot initiative. As they become more commonplace, now is the time to consider the details of what new paid leave laws should look like. If, as this Article shows, aspects of these laws will merely perpetuate the very inequities that they attempt to correct, then advocates and policymakers should act quickly to change course. Drawing on public administration and disability law scholarship establishing that administrative burdens reinforce inequity, this Article applies that lesson to workplace equity laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and new paid leave laws. These laws aim to eliminate inequities by providing additional protections for disadvantaged populations. This Article—the first to analyze administrative burdens across many workplace equity laws—shows that these laws all impose often-onerous administrative burdens. To claim and prove their eligibility for legal protections, workers must navigate additional doctors’ appointments and labyrinthine reporting requirements, at the very times when they are most in need of help and least capable of handling new administrative burdens. By discouraging workers from seeking legal protections or by denying eligible workers their rights due to administrative deficiencies, administrative burdens can neutralize workplace equity laws’ intended protections for disadvantaged populations—thereby perpetuating the very inequities that they soug…
November 14, 2025 at 2:19 AM
marzhang.bsky.social
Today was publication day for my new article!

"How Workplace Equity Laws Perpetuate Inequity": arguing that when work laws benefit some people but not others, the burden to prove membership in a group perpetuates the inequities that the law wanted to solve.

open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcont...
Table of contents for "How Workplace Equity Laws Perpetuate Inequity" by Margaret H. Zhang, available at https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1382&context=mhlr
November 14, 2025 at 2:16 AM
marzhang.bsky.social
I was presenting about "Toxics Regulation Amid Political Realignment" at the American Public Health Association conference earlier. It was a great time. And a short-ish walk away from the courthouse!
Photo of Margaret Zhang presenting about endocrine disrupting chemicals
November 4, 2025 at 6:39 PM
marzhang.bsky.social
I can report that DC is quiet and peaceful and beautiful. I was happy not to see any military when I arrived at Union Station.
Photo of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in DC, a wide circular neoclassical plaza
November 4, 2025 at 6:37 PM
marzhang.bsky.social
I'm doing it! The helpful security guard said the trial is on break and will be back at 2pm.
Docket outside of courtroom showing trial for United States vs. Sean Charles Dunn (AKA DC sandwich thrower guy)
November 4, 2025 at 6:34 PM
marzhang.bsky.social
My new article, "How Workplace Equity Laws Perpetuate Inequity," builds on the exciting movement for paid leave laws around the country and (despite the admittedly negative title) explains how to make them even better.

SSRN link and abstract threaded below.
HOW WORKPLACE EQUITY LAWS PERPETUATE INEQUITY MARGARET H. ZHANG 52 MITCHELL HAMLINE L. REV. (forthcoming 2025) What federal policy would make the biggest difference for the U.S. populace? Paid family and medical leave, said vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Although a federal right to paid leave from work for family or medical issues is still years away, paid leave laws are sweeping the country quickly: paid family and medical leave is now the law in thirteen states and the District of Columbia, and even in states that voted against Governor Walz’s vice presidential bid, voters approved paid sick leave laws by ballot initiative. As they become more commonplace, now is the time to consider the details of what new paid leave laws should look like. If, as this Article shows, aspects of these laws will merely perpetuate the very inequities that they attempt to correct, then advocates and policymakers should act quickly to change course. Drawing on public administration and disability law scholarship establishing that administrative burdens reinforce inequity, this Article applies that lesson to workplace equity laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and new paid leave laws. These laws aim to eliminate inequities by providing additional protections for disadvantaged populations. This Article—the first to analyze administrative burdens across many workplace equity laws—shows that these laws all impose often-onerous administrative burdens. To claim and prove their eligibility for legal protections, workers must navigate additional doctors’ appointments and labyrinthine reporting requirements, at the very times when they are most in need of help and least capable of handling new administrative burdens. By discouraging workers from seeking legal protections or by denying eligible workers their rights due to administrative deficiencies, administrative burdens can neutralize workplace equity laws’ intend…
June 9, 2025 at 7:07 PM
marzhang.bsky.social
Action steps!
Text saying: We’ve won an extra week, so let’s make it count:    Take 20 minutes to visit your City Councilmember on Friday 12/6, Monday 12/9, Tuesday 12/10, or Wednesday 12/11. Email sakae@apipennsylvania.org to let us know you’re going and find your Councilmember here.    Take 10 minutes: Call these Councilmembers. Council President Kenyatta Johnson: 215-686-2070 Rue Landau: (215) 686-3420 Nina Ahmad: (215) 686-3450 Katherine Gilmore Richardson: (215) 686-0454   Take 5 minutes: Email these Councilmembers.  kenyatta.johnson@phila.gov nina.ahmad@phila.gov  rue.landau@phila.gov katherine.gilmore.richardson@phila.gov 
December 5, 2024 at 9:52 PM
marzhang.bsky.social
"Absolute climate destruction." I couldn't help but weep after hearing these words on the Philly streets this morning, no doubt referring to the outcome of the recent U.S. elections. But I hold on to hope.
post from @_binshi_: There's always hope left. The future though is going to be harder for some people than others. But hope is not a choice or an emotion, when it comes to the climate especially, hope is a necessity
November 8, 2024 at 8:06 PM