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Margaret H. Zhang
Assistant Professor of Law
B.M., University of Michigan
J.D., University of Pennsylvania
Contact
Email: [email protected]
About
Margaret H. Zhang is an Assistant Professor at Widener University Delaware Law School, where she teaches Civil Procedure and Employment Discrimination. Her research explores issues at the intersection of reproductive justice and environmental justice, particularly those related to pregnancy, lactation, and the workplace. Her most recent published work, Pregnant Workers and the Climate Crisis, explores the intersection of the climate crisis, pregnancy, and work.
Margaret was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor and an Equity & Inclusion Fellow at Rutgers Law School. Before transitioning to law teaching, Margaret served as the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s Interim Associate Director for Equity and Inclusion. Margaret also worked as an advocate for pregnant and parenting people with the Women’s Law Project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she specialized in advancing and protecting pregnant and lactating people’s rights though individual client counseling and representation, policy advocacy, and community education. She also assisted with a variety of legal issues arising in the workplace, in schools, and in prisons and jails.
Margaret served as a law clerk to Judge Cheryl Ann Krause of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and as a law clerk to Judge Rudolph Contreras of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Margaret earned her J.D. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she participated in the Supreme Court Clinic, served as Online Executive Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and served as Executive Director of the Custody And Support Assistance Clinic (CASAC). She also holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Publications
Law Review Articles
Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: A Reproductive Justice Issue (work in progress).
How Workplace Equity Laws Perpetuate Inequity (work in progress).
Pregnant Workers and the Climate Crisis, 91 Tenn. L. Rev. 431 (2024).
Case Note, Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus and the (Bleak) Future of Statutes that Bar False Statements in Political Campaigns, 164 U. Pa. L. Rev. Online 19 (2015).
Comment, Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction for Indian Tribes: Inherent Tribal Sovereignty versus Defendants’ Complete Constitutional Rights, 164 U. Pa. L. Rev. 243 (2015).
Amicus Briefs
Hall v. Millersville University, 22 F.4th 397 (3d Cir. 2022). Co-author of an amicus brief that successfully supported protections under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 for victims of dating violence.
Victory v. County of Berks, 789 F. App’x 328 (3d Cir. 2019). Co-author of an amicus brief that supported constitutional equal protection claims arising from inequitable housing and treatment of incarcerated women at Berks County Jail.
Wible v. School District of Philadelphia, No. 1392 CD 2018 (Pa. Commw. Ct. May 22, 2019). Co-author of an amicus brief supporting protections under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act for survivors of school sexual harassment.
E.D. v. Sharkey, 928 F.3d 299 (3d Cir. 2019). Co-author of an amicus brief that successfully supported constitutional claims arising from an immigrant detainee’s sexual assault while in detention.
Commonwealth v. Dischman, 195 A.3d 567 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2018). Co-author of an amicus brief that successfully supported dismissal of the felony charge of aggravated assault of a fetus, arising from the defendant’s substance use while pregnant.
Government Submissions
Comment on Regulations to Implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (Oct. 10, 2023), https://www.regulations.gov/comment/EEOC-2023-0004-97910.
Women’s Law Project, Comment Letter on Proposed Updated Compliance Manual on Religious Discrimination (with Kimberly Kelly & Amanda Smith) (Dec. 17, 2020), https://downloads.regulations.gov/EEOC-2020-0007-0043/attachment_1.pdf.
Adequate Solutions in Addressing the Specific Needs of Incarcerated Women: Hearing on Phila. City Council R. 190090 Before the Special Comm. on Criminal Justice Reform (Oct. 25, 2019) (provided testimony).
Op-Eds
Opinion, A New Law Can Help Some Pregnant Workers with Climate Crisis–Level Heat This Summer (with Allison Jones), Pa. Capital-Star (June 16, 2023), https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/a-new-law-can-help-some-pregnant-workers-with-climate-crisis-level-heat-this-summer-opinion.
Opinion, It’s Time for Pa. Lawmakers to Stop Punishing Working Mothers and Their Babies (with Tara Murtha), Pa. Capital-Star (Aug. 13, 2020), https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/its-time-for-pa-lawmakers-to-stop-punishing-working-mothers-and-their-babies-opinion.
Opinion, How Pregnancy Discrimination Happens Today, PennLive.com (Oct. 22, 2019, 8:09 AM), https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2019/10/how-pregnancy-discrimination-happens-today-opinion.html.
With Title IX Enforcement Uncertain, an Alternate Avenue for Relief for Pennsylvania (with Tara Murtha), The Forum: The Tri-State School Study Council Newsletter (Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.), Spring/Summer 2019, at 4.
How Solo, Small Firms Can Be Model Employers, Phila. Bar Reporter (Phila. Bar Ass’n, Phila., Pa.), Nov. 2018, at 13.
Pregnancy Means Job Loss for Some Women: What Medical Providers Can Do About It, Obstetrical Soc’y of Phila. Newsletter (Obstetrical Soc’y of Phila., Phila., Pa.), Dec. 2017, at 12.