Working for Justice Blog

Posted October 18th, 2017. Nashville, TN—The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (“MNAA”) Board of Commissioners voted during today’s meeting to terminate President and CEO Rob Wigington. On September 5, 2017, MNAA relieved Wigington of his duties when Wigington attempted to return to work after taking medical leave. In June 2017, Wigington notified the board that he would require medical leave to undergo a liver transplant surgery. Plans were made for his leave as well as his return under provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act. After a successful transplant and recovery, MNAA received a medical release certifying Wigington was fully fit to return to work on September 5, 2017. Upon his arrival, despite being cleared to return, the Board relieved Wigington of all duties and responsibilities. “MNAA has violated the Family Medical Leave Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and Wigington’s contract,” said Kevin Sharp, managing partner of the Nashville office of the law firm representing Rob Wigington. “This type of temporal proximity is compelling evidence that MNAA’s decision to fire Wigington is in response to his liver transplant surgery and in retaliation for his period of FMLA leave.” During Wigington’s tenure, the Nashville International Airport (“BNA”) and John C. […]

NEW YORK, July 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ —Continued collaboration between lawyers at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), and Legal Services of Central New York (LSCNY) resulted in a significant victory for youth incarcerated in Syracuse, New York’s Justice Center jail. A settlement with the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office and Syracuse City School District put an end to the Center’s use of 23-hour-per-day solitary confinement for juveniles. The settlement is the result of a lawsuit filed last year by the NYCLU, LSCNY and an attorney from . Youth 16 and 17 years old, many with psychological and emotional illnesses, had been kept in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day, often for months at a time. Although they often exhibited suicidal tendencies, jail officials deliberately ignored warnings about their vulnerabilities, returning them to solitary confinement even after they had been placed on suicide watches for brief periods. Considerable research shows solitary confinement is associated with psychosis, trauma, depression and self-harm. “Our firm is pleased to be involved in effecting real change in the care for youth confined at the Justice Center jail in Syracuse,” said lawyer Aimee Krause Stewart, who has been involved in the lawsuit since it began. “The psychological, educational and social needs of these young people had […]

When you believe that you have a class action lawsuit on your hands, the most important thing to consider is the lawyer you choose to represent you. Whenever you choose a lawyer, there are many factors to consider, such as expertise in the field. But when choosing a class action lawyer, there are many more considerations to take into account. Factors in Choosing a Lawyer When doing research for your lawyer, don’t forget to keep these factors in mind: Experience – Like any other lawyer, you want to make sure the class action attorney has experience in these types of lawsuits. Class actions can be very complex and could take months, even years to reach a settlement or verdict. In addition, you have to make sure the lawyer has experience in your particular case. For instance, if a group of women was discriminated against in the workplace, they will want an employment class action lawyer who has experience in gender discrimination. However, you don’t want this same attorney to handle a defective products class action (unless he/she has experience in this type of class action). Verdicts/Settlements – It’s important to know how well your lawyer has done with these types of cases. What percentage […]

hires legal assistants on a regular schedule. The Firm also hires individuals for the legal assistant role with 1-2 years of experience or with non-legal graduate degrees. Our legal assistants go on to study at the most prestigious graduate institutions in the country. Meet Some of Our Past Legal Assistants Al Brooks: Al joined San Francisco office after graduating from Swarthmore College with an Honors Major in Political Science, an Honors Minor in Public Policy, and a Minor in Educational Studies. At Al was able to work on numerous gender discrimination, race discrimination, and wage and hour individual and class action cases in addition to multiple qui tam matters. His cases included Mashariki v. BET, an individual gender discrimination case on behalf of BET’s former VP and Head of Original Programming; Knepper v. Ogletree, a gender discrimination case on behalf of a nationwide class of female shareholders at a Big Law firm; and a multi-million dollar gender discrimination class-wide pre-suit resolution. After leaving the Firm, Al accepted a Root-Tilden-Kern public service scholarship to continue to pursue his interests in racial and gender-based justice at NYU School of Law. Sophia Gonsalves-Brown: Sophia joined the firm’s DC office after graduating from Vassar College with a degree in Political Science. […]

Donna Kassman initiated the lawsuit against KPMG in 2011, but back when she joined KPMG in 1993 as a Tax Associate, suing KPMG was the furthest thing from her mind. “I always envisioned spending my entire career at KPMG; I bled KPMG blue for almost 18 years,” she explained. Early in her time at KPMG, Donna moved quickly through the Firm’s ranks. By 1999, Donna became a Senior Manager and her skill and expertise made her a visible leader in the firm’s State and Local Tax (SALT) practice. In 1999, Donna was tapped by then Partner-in-Charge of SALT Robert Peters to become SALT’s Chief of Staff. In that role, she travelled around the country to KPMG’s various offices in order to develop, grow, and implement a national strategy for the practice. The Chief of Staff position was not a permanent position and after three years, Donna rolled back into a client-facing role specializing in Employment Tax within the SALT practice. However, in this new role, she found herself interacting with different leadership. Unfortunately, these different leaders exposed and subjected Donna to gender discrimination that she had avoided up to that point. For example, despite her consistently strong performance, KPMG, without […]

Recently a vibrant debate about increasing the number of women in STEM fields has been taking place in academia, the private sector, and even the federal government. One of the biggest problems is ensuring that young women interested in the sciences stay in STEM fields throughout college and the rest of their careers. Currently, women are entering college STEM programs at a rate equal to or greater than men, but are leaving these fields at greater rates once they reach graduate school and academic professional roles. Most of the discussion has focused on creating a welcoming environment and providing plenty of opportunities for mentorship. However recent articles and studies have suggested that the lack of mentorship is only one factor contributing to the loss of female talent within the STEM community. Rampant sexual harassment also plays a significant role. Dr. Kate Clancy, a professor at the University of Illinois, and a team of female scientists from other institutions published a study based on a survey of 666 field scientists from 32 disciplines and found approximately two-thirds of the scientists had “experienced some form of sexual harassment, including inappropriate sexual remarks, comments about appearance, or sexist jokes.” One fifth reported being the victim of sexual […]

Meridian Surgical Partners LLC will pay the federal government $3.3 million along with an additional $1.8 million in attorneys’ fees to settle allegations that it paid illegal kickbacks for referrals, parties to the case told Bloomberg BNA Sept. 10 (United States ex rel. Simmons v. Meridian Surgical Partners LLC, M.D. Tenn., No. 3:11-cv-349, 9/2/14). The qui tam complaint claimed that the transactions at issue, involving payments to physicians for ownership interests, violated federal anti-kickback laws, rendering the company’s Medicare reimbursement claims illegal under the False Claims Act. As part of the settlement, Meridian expressly denied the allegations included in the whistle-blower lawsuit atissue. The Brentwood, Tenn.-based operator of outpatient ambulatory surgery centers said it decided to settle the matter to avoid the cost and ‘‘distractions’’ of further litigation. Sales of Interest in Surgical Center. The lawsuit at issue was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in May 2011 by Thomas Reed Simmons, who had worked as a business manager for an ambulatory surgical center in Florida that was managed and principally owned by Meridian. Simmons claimed in the qui tam lawsuit that Meridian illegally paid kickbacks to physicians for referrals through inflated returns on […]