DAHLIA C. RUDAVSKY
MESSING, RUDAVSKY & WELIKY, P.C.
50 CONGRESS STREET
BOSTON, MA 02109
(617) 742-0004

EDUCATION

University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) - Juris Doctor, 1978

Yale University - B.A., French and English Literature, 1972, magna cum laude with high departmental honors. National Merit Scholar.

PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT

Messing, Rudavsky & Weliky, P.C. 1 - 1988 to present
50 Congress Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109
Partner in law firm founded in 1988; practice focuses on labor and employment law, including discrimination.

Harvard Law School - Academic Year 2006-2007
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Lecturer in Law responsible for school's course on labor law.

McDonald, Noonan and Kaplan - 1986-1988
Newton, Massachusetts
Associate in law firm representing individuals and unions in labor and employment matters.

Avery and Friedman - 1984-1986
Associate in civil rights law firm.

Angoff, Goldman, Manning, Pyle, Wanger and Hiatt - 1980-1984
Associate in labor law firm representing unions and individuals in labor and employment matters. Major client was the Boston University Chapter of the AAUP, which was litigating a major Yeshiva challenge at the National Labor Relations Board.

BAR ADMISSIONS

States: California (1979) (currently inactive), Massachusetts (1980); Federal: District of Massachusetts (1981), Northern District of California (1979), First Circuit Court of Appeals (1984), United States Supreme Court (1990)

SELECTED CASES

Messing, Rudavsky & Weliky, P.C. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 436 Mass. 347 (2002) (law firm was successful plaintiff in case where SJC elucidated Rule 4.2 of Mass. Rules of Professional Conduct to permit broad ex parte contact between plaintiffs' attorneys and employees of institutional defendants).

McMillan v. Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 880 F.Supp. 900 (D.Mass. 1995); 140 F.3d 288 (1st Cir. 1998) (cited by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as one of the ten most important cases of 1998, because of holding that damages cap for charities does not apply in discrimination cases).

Brigham & Women's Hospital v. Massachusetts Nurses Association, 684 F.Supp. 1120, 128 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2320, 111 Lab. Cas. P 10,994 (D. Mass. 1988)

Brown v. Trustees of Boston University, 674 F.Supp. 393, 46 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1642, 45 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 37,577, 43 Ed. Law Rep. 592 (D. Mass. 1987)

Brown v. Trustees of Boston University, 891 F.2d 337, 133 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2013, 133 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2443, 51 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 815, 52 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 39,497, 52 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 39,707, 114 Lab. Cas. P 11,840, 114 Lab. Cas. P 11,841, 57 Ed. Law Rep. 761, 29 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 642 (1st Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 110 S. Ct. 3217 (1990)

Trustees of Boston University v. Boston University Chapter, American Association of University Professors, 746 F.2d 924, 117 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2885, 102 Lab. Cas. P 11,222, 20 Ed. Law Rep. 1116 (1st Cir. 1984)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Massachusetts Bar Association, 1980-present
Massachusetts Women's Bar Association, 1980-present
Boston Bar Association, 1981-86
AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, 1983-1988
(Member of National Advisory Board, 1983-84)

PUBLICATIONS

Massachusetts Employment Law
MCLE (2000) (co-author, chapter on Gender Discrimination)

Employment Discrimination Law and Litigation
Merrick T. Rossein, Clark Boardman Callaghan (1993) (author, chapter on Tenure)

A Judicial Guide To Labor And Employment Law
Walsh, gen. ed., Flaschner Judicial Institute (Boston 1990) (editor, chapter on Damages for Wrongful Discharge Claims)

Inside Employee Rights Litigation
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., (September 1997) "Developments in the Law of Privileged Communications Between Plaintiffs and Their Psychotherapists"

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

"How To Respond To Sexual Harassment Complaints" (July 18, 1994) (author);

"Revisiting The 'Rhetoric' Of Job Discrimination" (July 24, 1995) (co-author with Ellen J. Messing)

"1st Circuit 'Astra' Ruling Aids Anti-Bias Effort" (September, 1996) (co-author with Ellen J. Messing)

"The Psychotherapist Privilege: New Developments" (September 8, 1997) (author)

"SJC Decision Restores Fairness in Litigation" (April 29, 2002) (co-author with Ellen J. Messing)

The Jewish Advocate

"The Wisdom Of Solomon? Court Stands With Children In Religious Dispute Between Divorced Parents" (January, 1998) (author)

"What's At Stake In the Hate Crimes Debate" (April, 2000) (author)

INVITED PRESENTATIONS - (sample)

American Association of University Women

Annual Convention, Providence, Rhode Island - (June 21, 2003)
Presenter: Discrimination in Debate

Boston Bar Association

"The Court Year in Review: Employment Law" (Presenter, panelist)
(October 14, 2004)

"Damages in Employment Discrimination Litigation" (Panelist) (April 1997)

Defense Research Institute

"The Dynamics of Sexual Harassment Mediation and Trial: Keys to Successful Opening Statements and Direct Examination of Expert Witnesses - the Plaintiff's Perspective" (Presenter) (September 1997)

Harvard Law School

"Using Employee-Side Litigation to Combat Sex Discrimination in the Workplace" (Panelist) (April 24, 2002)

Lorman Business Center, Inc.

Risk Management in Health Care Settings: "Violence in the Health Care Workplace" (January 1996)

Massachusetts Bar Association,
Labor and Employment Law Section

MBA 24th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference (Co-chair, moderator) (May 2003)

MBA 23rd Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference (Co-chair, speaker) (April 2002)

Forum Choice in Light of Changes in Massachusetts Discrimination Law (Presenter, discussion leader) (February 2001)

"Federalism and Discrimination Law: Do the Supreme Court's Views Matter When Construing State Law?" (Panelist at 21st Annual Spring Conference) (April 2000)

Labor Law Basics - Discrimination Law (Panelist) (October 1999)

Recent Developments in Federal and State Law - Plaintiff's Perspective Sexual Harassment Update (Panelist) (October 1998)

Psychiatric Records - Issues of Privilege and Waiver (Leader) (December 1998)

Sexual Harassment Update (December 1996)

Violence in the Health Care Workplace (November 1995) (co-sponsored by Health Care Law Section)

Discoverability of Plaintiff's Psychological Records in Employment Cases (Fall 1994)

Mediating Your Client's Employment Dispute (Fall 1994)

12th Annual Spring Conference: Litigating Sexual Harassment (May 1992)

Recent Developments in the Law of Sexual Harassment (December 1991)

Discrimination Litigation (May 1991)

Remedies in Wrongful Termination/Employment (Spring 1991)

Age Discrimination After OWBPA (March 1991)

Individual Rights of Public Employees (March 1991)

Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination

Training Seminar: "The Probable Cause Standard" (June 1999)

Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education

Employment Law 2005 Conference (Presenter: Punitive Damages) (December 2005)

Employment and Labor Law Basics (Co-chair, presenter) (October 2005)

Labor and Employment Law Basics (Co-chair, presenter) (October 18-19, 2004)

Employment and Labor Law Basics (Co-chair, presenter, facilitator) (October 20-21, 2003)

Arbitration of Employment Cases (Panelist) (October 28, 2002)

Employment and Labor Law Basics (Co-chair, presenter, facilitator) (October 21-22, 2002)

Employment and Labor Law Basics (Co-chair, presenter, facilitator) (October 21-22, 2001)

Discrimination Law Highlights (Presenter) (May 30, 2001)

Employment and Labor Law Basics (Co-chair and presenter; 2-day interactive format) (September 2000)

Discrimination Law Update: "New Supreme Court Decisions" (Presenter) (May 2000)

"What These Employers Did Wrong" (Presenter) (March 2000)

Employment Law Conference: "Emerging Claims and Defenses" (Presenter) (December 1999)

Discrimination Law Update (June, 1999)

Employment Law Conference: "Maximizing and Minimizing Damages" (Panelist) (November 1998)

Employment and Labor Law Basics "Prohibited Discrimination and Harassment," "Ask The Experts" (October 1998)

"Employment Law Trials" (Panelist) (May 1996)

Massachusetts School of Law at Andover

Fifth Annual Employment Law Conference: "Discovery Practice - Rule 35 Examinations" (Presenter) (November 1997)

Fourth Annual Employment Law Conference: "Mediating The Employment Dispute" (Presenter) (May 1996)

Metrowest Center For Continuing Education

"Handling Sexual Harassment Claims Under The New Massachusetts Law" (Co-chair) (November 1996)

"Handling Charges of Discrimination Employment and Sexual Harassment" (Faculty) (September 1996)

M.I.T. Sloan School of Management

Massachusetts Workplace Network: "Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination: Alternate Dispute Resolution Experiment" (Discussant) (February 1996)

National Association of College and University Attorneys

Dismissal of Tenured Faculty and Tenured Faculty Members' Rights (June 1991, Montreal)

National Employment Lawyers Association

New England Regional Conference: "Strategies for Picking a Jury" (April 1999)

New England Regional Conference: Plenary Session: "Use of Demonstrative Evidence at Trial" (Presenter) (May 1996)

New England Regional Conference: "Litigating Sexual Harassment Claims" (Spring 1994)

The Program On Negotiation (Harvard, M.I.T., Tufts)

Mock Mediation Instructional Videotape (Role of Plaintiff's Attorney - Age Discrimination/Termination (Thibideau v. Kane Restaurant Supply (May 1998)

Professional Education System, Inc.

Discrimination Law Update (June 1994)

Southeastern Massachusetts University (February 1991)

Conference on Labor Law, Workshop on Discrimination Law and Unions

MISCELLANEOUS

Selected as Massachusetts Super Lawyer, 2005 by Boston Magazine, and listed in Top 50 Female Super Lawyers in the state for 2005

Listed in Chambers USA - America's Leading Business Lawyers, 2003-04

Named in Boston's Best Lawyers - Employment, Boston Magazine, October 2002

Member, American Arbitration Association Employment Advisory Council, 2000

Member, Magistrate Selection Committee, U.S. Federal District Court (appointed by Judges of the District Court), 1999-2000

Selected as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's ten "Lawyers Of The Year" for 1999

Martindale-Hubbell - AV rating

Member of The Jewish Advocate's panel of contributing columnists, 1997-1999

Recipient of Georgina Smith Award, American Association of University Professors, 1990, for "outstanding legal advocacy on behalf of academic women"

Judge, Boylston Prize, Harvard University, 1990

Listed In:

Who's Who in American Law (7th Edition, 1992-93, and following)

Who's Who in Human Services (1992-93 Edition and following)

Who's Who in America (1994 Edition and following)

Massachusetts Super Lawyers (2005)

1 The firm was known as Shilepsky, Messing & Rudavsky, P.C. until September 1993 and Messing & Rudavsky, P.C. until October 2001.