Our Attorneys in Action
Exploring the Basics of Employment Discrimination Law
This clip features excerpts from Ellen Messing's presentation at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's annual program on labor and employment law basics held in November 2011. In this excerpt, Ms. Messing reviews various basic employment discrimination law concepts including: protected classes, forms of discriminatory action, disability accommodations and deadlines imposed on discrimination claims.
This excerpted recording is reproduced with permission from Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education. All rights reserved.
Harvard University Police Officer Alleges Discrimination in Lawsuit
Ellen Messing and her client, Officer George Pierce, are featured in this Spring 2011 WBZ-TV segment regarding Officer Pierce's discrimination suit against the Harvard University Police Department. Officer Pierce alleges he was passed over for several promotions at the Department because of his race.
Advocating for Employee Rights Before the Supreme Judicial Court
In January 2011, Dahlia Rudavsky argued before Massachusetts' highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court, on behalf of her client, Kimberly Schive. The question presented in this appeal was whether state anti-retaliation provisions were broad enough to restrict employers' actions toward not only current employees, but also former employees. In May 2011, the Court issues a ruling in favor of Ms. Schive. The ruling represents a landmark expansion of retaliation protections for employees.
Click here to view a video of the oral arguments held before the Court. Ms. Rudavsky's argument begins approximately 35 minutes into the recording. The recording is hosted online by Suffolk University Law School in association with the Supreme Judicial Court. (Note: the video may be very slow to load.)
Age Discrimination & Wrongful Termination Mediation Program
Dahlia Rudavsky participated in this mock mediation produced by the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation. The unscripted program demonstrates the mediation process for an age discrimination and wrongful termination case brought by a salesman against his former employer. The employer cited poor performance as the reason for the salesman's termination. The salesman, represented by Ms. Rudavsky, alleged that his performance declined only after the employer deliberately reassigned the salesman's best clients to other salespersons.
In this excerpt, Ms. Rudavsky presents her evaluation of the case and explains her client's position on damages during a joint session of the parties.
This excerpt is reproduced here with permission from the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation. The video is available in its entirety from the Program on Negotiation's Clearinghouse.
Litigating and Winning Employment Discrimination Cases
James Weliky served as an expert panelist at this March 2008 Boston Bar Association seminar titled "Litigating and Winning Employment Discrimination Cases." This clip features excerpts from Mr. Weliky's presentation where he discusses effective strategies used by plaintiffs' lawyers when collecting evidence and presenting it to courts.
This excerpt is reproduced here with permission from the Boston Bar Association. Information about upcoming seminars is available on the Boston Bar Association website.