Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender Workplace Rights

LGBT Practice Group Leadership

 
  Justin M. Swartz   Carmelyn P. Malalis

Serving Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Communities

At Outten & Golden LLP, we take great pride in protecting and promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals’ workplace rights and in serving LGBT communities in all areas of employment law, including sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression discrimination and retaliation cases, executive compensation negotiations, severance negotiations, partnership matters, class actions and impact litigation, other types of employment-based disputes, and general employment-related problem solving.

Protecting Employees' Rights

Our law firm is dedicated to fighting all forms of discrimination against LGBT employees. Our lawyers – some of whom have provided leadership in education and advocacy work concerning LGBT rights and are themselves members of LGBT communities – have successfully negotiated, mediated, and litigated discrimination matters involving:

• Gender identity and expression discrimination
• Sexual orientation discrimination
• Retaliation for asserting protected LGBT rights
• Sex stereotyping
• Family, medical, and other leaves of absence
• HIV/AIDS status discrimination

As an LGBT-friendly firm, our lawyers understand that an employee’s LGBT identity – as self-identified or perceived by others – can affect all aspects of the employment relationship, often in subtle ways. Whether we are negotiating an employment contract, litigating or negotiating a discrimination claim, or simply giving employment-related advice, we are mindful of these experiences.

Fighting Discrimination and Homophobia in the Workplace

While our primary goal is always to achieve the best result possible for our clients, every time we advocate for an LGBT employee in a discrimination case, we also hope to chip away at the blatant bigotry and subtle stereotypes that harm LGBT people in the workplace and beyond. We hope that our lawyers’ work will play a role in changing discriminatory laws, creating broader protections for LGBT employees and making the workplace a safer place where LGBT individuals can thrive without fear of discriminatory actions being taken against them because of their sexual orientation gender identify or gender expression, or because they do not conform to traditional gender stereotypes.

Contact Outten & Golden LLP

Employees experiencing workplace discrimination or a hostile work environment because of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression should not simply accept the situation. Contact us to schedule an appointment with member of our LGBT Workplace Rights Practice Group. Call our office in Manhattan and Stamford toll-free at 877-4OUTTEN to discuss sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression discrimination, or other employment issues in a confidential consultation.

LGBT Practice Group Members

Carmelyn Malalis (co-chair) and Justin Swartz, (co-chair), Anne Golden, Allegra Fishel, Katherine Blostein, Molly Brooks, Seth Marnin, Tammy Marzigliano, Kathleen Peratis, Lauren Schwartzreich, Juno Turner, Sonia Lin, Melissa Francisco (paralegal)

Cases of Interest | Legal Affiliations | Resources

Additional Resources:

Articles Related to LGBT Employment Rights

Give Shield for Gender Identity?
by Seth Marnin
New Haven Register
April 1, 2009

Reflections on National Coming Out Day
by Anne Golden
October 11, 2008

Get Used to More Davids Becoming Dianes
by Kathleen Peratis and Seth Marnin
The Jewish Daily Forward
July 24, 2008