A class-wide settlement was reached in the DoDEA Class Action. DoDEA has agreed to pay more than $7.7 Million to settle the case. Class Counsel will hold Information Sessions for Class Members about the case and the settlement on April 9-11, 2024.
For more information, please click here to go to the DoDEA Class Action page.
A settlement has been reached in the 2003-2023 SSA Class Action. The Class includes African American Male employees at SSA Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, and relates to monetary employee awards. The settlement provides $22.7 million to resolve all Class Member monetary claims, plus an agreed system for programmatic monitoring and corrective action. For more information about the settlement, please visit SSAHQclassaction.com.
The Washington Post reported on the experience of two clients of Kator, Parks, Weiser & Wright. Joscelyn Funnié and Deborah Shaw filed claims of whistleblower retaliation against the Social Security Administration’s inspector general’s office. As the Post reports, Ms. Shaw won a finding that she was subjected to illegal whistleblower retaliation, and Ms. Funnié settled her case with the agency. The Post’s reporting highlights the problems the can be faced by federal employees who report wrongdoing by managers at federal agencies.
You can read the Washington Post’s article by clicking here.
If you have questions about reporting violations in your workplace, or if you believe that you are being retaliated against for protected whistleblowing activity, you may contact KPWW for a free consultation.
On June 1, 2022, Cathy Harris was sworn in as a Member of the MSPB, and assumed the role as Acting Chair. After being nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Ms. Harris has now assumed the role of leading the agency that is charged with protecting the federal civil service merit systems.
Ms. Harris had worked with our law firm for over 20 years.
“We at Kator Parks couldn’t be happier to see our long-term partner reach this amazing achievement,” said Kator Parks Partner Michael Kator. “While we are sad to see Cathy Harris go, there’s no one more qualified to take on this important role. Our loss is the nation’s gain.”
Following Harris’ departure, the firm has been renamed Kator, Parks, Weiser & Wright, PLLC.
The EEOC granted class certification to the class action filed on behalf of African American males at SSA Headquarters. For more information about the EEOC decision, and an upcoming Class Member Information Session, please visit the webpage for this case by clicking here.
March 30, 2022 – An Administrative Judge of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decided that the Federal Aviation Administration discriminated against an air traffic control supervisor based on their race in not selecting them for a position. Attorneys of Kator, Parks, Weiser & Harris, P.L.L.C., represented the client through litigation and during a hearing, after-which the administrative judge awarded $70,000 in compensatory damages for pain and suffering, backpay, and payment of full attorneys’ fees and costs. This decision is still subject to appeal, but the decision included strong findings on credibility that will make it more durable on appeal.
Click here to contact KPWH to discuss your legal rights or legal matter, including if you believe you experienced disability discrimination in your workplace.
September 21, 2021 – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Office of Federal Operations (OFO) upheld a decision by an Administrative Judge, awarding $85,000 in compensatory damages, plus payment of full attorneys’ fees to a federal employee client of Kator, Parks, Weiser & Harris, PLLC, who complained of disability discrimination and failure to accommodate under the Rehabilitation Act. The responding Agency was an office of the EEOC itself, which was found to have not provided a reasonable accommodation to an employee who was a qualified individual with a disability, and by removing that employee from their position. The EEOC found, among other things, that because of the failure to accommodate, the employee’s alleged performance problems thereafter were not a valid reason to terminate her federal employment, as the Agency did. The decision required the Agency office retroactively reinstate the employee with backpay and interest, to pay compensatory damages, to restore leave, and to pay attorneys’ fees and costs. The office was also required to post public notice of the decision and provide training to the responsible management officials and consider taking disciplinary actions against those officials.
Click here to contact KPWH to discuss your legal rights or legal matter, including if you believe you experienced disability discrimination in your workplace.
U.S. News and World Report – Best Lawyers named Kator, Parks, Weiser & Harris as a Top Tier law firm in Employment Law in both Washington, DC and Texas for 2022. We are grateful that our hard work on behalf of our clients across the country was recognized with this honor.
Kator, Parks, Weiser & Harris, PLLC, is a law firm with a civil practice in employment law, and a special concentration on employment law involving Federal employees. Our lawyers have extensive experience representing workers before Federal courts, the MSPB, and the EEOC, in individual cases and class actions.
KPWH Partner Cathy Harris has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as the Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board. The nomination was announced by the White House on April 28, 2021. You can see the White House press release by clicking here.
The 2020-21 listing of Best Law Firms in the United States from U.S. News and World Report includes Kator, Parks, Weiser & Harris. Both our Washington DC office and our Austin TX office were included in the annual rankings of top law firms in the area of Employment Law.
We are happy to have our hard work on behalf of our clients recognized. To see the U.S. News and World Report Best Law Firms rankings for KPWH, click here.
Click here to contact KPWH to discuss your legal rights or legal matter.
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