The most remarkable thing about the make-up of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet is the attention its gender equity has garnered. Trudeau’s appointment of women to 15 of 30 seats is blowing up my social media. His response as to why he did it has practically positioned him the new Feminist Ryan Gosling. But—as […]

In New York City, nail salons are ubiquitous, and many women who live or work in the City routinely partake in the affordable luxury of cheap manicures.  But a shocking exposé by the New York Times (posted here and here) shows that cheap manicures come at a very high price for the women who toil […]

Sometimes lost in the discussion about the wage gap between male and female workers is the role of race. Though white women earn a mere 78% of what their male counterparts earn in America, the gap is far greater for women of color. African American women earn 64%, American Indian women earn 59%, Native Hawaiian […]

Recently, the California Supreme Court posthumously granted Hong Yen Chang admission to the California Bar – reversing a 125-year-old decision that denied his application because of his race and national origin. (Read the Court’s decision here; read more about the case here, here, and here.) Chang was born in China and immigrated to the United […]

From First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign to NBC’s controversial hit show The Biggest Loser, Americans are flooded with messages about the obesity epidemic in this country and what it means for our long-term health.  But there’s been a lot less talk about how being overweight or obese affects individuals who are trying to […]

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the movie Selma and all of the controversy that has swirled around it.  One way you could frame that controversy might be to lay out this series of questions that could be asked: Why wasn’t the movie more historically-accurate when it came to President Johnson’s position regarding the […]

Altomease “Al” Kennedy is a trailblazer who wears many caps.  Al is a partner at Sanford Heisler Kimpel and practices qui tam law, representing employees who blow the whistle on companies that are cheating and stealing from the government.  Al has worked full-time as an attorney for forty years, while raising two children with her […]

Often employers seek to portray the employee who files a discrimination claim as self- interested, pursuing the claim out of spite or greed.  We, who do this work, know that righting discrimination is a socially-valuable undertaking because a more diverse workplace benefits employees, clients, consumers, and the business itself.  But remedying employment discrimination also has […]

“I want us all to fulfill our greatest potential.  To find our calling, and summon the courage to live it.” Oprah. When most people think of Oprah, they think of her as an African-American talk show host, actress, producer, billionaire, and philanthropist.  What people don’t know is that she was born in rural Mississippi to […]

Many of my clients are highly educated, experienced professionals at the top of their industries who have prioritized and sacrificed for their careers—they’re hard workers and they’re really good at what they do.  Still, when gender discrimination in the workplace forces them out of the positions they’ve worked so hard to attain, one of the […]