Outten & Golden LLP Celebrates 20 Years of Representing Employees Across a Wide Range of Employment Law Matters

NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Outten & Golden LLP, nationally known and respected for representing employees, executives, and partners in all areas of employment law, is celebrating its 20th year. From its launch as a three-attorney practice in Manhattan, the firm has grown to 71 attorneys in four offices across the United States.

"We attribute our longevity and success to our exceptional attorneys, our concentration on representing employees, and our commitment to the public interest," said managing partner Wayne N. Outten. "These factors drive a firm culture that serves our clients and community and that allows our people to grow professionally and personally."

Outten established the firm with Anne Golden, now retired, in September 1998 with the goal of creating a full-service law practice focused on representing employees. The Chicago office opened in 2010, followed by the San Francisco and Washington, D.C. offices in 2013 and 2016 respectively. Today, Outten & Golden attorneys are the lawyers-of-choice for workplace issues, especially in the financial, technology, and legal sectors.

The firm's class action practice represents workers wrongfully denied wages and overtime pay, discriminated against based on protected status (e.g., gender, race, and age), subjected to unlawful criminal background and credit history checks, terminated in mass layoffs without due notice, and in many other situations. The firm's individual practice represents employees in litigation and arbitration with claims based on discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, and other grounds.  The firm helps employees, including high-level executives, with employment, separation, partnership, and equity agreements; this practice includes representing founders in transactions (e.g., sales of businesses and other liquidity events) and representing multi-national employees, including expats.  O&G co-founded the Lawyers International Network for Employees and Executives in 2013.

The #MeToo movement has focused attention on sexual harassment and gender pay inequities. Long before allegations were raised against Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes, Charlie Rose, and others, O&G began its representation of individuals subjected to workplace assaults, harassment, and discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, age, race, national origin, religion, and citizenship status. O&G attorneys also represent employees who encounter retaliation for complaining about discrimination, blowing the whistle on unlawful activities, and engaging in other protected conduct.

Community outreach naturally complements the firm's employment law practice. Through active service and stewardship, O&G supports many worthy organizations including A Better Balance, the National Employment Law Project, Make the Road New York, and the Public Justice Center. Additionally, Wayne Outten is a founder and the president of Workplace Fairness, www.workplacefairness.org, and Adam Klein is the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Throughout the firm's 20-year history, O&G has successfully prosecuted numerous landmark class action lawsuits against major employers.  Recently, the firm successfully challenged criminal history background checks used by some of the largest U.S. employers to reject otherwise qualified applicants; in 2018, the Fortune Society honored the firm with its David Rothenberg Achievement Award for its work in that area. O&G also negotiated a $15 million settlement* in a class action against the U.S. Census Bureau for discriminating against African-American and Latino workers who had contact with the criminal justice system; in recognition of the firm's efforts in that case, several O&G attorneys received the 2017 Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award.

Outten & Golden attorneys are leaders in the employment area and the broader legal profession, serving as chairpersons, board and council members, fellows, commissioners, and other key positions in local, state, national, and international organizations. Because of the excellent service they provide to their clients, as well as their professional, civic and charitable activities, Outten & Golden and its people are perennially recognized for excellence by the likes of Best Lawyers, Chambers and Partners USA, Law360, Lawdragon, Leading Lawyers, Legal 500, Super Lawyers, and U.S. News & World Report.

Attorney Advertising. Prior Results do not guarantee a similar outcome. © 2018 Outten & Golden LLP

About Outten & Golden LLP: 

Outten & Golden LLP focuses on advising and representing individuals in employment, partnership, and related workplace matters both domestically and internationally. The firm counsels individuals on employment and severance agreements; handles complex compensation and benefits issues (including bonuses, commissions, and stock/ option agreements); and advises professionals (including doctors and lawyers) on contractual issues. It also represents employees with a wide variety of claims, including discrimination and harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, disability, national origin, religion, and age, as well as retaliation, whistleblower, and contract claims. The firm handles class actions involving a wide range of employment issues, including economic exploitation, gender- and race-based discrimination, wage-and-hour violations, violations of the WARN Act, and other systemic workers' rights issues.

Outten & Golden has nine practice groups: Executives & Professionals, Financial Services, Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination, Family Responsibilities & Disabilities Discrimination, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Workplace Rights, Discrimination & Retaliation, Whistleblower Retaliation, Class & Collective Actions, and WARN Act. 

Outten & Golden has offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

For media inquiries, please contact Managing Partner Wayne N. Outten at (212) 245-1000 or [email protected].

Outten & Golden LLP
685 Third Avenue, 25^th Floor
New York, Ny 10017
(212) 245-1000

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