[Fredslist] Fw: Three Cheers for Larry

[Fred Klein]

We are proud of our own Larry Lebowitz for winning a $2,500,000 verdict yesterday!  See attached. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Joshua Rose <jrose at kzrd.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 09:06:18 
To:All KZRD Users <All_KZRD_Users%KZRD at kzrd.com>
Subject: Three Cheers for Larry





Here's the article from today's Daily Labor Report about Larry's big win
yesterday:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------->
|Disabilities                                                             |
|New York Jury Awards $2.5 Million                                        |
|For Perceived Disability Bias Claim                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------->
  >---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
  |                                                                                             |
  >---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|





                  NEW YORK--A state jury in Manhattan awarded damages of
                  $2.5 million April 21 to a former advertising executive
                  with multiple sclerosis who claimed that she had been
                  terminated because her employer perceived her as being
                  disabled (Jordan v. Bates Advertising Holdings Inc., N.Y.
                  Sup. Ct., No. 118785/99, 4/21/05).


                  The jury in the state Supreme Court for New York County
                  found for the plaintiff, Kathryn Jordan, on her claim of
                  perceived disability against Bates Advertising Holdings
                  Inc., according to plaintiff's attorney Laurence
                  Lebowitz. In a trial that began April 7, the six-member
                  panel awarded $2 million in economic damages and $500,000
                  in punitive damages, he said.


                  The jury did not find a predecessor defendant, Bates USA
                  Inc., liable on Jordan's related claims that she was
                  denied promotion out of discrimination on the basis of
                  sex and perceived disability, Lebowitz said.


                  Jordan walked with a cane when she was hired as an
                  executive vice president by Bates in January 1994, after
                  having worked for the ad agency as a consultant the year
                  before, Lebowitz said. From fear of discrimination, she
                  chose to conceal the reason for the cane--physical
                  degeneration from MS--and said she had been injured in a
                  skiing accident, he added.



                           Subjected to Ridicule, Hostile Comments

                  Working on an account for an athletic footwear retail
                  chain, she was subjected to ridicule and hostile comments
                  about the cane by managers and co-workers, and managers
                  referred to her as a "cripple" on at least three
                  occasions, Lebowitz charged. She was cut out of meetings,
                  and two people were hired to take over her duties, he
                  said.


                  Jordan was also denied the resources needed to develop
                  business that would have qualified her for incentive
                  bonuses over her salary of $125,000, Lebowitz said. She
                  was terminated in February 1995, "only after her
                  replacements had come up to speed," he claimed. "She was
                  kept on solely to allow two others to take over her
                  duties," he said.


                  Jordan was told that the reasons for her termination were
                  budget constraints and client complaints, Lebowitz said.
                  But she argued that the agency's hiring of two
                  replacements showed that the budget reasons were
                  pretextual, he said, and "there was no evidence of any
                  client dissatisfaction other than the fabricated claim of
                  her direct supervisor."



                                 Original Suit Filed in 1996

                  Jordan originally sued in federal district court in 1996,
                  where her case was dismissed on summary judgment in a
                  ruling upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
                  Circuit, her attorney said. She took her surviving state
                  and city human rights law claims to state supreme court,
                  where her case was again dismissed, he said. But it was
                  reinstated in a 2001 decision by the state appellate
                  division, he continued.


                  Lebowitz attributed the court victory to the persistence
                  of the plaintiff, whom he called "a remarkable woman
                  absolutely and unequivocally committed to principle." He
                  added, "She was wronged, and she wanted vindication."


                  The employer's stance also helped the case make it to
                  trial, Lebowitz suggested. "They could have settled this
                  case 10 years ago for a minuscule fraction of what they
                  have spent to defend it," he said.


                  Lebowitz said that he anticipated filing for attorneys'
                  fees allowed under the city law, which he estimated would
                  be a minimum of $250,000 over the 10-year span of
                  litigation.


                  A spokesman for JWT, the successor company to Bates, had
                  no comment on the verdict. JWT, formerly the J. Walter
                  Thompson advertising agency, absorbed Bates USA through a
                  2003 acquisition.


                  Bates was represented by Gregory Homer and Donald Beshada
                  of the New York offices of the law firm Drinker Biddle &
                  Reath. Lebowitz's firm is Laurence Lebowitz & Associates.
                  (Embedded image moved to file: pic29358.gif)End of
                  article graphic

Joshua D. Rose, Esq.
Klein, Zelman, Rothermel & Dichter, L.L.P.
485 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Tel: (212) 935-6020
Fax: (212) 753-8101
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