A federal magistrate judge in Georgia has recently recommended that a harassment and discrimination case brought against a Greenberg Traurig attorney by a former assistant at the firm be dismissed. The central matter of the case was a contention under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As the argument of the court goes, the individual attorney, when considered independently of the firm, should not be classified as an “employer” under the ADA.
Though the specific details of the case remain undisclosed, the presiding judge upheld the notion that under ADA stipulations, the term “employer” should strictly encompass an “individual or entity who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.”
Essentially, the judge’s recommendation, if accepted, would protect individual attorneys from facing discrimination claims in the same manner as their encompassing entity, or firm. However, it is equally pertinent to note that this recommendation alone does not directly translate into legal immunity for individual practicing attorneys, but offers a nuanced examination of entity-individual distinctions in the purview of legal victims.
For further information on this developing story, please visit the original report on Law360.