2015 IN REVIEW 1250 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW, SUITE 300 WASHINGTON, DC 20036 TEL 202.822.5100 | FAX 202.822.4997 WWW.FINDJUSTICE.COM TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from Cyrus Mehri & Steve Skalet 2 Notable Results 3 New Matters 8 Ongoing Matters 10 Kl; Firm News: New Faces 16 Firm News: Press 20 M E H R I & S A E PLLC PAGE 1 CYRUS MEHRI (DC, CT) STEVEN A. SKALET (DC, MD) JAY ANGOFF (DC, MO, NJ) CRAIG L. BRISKIN (DC, NY, MA) HEIDI R. BURAKIEWICZ (DC, MD, VA) STEPHANIE J. BRYANT (DC, PA) PIA WINSTON (DC, MD) ROBERT DePRIEST (DC, NY) 1250 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW, SUITE 300 WASHINGTON, DC 20036 JOANNA WASIK (NY) TEL 202.822.5100 FAX 202.822.4997 WWW.FINDJUSTICE.COM BRETT WATSON (DC, MD) AMELIA FRIEDMAN (TX) N. JEREMI DURU (DC, MD) MICHAEL D. LIEDER (DC) Friends and Colleagues: We are pleased to share with you our Year in Review for 2015 — another outstanding year for Mehri & Skalet and the clients we serve. For almost 15 years, we have worked on behalf of those who face injustice across a wide spectrum of issues — securing victories on behalf of women, minorities, and those with disabilities; recovering wages that are rightfully owed; and protecting consumers from unsafe products. This year we continued that trend and expanded our work to help our clients keep their homes and blow the whistle when fraud is perpetrated against the government. We were also proud to add several outstanding attorneys to our team: Of Counsel Richard Condit, Associates Joanna Wasik and Robert DePriest, and Find Justice Fellows Brett Watson and Amelia Friedman. You can find out more about these exciting additions to Mehri & Skalet in our “Firm News: New Faces” section. In the year ahead, we look forward to continuing to grow and, working with you, making important impacts on the world around us. Here’s to a great 2016! M E H R I & S A E PLLC PAGE 2 2015 IN NOTABLE RESULTS NUMBERS Workers’ Rights 1.5 Billion Number of Potential • Wage and Hour Cases Against the Bureau Viewers of Mehri & of Prisons Skalet Press Coverage Mehri & Skalet collected over $26 million from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) on behalf of federal employees in 2015. The cases involved violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act 183 (FLSA), the Federal Back Pay Act, the Privacy Act, contractual Number of Times violations, and overturning disciplinary decisions. Mehri & Skalet In cases at FCC Forrest City in Forrest City, Arkansas, Partner Jay Angoff FCC Lompoc in Lompoc, California, MDC Honolulu in Honolulu, was Featured on Hawaii, USP Lee in Lee County, Virginia, and FCI Estill near National TV or in Estill, South Carolina, Mehri & Skalet recovered back pay and National liquidated damages on behalf of employees who were required to Publications perform work before and/or after their scheduled shifts or during their meal breaks without compensation. In a case at MDC Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York, Mehri Over & Skalet recovered $5,000,000 as a result of the BOP’s failure to $26 Million pay employees for overtime worked on their regularly scheduled pay dates. Total Amount of In a case at FCC Butner in Butner, North Carolina, Mehri Money Won in Cases & Skalet obtained a decision that the BOP violated the Privacy Against the Bureau Act when it failed to protect sensitive employee information and of Prisons in that employees are entitled to the greater of $1,000 or the value of Practice Area Led by the harm they suffered as a result of the Privacy Act violation. Mehri & Skalet Importantly, in addition to the out-of-pocket expenses employees Partner Heidi incurred taking precautionary measures, the arbitrator Burakiewicz determined that employees are entitled to compensation for the value of the time they spent taking precautions to protect 240,000 themselves from the Privacy Act breach such as contacting their creditors, signing up for a credit protection service, or checking Telephone their credit reports. Overcharges by In a case at FCC Oakdale in Allen Parish, Louisiana, Mehri Verizon Uncovered & Skalet obtained a $375,000 settlement on behalf of 24 by Consumer Class employees as a result of the BOP’s failure to assign overtime fairly Action Led by and equitably in the Food Services Department. Founding Partner Steve Skalet M E H R I & S A E PLLC PAGE 3 • Roberts et al. v. The TJX Companies et al., No. 1:13-CV- 13142 (D. Mass.) $44,000 Average Expected Along with co-counsel, Mehri & Skalet achieved a Recovery per Claimant $4.75 million settlement on behalf of trainees at Marshalls in the Medicis Gender stores improperly deprived of overtime compensation. The Discrimination case is filed in the District of Massachusetts and the court Settlement, One of the held a hearing for final approval of the settlement in Highest in the History August 2015. of Gender Class Actions in U.S. history, in Case Discrimination Prosecuted by Founding Partner Cyrus Mehri and Of Counsel Michael • Brown et al. v. Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation, No. 1:13-cv-01345 (D.D.C.) Lieder Mehri & Skalet settled a class action gender 24 discrimination case against Medicis Pharmaceutical Number of Minority Corporation, Inc. for $7.15 million on behalf of over 200 NFL Head Coaches and women. The U.S. District Court for the District of General Managers Columbia granted preliminary approval after extensive hired in the12 Years review. Since the Enactment of the Rooney Rule, Sports Law Compared to 5 in the Prior 12 Years • NFL Special Counsel on Social Responsibility The Commissioner of the National Football League 10 (NFL) appointed Founding Partner Cyrus Mehri of Mehri Number of Times a & Skalet to serve as Special Counsel on Social Minority NFL Head Responsibility. In that role, Mehri & Skalet canvassed Coach or General over a dozen women’s rights organizations and anti- Manager Led Their violence groups, and prepared an independent set of Team to a Super Bowl recommendations for the leadership of the NFL in a report Appearance Since the called “Forward Progress: Gender and the NFL.” Most of Rooney Rule these recommendations have been adopted by the NFL. 5 Number of New Attorneys Who Joined the Mehri & Skalet Team in 2015 M E H R I & S A E PLLC PAGE 4 Fair Housing and Lending • Plunkett et al. v. Donovan, No. 1:14-cv-00326 (D.D.C.) • Bennett & Joseph v. Donovan, No. 1:14-cv-01017 (D.D.C.) • Chandler v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and Fannie Mae, No. 11-3831 (N.D. Cal.) Mehri & Skalet has achieved landmark reforms in the federal reverse mortgage program that will protect senior borrowers and their families from unfair lending practices. Mehri & Skalet, co-counsel with AARP, represents surviving spouses of reverse mortgage borrowers who alleged that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) failed to enforce the federal law that protects spouses of reverse mortgage borrowers from foreclosure and displacement, even if they are not named as borrowers on the loan. Congress enacted this protection so that seniors would not face foreclosure at the very worst possible moment — when they lose their spouses. Plaintiffs also claimed that HUD had issued illegal guidance in 2008 that deprived borrowers of their right to sell the property to a spouse or family member for its appraised value, even if the loan balance was higher. This is an option that borrowers fund through substantial payments to a federal insurance fund. Both the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and a D.C. district court ruled resoundingly in our clients’ favor. Our suit benefited senior borrowers in three important ways. First, HUD agreed to accept assignment of loans on homes where a surviving spouse wishes to continue living in the property, so they will be protected from foreclosure. Second, HUD withdrew the illegal guidance, allowing borrowers to sell their properties as they see fit. And third, HUD rewrote its standard reverse mortgages beginning in August 2014 so that foreclosure will be deferred after the death of a borrower spouse. Mehri & Skalet also represents a California man who alleges that Defendants Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae failed to give his mother’s estate the right to sell her home, which was financed with a reverse mortgage, to her son and his family at 95% of the property’s appraised value. This is especially unjust and unnecessary because reverse mortgage borrowers pay substantial insurance premiums so that lenders like Wells Fargo will be fully compensated for any 95% sale. The case is now pending before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. M E H R I & S A E PLLC PAGE 5 • National Fair Housing Alliance, Inc. et al. v. Ryan Companies US, Inc. et al., No. 14-CV-3197 (N.D. Ill.) Mehri & Skalet worked with the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), Open Communities, and HOPE Fair Housing Center (HOPE) to make Ryan Companies properties compliant with the accessibility requirements of the federal Fair Housing Act. In December 2015, Ryan Companies agreed to make alterations to over 900 apartments in 10 housing complexes in Illinois and Iowa over the course of the next two years so that the apartments and all common areas will be accessible for people with disabilities. The agreement settles claims that Ryan Companies discriminated against people with disabilities by designing and/or constructing buildings without the required accessibility features, and requires Ryan to make changes estimated to cost $2.7 million. Additionally, Ryan Companies will pay a total of $875,000 to NFHA, Open Communities, and HOPE for damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and frustration of the core mission of the fair housing agencies.