Hartwell Harris, a resident of Santa Monica, has filed a lawsuit against her former employer for wrongful termination. Harris claims she was fired for developing a rare sleeping disorder, removing her from a job at an international law firm. The firm in question is that of Bingham McCutchen LLP, which is headquartered in Boston and operates offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Harris claims she received poor performance reviews after being diagnosed with her rare sleeping disorder.

Harris began suffering from a bad back that eventually required spinal surgery and physical therapy. She was forced to take time off from work because of the surgery and therapy. Harris claims that she was subjected to reviews in the middle of year that were biased and based on rumors. Harris was diagnosed with Delayed Sleep-Phase Syndrome, or DSPS, in April of 2010.
A short-term disability leave was granted by her law firm, which then placed her on unpaid leave before firing her in February of 2011. Harris claims in the lawsuit that her firm did not accept the accommodations recommended by her doctor. Those accommodations included flexible work hours and/or telecommuting. Harris received her law degree from UC Berkeley and attended Princeton University.
“I was really disappointed because I had worked really hard to get where I was,” Harris said. “I was really disappointed for a long time afterward because I did a lot of research to find a place to work where I would stay for my career.”

When Harris was fired, she was working on securities litigation but now runs her own law firm based out of Santa Monica.
“Bingham took Ms. Harris’ requests for accommodation seriously and accommodated them reasonably,” a statement from the firm said. “It’s unfortunate that Ms. Harris selected this course, and we look forward to a favorable resolution of this matter.”

The law firm that fired Harris is well known around the world, especially in financial centers in New York, London, and Tokyo. The law firm works with companies such as BMW, Nokia, Bank of America and General Motors and their clients. The law firm also works with individuals such as J.K. Rowling and Larry King.

Dr. Susan Sprau, of the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital’s Sleep Disorder Center, had the following to say:

“You have to realize that when you are working against your body’s natural biology, it is an uphill battle and there isn’t a quick or easy or perfect fix,” she said. “People who have this problem tend to take night jobs.”

Doctor Sprau said that those diagnosed with DSPS can improve their situation if they make adjustments to their schedules. Sprau said that the most effective adjustments are to schedule classes and meetings in the afternoon, not the morning, so the patient can have a chance to adjust to being awake.

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The D.C. Appeals Court reverses a wrongful termination suit against Reed Smith…

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Har, now an associate with Holland & Knight in San Francisco, alleges he was wrongly terminated from Nixon Peabody in 2008 because of his gender, and because he is Asian-American.

The 18-page complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court charges that Har was subjected to a partner’s comments about oral sex, as well as homophobic statements from workers at Nixon Peabody.

Har seeks damages for discrimination, breach of an implied covenant, wrongful discharge, misrepresentation and intentional infliction of emotion distress.

From Nixon Peabody’s written statement:

The firm is committed to providing an open and inclusive workplace. It does not comment on pending litigation, but resolutely denies Mr. Har’s charge of discrimination and will vigorously respond to it in court.

The law firm also provided a link to its diversity page on its website. Because if you have a diversity page on your website, discrimination becomes impossible.

Nixon Peabody terminated Har in February 2008, over an alleged assault against another employee at a company function. Har denies the assault took place.

Har, a graduate of the New York University School of Law, worked for Nixon Peabody in the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. He alleges that the Los Angeles office had a “drastically different working environment” from San Francisco, and that attorneys in the office “demonstrated inappropriate and offense behavior towards ethnic minorities, women and homosexuals.”

Har contends that male Asian-American attorneys at the firm have lower retention and employment rates, and that the firm treats those attorneys unfairly.

Via NLJ.

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“This letter shall serve as formal notification to you that upon my taking office as District Attorney for Polk County, your current appointment as deputy district attorney will expire. If you wish to be considered for subsequent appointment by me, please contact my secretary…

The AFSCME insists that Butterfield is overstepping his authority. AFSCME Local 173′s Don Loving:

“The union that represents Polk County employees … will vigorously oppose any effort by Polk County District Attorney-elect Stan Butterfield to replace any of the current five deputy district attorneys.”

Butterfield insists that the deputy DAs are “at will” employees; the union replies that’s a misunderstanding of Oregon labor law.

“These are employees represented by a legal and binding collective bargaining agreement. Mr. Butterfield’s election comes with no magic wand that eliminates that agreement. Moreover, this exact same type of case has been litigated several times all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court, and the courts have been clear in siding with the represented employees.”

Loving said a union attorney has sent Butterfield a letter outlining the legal history of similar cases.

In Oregon, elected district attorneys have the leeway to appoint replacement deputies in the event of a resignation or to terminate with reasonable cause. But the district attorney is not authorized to make a carte blanche change.

Via The Statesman-Journal.

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The good news is, that law firm is Dreier LLP. Which as of this week, depending on your definition of “exist,” doesn’t.

Regan was the controversial publisher of her own imprint at HarperCollins called ReganBooks, which specialized in celebrity biographies. She triggered outrage when she unsuccessfully attempted to publish O.J. Simpson’s arguably non-fiction “If I Did It,” his version of the Brown/Goldman murders.

In December 2006, shortly after the Simpson debacle, Regan was fired for making allegedly anti-Semitic remarks. With Dreier LLP as counsel, she sued Harper’s parent corporation for wrongful termination, and reached a $10.75 million settlement with News Corp last January.

Now Dreier, which appears to be missing tens of million of dollars in clients’ escrow money, wants to recoup some of that cash by suing Regan over unpaid legal fees. With Dreier bleeding lawyers, maybe Marc Dreier can hire a prison lawyer to go after Ms. Regan.

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