Outten & Golden LLP

We recently scored an important victory in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against Coupang, a South Korean e-commerce firm. The whistleblower said Coupang fired him for reporting suspicious transactions with Iranian entities in violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Coupang moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the whistleblower didn’t qualify for SOX protections because he didn’t live in the United States, among other reasons. But the Court rejected this argument, finding that the alleged retaliation had strong enough ties to the U.S. for SOX protections to kick in. “This decision makes clear the breadth of the SOX Act’s coverage,” said O&G partner Jennifer Schwartz. #whistleblowers #SOX #EmploymentLaw #compliance

The way attorneys collaborate with AI is taking a huge leap forward with agentic AI – autonomous agents built to tackle complex goals. In this white paper co-authored with Syllo, our attorneys Dan Stromberg, Melissa Lardo Stewart, and Eliana Theodorou delve into the revolution, and what it means for document review projects in legal proceedings.

Buried in Gov. Kathy Hochul's 2026 Executive Budget is an alarming proposal that would curtail some workers' right to receive their paychecks on time.   Section 191 of New York Labor Law requires employers to pay manual workers every week. Anyone who spends more than 25% of their time working on their feet is considered a manual worker in New York.   The governor's budget proposal would dramatically reduce fines for companies who violate the weekly pay rule. The damages would be so small that workers would effectively lose their ability to enforce this right.   "If the measure passes, it means workers will have one less tool to enforce their rights, and corporations will have an easier time getting away with wage theft," writes our partner Molly Brooks in an op-ed for New York Law Journal.   #LaborLaw #NYC #WageAndHour #KathyHochul

Today we welcomed our newest partner, Jenny Yang. Throughout her career in public and private service, Jenny has fearlessly advocated for equal opportunity and strong civil rights protections for all workers. And she joins O&G at a pivotal moment for American workers, who are seeing the dismantling of federal agencies, assaults on diversity, equity, inclusion and equal employment opportunity, and the erosion of longstanding civil rights protections. Welcome to the firm Jenny! We're excited to be working with you!

Our attorney Mikael Rojas, who formerly worked for the Department of Justice, co-wrote this op-ed which explores how recent attacks on federal workers threaten the very fabric of our democracy. A must-read for anyone concerned about the future of civil service and good governance.

Please join O&G in congratulating our two newest partners, Pooja Shethji and Michael Danna! Pooja is currently representing a proposed class of job applicants who allege discrimination by Walmart in connection with the company’s criminal history background checks. Pooja is also representing the plaintiffs in a closely watched online discrimination case that alleges Facebook steers ads for insurance products and services away from certain users on the basis of age and gender, and enables advertisers to do the same, in violation of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. Michael is a key member of the legal team representing a proposed class of women at Amazon, who allege that the company pays women less than men for similar work. Michael also represents a proposed class of Edward Jones financial advisors who allege that the company pays them less than similar male and white advisors. Recently, Michael was a member of the legal teams that obtained a historic $215 million settlement for women at Goldman Sachs who alleged they were paid less than men, and secured $20 million for women employees of Google in New York who also alleged pay discrimination. Pooja and Michael are talented lawyers who genuinely care about the rights of employees and individuals! Please stay tuned for features on their work, their successes, and their unique approach to the practice of law. Until then, congratulations!

Mastercard, Inc. has agreed to pay $26 million to settle a proposed class action accusing the company of underpaying female, Black and Hispanic employees. The proposed nationwide class includes approximately 7,500 female, Black and/or Hispanic employees who worked at Mastercard in job levels 4-10 as far back as September 2016. The proposed settlement also stipulates that Mastercard will continue to conduct annual pay equity audits with an external consulting firm for three years and will hire an industrial organizational psychologist to evaluate its career ecosystem for bias. Mastercard disputed the allegations and did not admit to wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The plaintiffs are represented by our attorneys Cara Greene, Adam Klein, Nantiya Ruan, Chauniqua Young, Shira Gelfand and Jennifer Davidson.

New AI hiring tools could spell trouble for qualified job applicants who get automatically rejected, possibly in violation of their civil rights. If you're interested in this emerging issue, check out our partner Adam Klein's op-ed in The Hill, which delves into how businesses and policymakers can make AI fair for the modern workforce.

Blake Lively’s legal complaint about harassment and retaliation on the set of “It Ends With Us,” sheds light on a sinister playbook used to discredit people who dare to speak out about workplace misconduct. In this blog post, our Lindsay Goldbrum explains how Lively's experience is a microcosm of what countless employees endure in every industry.

You're invited to join our partner Menaka Fernando on 10/21, for a webinar on the ethics of NDA in sexual harassment settlements. Menaka will be participating alongside Harvey Weinstein's former personal assistant, Zelda Perkins; and international lawyers from Canada, the UK and Italy.   Zelda will speak about her personal experience signing an NDA, as she makes the case for banning their use, while Menaka and the other panelists will share their insights about NDAs and the movement to limit or ban their use through practice and legislation. The Ethics of NDAs in Sexual Harassment Settlements Organized by LINEE, a worldwide network of top-tier law firms that advise individuals.  Monday, October 21 @12:00p.m. EST Click below to join