DC Employment Justice Center


The EJC provides free legal advice and assistance to low wage workers with employment law problems in the DC area.

The EJC is pleased to recognize and congratulate the law firm of Murphy Anderson PLLC for partnering with the EJC and winning two huge victories on behalf of low-wage workers in the D.C. area.

Wage & Hour Class and Collective Action Victory

EJC attorneys, Art Rogers and Katie Laskey, partnered with attorneys at Murphy Anderson to successfully bring a class and collective action against a company that employs thousands of low-wage building cleaners in D.C. The workers claimed the employer violated wage and hour laws by routinely failing to pay overtime and by using a procedure to calculate straight time that consistently undercounted the hours worked. The case originated at the EJC Workers' Rights Clinic.

The company will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to the workers and attorneys' fees. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but the EJC is proud to have had such a great partner in vindicating the rights of these workers.

Sexual Harassment & Retaliation Victory

The worker first came to the EJC Workers' Rights Clinic in 2002 complaining that she had been sexually harassed by her supervisor and then fired in retaliation for complaining. Mark Hanna, an EJC volunteer attorney, advised the client at clinic and, after hearing about the reprehensible conduct of her supervisor and employer, convinced his firm to take the worker's case.

The complaint was filed in 2003, but the case did not get to trial until 2005. The three-week trial ended in a successful judgment of several hundred thousand dollars and attorneys' fees in December 2006, which the employer appealed.

In October, the D.C. Court of Appeals issued a decision affirming the successful judgment below and ordering the trial judge to consider an increase in the attorney fee award.

Mark Hanna was a tireless advocate for this worker and Keira McNett, another attorney at Murphy Anderson, argued the case before the D.C. Court of Appeals. Over the course of the 5+ years of litigation, Mark was also assisted by George Murphy, Joni Jacobs and Arlus Stephens (all at the Murphy Anderson firm), Art Rogers and Judy Conti (from of the EJC), and the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA), who submitted a well-timed amicus brief on the worker's behalf and provided critical advice and counsel.



PLEASE JOIN THE EJC IN CONGRATULATING MURPHY ANDERSON LLP FOR BEING A KEY PARTNER IN WORKPLACE JUSTICE!




Founded on Labor Day 2000, the mission of the EJC is to secure, protect and promote workplace justice in the D.C. metropolitan area.
The D.C. Employment Justice Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax
deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. A copy of our financial statement is available upon
request by contacting us at 727 15th Street NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20005.