Latest News
Fourth Circuit Remands Race Discrimination Case For Trial
- Details
- February 17, 2012
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit today overturned the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendant in Burgess v. Bowen, a race discrimination and retaliation case that the Washington Lawyers’ Committee has been litigating with co-counsel Steptoe & Johnson LLP. Plaintiff Denise Burgess, an African-American woman who worked for the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (“SIGIR”) as Assistant Inspector General for Public Affairs, by all accounts performed in an exemplary fashion, but SIGIR terminated her shortly after she complained about race discrimination and in circumstances in which similarly situated white co-workers were not terminated. We filed a lawsuit on her behalf alleging race discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and during discovery developed substantial evidence that SIGIR’s purported rationale for terminating Burgess – a “reorganization” due to budget constraints – was pretextual. Nevertheless, SIGIR prevailed on its motion for summary judgment, and we appealed. The Fourth Circuit today vacated and remanded the case, holding that the District Court had failed to credit Burgess’ evidence of race discrimination and retaliation. According to Emily B. Read, Director of the Committee’s Equal Employment Opportunity Project, “This is an exciting and gratifying victory not only for Denise Burgess, but for all employment discrimination plaintiffs who have been denied the opportunity to present their claims to a jury.”
Kent Withycombe joins Washington Lawyers' Committee as Special Counsel, Public Education Project
- Details
- January 3, 2012
Kent Withycombe joined the Washington Lawyers’ Committee as Special Counsel for the Committee’s Public Education Project on January 3, 2012. A former partner at Dickstein Shapiro LLP, Kent was very active in the firm's educational partnership with the Duke Ellington High School of the Arts. He also worked closely with Georgetown University Law Center's year-long Street Law courses that are taught in DC Public Schools, and which involve a District-wide mock trial tournament each Spring. Among other responsibilities at the Committee, Kent will focus on establishing new educational partnerships, particularly for D.C. public high schools, by reaching out and recruiting as partners area law firms, firm clients, the DC business community, litigation support companies and associations. Kent received his JD degree from New York University School of Law and his BA from Columbia University.
Rhonda Cunningham Holmes joins Washington Lawyers' Committee as Deputy Director
- Details
- October 3, 2011
Rhonda Cunningham Holmes joined the Washington Lawyers' Committee as Deputy Director on October 3, 2011. Ms. Holmes was a litigator at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and most recently was a vice president at Chevy Chase Bank where she established and managed a new banking group in the commercial banking division. She currently serves as chair of the board of directors for Montgomery Housing Partnership, a non-profit provider of affordable housing, is a member of the Greater Washington Area Chapter National Bar Association – Women's Lawyers Division and recently served on the board of trustees for the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia. Ms. Holmes received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, an MBA in Operations Management from the University of Rochester, Simon Graduate School of Business and an A.B. in accounting from Duke University.
Bake Sale
Cooking for Kids Bake Sale and Taste-Off to benefit D.C. Public Schools, Monday, March 19, 2012
Wiley A. Branton Awards Luncheon
Tuesday, June 19, 2012,
12:00noon – 2:00pm,
J.W. Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC