AABANY Joins 2nd Circuit Amicus Brief on Sexual Discrimination

AABANY is pleased to announce that it is a co-signatory to the amicus brief in Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc. 

In that case, Donald Zarda filed suit against his former employer, Altitude Express,
alleging that he had been terminated due to his sexual orientation, in
violation of the New York State Human Rights Law and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The amicus brief asks the 2nd Circuit to overturn existing precedent and expand the definition of

“sex” in Title VII of the Act to include sexual orientation in employment discrimination.

The following bar associations and organizations have also signed on:

  • The LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York
  • Anti-Defamation League
  • The Association of the Bar of the City of New York
  • Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom
  • Hispanic National Bar Association
  • Legal Aid at Work
  • The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
  • New York County Lawyers Association
  • Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York 

Please click here to read the amicus brief.

Just The Beginning – A Pipeline Organization presents “Equal Justice Under Law: Celebrating the Legacy of Judge Constance Baker Motley”

Thursday, September 15, 2016 – Sunday, September 18, 2016, New York, NY  

General Counsel-Who Hires, Who Fires, Who Determines Diversity in Selection of Outside Counsel and How is that Power Wielded?

Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, 11am – 12:30pm – FREE CLE CREDIT PANEL: 

Moderated by George W. Madison, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP; featuring 

  • Alex Dimitrief, SVP & General Counsel, General Electric; 
  • Kimberley D. Harris, EVP, General Counsel, NBC Universal; 
  • Sandra Leung, EVP & General Counsel, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; and 
  • Sandra L. Phillips, Group VP, GC and Chief Legal Officer, Toyota Motor North America

(Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Centre St., Courtroom #506)


Historic Reenactment of A Trial: Constance Baker Motley, James Meredith and The University of Mississippi

Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, 1:45pm – 3:45pm –  FREE CLE CREDIT EVENT: 

Featuring: 

  • Judge Denny Chin (2nd Circuit) and 
  • Kathy Chin, Partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP 

(Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Centre St., Courtroom #506)

Film Premiere, “The Trials of Constance Baker Motley,”

Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, 4:00pm – 5:30pm FREE

Produced by Joel Motley, 

Followed by CLE CREDIT PANEL: 

Legacy of Honorable Constance Baker Motley

Moderated by Joel Motley, Managing Director, Public Capital Advisors; featuring: 

  • Justice Sonia Sotomayor (SCOTUS); 
  • Judge Laura Taylor Swain (SDNY); 
  • Judge Anne E. Thompson (DNJ); 
  • Judge Ann Claire Williams (7th Circuit); and 
  • Judge Kimba Wood (SDNY). 

Each jurist was mentored by Judge Motley. 

(Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, Ceremonial Courtroom)

Voting Rights and the Unfinished Business of Selma

Saturday, September 17, 2016, 10:15am – 11:30am – FREE CLE CREDIT PANEL

Moderated by Gay J. McDougall, Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. Featuring: 

  • Sherrilyn Ifill, Executive Director, NAACP Legal Defense Fund; 
  • Deputy Asst. Attorney General Justin Levitt, Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; 
  • Jerry Vattamala, Director, Democracy Program for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; and 
  • Nancy Trasande, Senior Counsel, Latino Justice PRLDEF. 

(New York Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway, Marquis Ballroom, 9th Floor)

Glass Ceilings and Sliding Glass: What Must Women and Minorities Do to Succeed in the Next Frontier of Equal Justice Under the Law?

Saturday, September 17, 2016, 11:30am – 12:30pm – FREE CLE CREDIT PANEL

Moderated by Michele Coleman Mayes, Vice President& General Counsel, The New York Public Library and featuring 

  • Executive Vice-President & General Counsel Kimberly Harris of NBC Universal and 
  • Deputy General Counsel Rhonda McLean of Time, Inc. 

(New York Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway, Marquis Ballroom, 9th Floor)

Please register at – http://ww2.ca2.uscourts.gov/cle/