Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP recently won an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in the case Brenda Taite v. Bridgewater State University et al. (No. 18-1229). Kaplan Hecker senior associate Yotam Barkai had been appointed as counsel in the case by the First Circuit, and briefed and argued the appeal.
Our client in the case is a Black woman who applied for a job at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and was rejected in favor of a white woman. She sued the university pro se, alleging that the school discriminated against her based on race in violation of Title VII. After the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the university, our client then appealed pro se, leading to Yotam’s appointment as counsel. Yotam then briefed the case (alongside co-counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP) and argued before the First Circuit in February. Last week, the court issued its opinion, finding that there were genuine issues of disputed fact precluding summary judgment, and vacating and remanding the case to the district court.
You can read coverage of the decision from Law360 and Business Insurance and read the opinion in full here.