Discrimination

Ephraim Roy Hess has practicing law for more than 30 years. He has successfully represented both individuals and small to medium sized businesses in matters ranging from sexual harassment and age discrimination to the negotiation of severance issues and the enforcement and defense of non-compete agreements. Some areas of representation include: Employment and Labor Law • Discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, age, race, national origin, religion, disability, or pregnancy • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) • Drug Testing • Sexual Harassment • Contract review/negotiations • Whistleblowers and Retaliation • Long Term Disability • EEOC/FCHR Charges • Unemployment • Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) Business Law and Litigation • Non-Compete Agreements • Severance Agreements • Confidentiality Agreements • Defense and claims of breaches of contract • Response to Administrative Charges • Defense against discrimination charges • Employee vs. Independent Contractor Classification Issues Civil Trials and Appeals • Contract disputes • Malicious Prosecution • Fraud • Breach of Contract • Public Records Actions • Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices • Breach of Fiduciary Duty Please contact the Hess Law Firm at (954) 585.8599 to discuss your individual matter.

As a partner in the firm, Brent specializes in representing employees in wrongful termination cases. He has worked exclusively in the area of employment litigation since he began practicing law in 1998. Through the years, Brent has successfully represented hundreds of plaintiffs in employment-related litigation, obtaining significant settlements and jury verdicts against Fortune 500 companies, large government entities, as well as small and medium-sized employers. Since he joined forces with Gary Carlin to launch the firm in July of 2004, he has been lead trial counsel in employment cases that generated more than $7 million dollars for his clients. He has handled virtually every type of labor and employment dispute, including claims of sexual harassment, unpaid overtime, whistle-blowing, racial discrimination, age discrimination, disability discrimination, and gender discrimination. In addition, he has also successfully prosecuted cases based on breach of contract, fraud, defamation, and other civil claims that often arise in the context of employment. Brent recently recovered $1.17 million in a well-publicized wrongful termination suit against the City of Pasadena (read more). Brent was also nominated as Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles for 2008.Brent was raised in Laguna Beach, and attended Laguna Beach High School, where he played tennis and basketball. In 1994, he went on to earn a bachelor's degree at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he graduated with honors. After college, Brent followed through with his ambition of becoming a lawyer, enrolling at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he earned his law degree in 1997. It was in law school that Brent decided that representing individuals, particularly those who have been wronged, was much more rewarding than defending corporations.

Joel Glaser is the principal of Joel Glaser APC in the Los Angeles, Newport Beach and San Diego offices. His practice includes Employment and Business Litigation. Mr. Glaser has extensive experience in Employment Practices Liability, including defending whistleblower, wrongful termination, harassment, race, age, disability, and gender discrimination and retaliation cases. He has also defended wage and hour class actions and single plaintiff cases. Additionally, he has counseled employees and employers on employment-related matters such as applications and hiring, sexual harassment policies and training, employment handbooks, internal investigations, compliance issues, employee discipline issues, severance agreements and termination issues. He has represented clients in both state and federal court, and before the California Labor Board, Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Unemployment Appeals Board. In the area of Business Litigation, Mr. Glaser has handled issues related to business litigation, real estate, collections and compliance issues. He has brought and defended numerous general business litigation actions, including actions for breach of contract, fraud, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, specific performance, quiet title, landlord-tenant discrimination, insurance bad faith, professional liability, products liability, and collections claims. Mr. Glaser has tried to verdict several employment and personal injury claims, tried to a defense verdict a homeowners’ association dispute, obtained summary judgment for a government contractor on an age and disability discrimination action, and has obtained positive feedback from clients on the excellent results he has obtained in defending allegations of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract and product defects. Prior to forming Joel Glaser APC, Mr. Glaser successfully tried and arbitrated several cases to verdicts favorable to his clients at AmLaw 100 firms. Mr. Glaser represents companies in several industries throughout the United States, including government contractors, hotels, restaurants, appliance stores, hardware stores, electronics stores, industrial manufacturers, banks, private lenders, product manufacturers, distributors and retailers, real estate management companies, and other companies in various industries.

Representing employees against employers in claims for wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, assault & battery; whistleblower retaliation. Handle claims of retaliation for taking disability or medical leave, workers' compensation leave or family-medical leave, or denial of such leave. Harassment and discrimination claims are often based on sex, race, national origin, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, religion, medical condition and other protected classifications. Adverse job actions based on discrimination may include excessive and unfair criticism, removal of responsibilities, fewer hours, transfers or assignments with less opportunity or income, assignment to menial or dirty tasks, demotion, denial of promotion, or simply termination. The firm also handles claims for unpaid overtime, denial of lunch and rest breaks. We handle all aspects of litigation including trial, arbitration, mediation and settlement in all state and federal courts in California and before the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Also represent independent contractors and managers with discrimination claims against their employers. Attorney Geoffrey Lyon has over 25 years' courtroom experience. He has litigated hundreds of cases in state and federal court collectively resulting in well over $15 million in verdicts and settlements. Attorney Lyon has handled dozens of trials, including jury trials, as well as arbitrations, hundreds of court appearances and mediations, and thousands of depositions. He has argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth and Ninth Circuits and the California Court of Appeal. He was a candidate for State Assembly in 2004. Lyon is married with three children. Collectively, the firm's employee-clients have sued dozens of Fortune 500 companies in numerous industries including aerospace, entertainment, defense, broadcasting, real estate, construction, advertising, automotive, sales, service, banking, mortgage, and many other industries. Representative public entities sued by clients of the firm include the City and County of Los Angeles, school districts and numerous city, county and government agencies. Nothing herein is intended to be a prediction, guaranty or estimate regarding the outcome of your case or any particular matter.

Carlos D. Perez-Mesa has been an active trial attorney in New Jersey and Hawaii since 1986. In Hawaii, he has tried over 20 jury and bench trials to verdict in state and federal court and participated in over 300 arbitrations and meditations. Mr. Perez-Mesa has wide ranging experience practicing in both federal and state court handling a broad range of litigation, including products liability, construction law, employment discrimination, personal injury, the Americans with Disabilities Act, environmental law, automobile and slip and fall accidents, Title VII civil rights law and workers compensation law. He also handles private arbitrations and mediations involving all types of civil actions, including auto cases, sexual harassment, age discrimination, wrongful discharge, racial discrimination, UM and UIM auto cases and AOAO disputes. Upon graduation of law school, Mr. Perez-Mesa served as a law clerk to Judge Nicholas in Mandak, Passaic County, New Jersey. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Perez-Mesa focused on litigation concerning personal injury, employment discrimination, products liability and condominium law. He defended AIG™ and Farmers™ Insurance insureds involved in automobile and slip and fall accidents. Mr. Perez-Mesa worked seven years as a trial attorney for AIG™’s Staff Counsel’s office in Honolulu. He also has three successful published Hawaii Supreme Court opinions.

Mary Ann E. Rousseau is a practicing lawyer in the state of Massachusetts. She has significant experience in the area of employment discrimination before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, EEOC, Superior and Federal Courts. While primarily a plaintiff's lawyer fighting for the rights of employees for the past 30 years, her prior experience in a Boston law firm representing employers gives her the edge to know what the employers will be arguing in all kinds of discrimination cases based on sex, age, disability, race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, sexual harassment. She cares about her clients and will always return phone calls. In addition to employment, she has also concentrated in the area of divorce and family law which includes custody, child support, visitation, alimony issues. Her compassionate representation and reasonable fees have helped hundreds of people through this traumatic experience. Lastly for the past 30 years, she has been handling personal injury cases including car accidents, slip and falls, head trauma, etc. These have resulted in many settlements, but she also has significant trial experience, including numerous jury trials in Superior and District Courts as well as administrative agencies and arbitration.

Brooke Dana Youngwirth, Esq. represents both employees and private and public sector employers before state and federal agencies, including the New York State Division of Human Rights, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and defends private and public employers against employment harassment and discrimination, labor violations, and various other federal and state claims. Brooke also counsels individuals, school districts, police departments, and other private employers on a range of topics such as wrongful termination, student disciplinary matters, employment discrimination, and the implementation of employment policies and handbooks. Mrs. Youngwirth has held client training sessions and continuing legal education seminars on various issues including: employment discrimination and harassment prevention, institutional sexual abuse, discrimination and harassment investigations, electronic discovery and dispositive motions. Brooke‘s practice also focuses on handling a variety of other types of commercial and civil disputes including franchise, personal injury, and business litigation. Brooke‘s litigation skills allow for majority of cases to settle prior to going to court, eliminating risk and expenses. Brooke’s practical approach to matters ensures clients feel secure and confident while handling their business and personal matters.

Matthew J. Fogelman is a founding partner of Fogelman Law LLC. Mr. Fogelman’s litigation practice is focused on employment law and personal injury cases. He is an experienced trial lawyer, having won a number of significant cases on behalf of plaintiffs, including prevailing before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in a ground-breaking disability discrimination case involving an employee’s right to use medical marijuana off-site. Mr. Fogelman also reached a settlement in a catastrophic personal injury case for $11.5 million, one of the largest settlement in Massachusetts in 2024. Mr. Fogelman has also prevailed on a race and gender discrimination case in Middlesex County for $2.5 million, and on an age discrimination case in Norfolk County, securing a $1.2 million verdict at trial for his client. The firm also recently settled a wrongful death / dram shop case for $2.2 million at mediation. For his work on the Barbuto medical marijuana employment case, Mr. Fogelman was named one of the “Lawyers of the Year” for 2017 by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly; he also received the award for most outstanding 2017 “Professional Achievement” of any member by USA500, a prominent networking group of lawyers and other professionals, out of 650 members. For eight consecutive years (2018-2025), Mr. Fogelman has been selected as a “Top 100 Super Lawyer” for both Massachusetts and New England, a distinction received by only 100 lawyers out of nearly 44,000 lawyers in Mass. and nearly 80,000 in New England. In the employment arena, Mr. Fogelman has litigated cases ranging from Wage Act and overtime cases to discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation matters. He has significant experience advising employees on non-compete and severance agreements. In the personal injury realm, Mr. Fogelman has extensive experience litigating complex personal injury cases and emotionally-charged cases, including allegations of sexual abuse and wrongful death, as well as car collisions, slip-and-falls, and dog bites, among many others. Mr. Fogelman is the current Vice President of the prestigious Massachusetts Association of Trial Attorneys (MATA), the leading plaintiffs’ lawyer group in the state. He will serve as President starting in the summer of 2026.

Attorney Paul Bennett has been practicing law since 1987. He fights for the rights of his clients in employment law and personal injury cases in federal and state courts. Mr. Bennett is licensed in Maryland, DC, Virginia, California, and Hawaii. He is dedicated to providing his clients with prompt, professional and friendly service. Contact our law firm today to arrange your free consultation with an experienced lawyer. With more than a quarter century of experience in the successful practice of law, I am more convinced than ever that my personal attention to my clients makes a difference – for them and for me. Our smaller environment means I am able to provide very hands-on attention. If you select me to handle your employment law concern, or your personal injury claim, I expect that we will come to know one another very well. I will work to earn your trust.

At Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC, our attorneys are highly experienced in their areas of practice. If you are seeking a modification of a child support order, are considering filing a claim against your employer for wrongful termination, or planning to file a suit against a contractor who provided shoddy construction, contact our Wheaton, Illinois, lawyers to discuss your legal needs. Family Law Attorneys Our family law and divorce lawyers believe that clients educated about the divorce process make better decisions. To that end, we spend the time needed to describe what is likely to occur during the legal proceedings, the options available, and the pros and cons of each option. Our comprehensive divorce and family law practice includes helping clients facing matters such as: Divorce / Family Law Mediation / Collaborative Family Law Child Custody and Visitation Maintenance / Alimony Child Support Property Distribution Enforcement and Modification of Orders For more information about divorce and family law, visit our Family Law Practice Center or our Family Law FAQ . Employment Litigation Attorneys Our employment litigation attorneys help employees whose rights have been violated under both federal and state employment laws. Whether you have been the victim of sexual harassment, or believe that you have suffered employment discrimination because of your sex, race, age, disability, religion, national origin, or veteran status, our employment lawyers can help. For more information about sexual harassment.