ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW

Ms. Feigen has been involved with sex discrimination, sexual harassment, race, ethnic origin, age, disability and sexual orientation discrimination cases for over three decades. Having graduated from Harvard Law School, she was both a plaintiff and attorney in a successful four-pronged class action lawsuit against the Harvard Club of New York City that had, prior to the suit's being filed, refused to admit women as full members, only allowing them to go through a side door to the second floor tea rooms.

In the early '70s, Ms. Feigen directed the Women's Rights Project of the ACLU with now Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and handled every sort of gender discrimination lawsuit. She oversaw litigation across the country and wrote U.S. Supreme Court briefs for the most important of them. She sued not only on behalf of women but also men who were crippled by sex-role stereotypes that more often than not, for example, prevented them from being full parents to their children. One successful class action case was against the New York City Board of Education that had never before allowed fathers parental leaves of absence. Women who have been denied equal opportunity for advancement, promotions and even equal pay routinely have asked for and received her help.

Several large class actions were successfully handled by Ms. Feigen in three federal district courts in Southern states. These cases addressed the issues of poor, non-white women being sterilized without their knowledge and informed consent.

In recent years and as the law changed to accommodate such suits, Ms. Feigen has also gone after employers who discriminate against employees because of their age, disability or sexual orientation. Whether the process is begun in a state agency, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the U.S. Justice Department is a discussion that Ms. Feigen has with her clients at the very beginning of their relationship. Often the answer is easy, depending on the kind of matter and the state in which the complaint arises.

Ms. Feigen usually charges a consultation fee so that she can fully understand and explain the scope of her client's problems. She also takes many cases on a contingency basis.