Laura B. Allen

Laura Allen, Esq., is a trial attorney with 30 years of experience trying cases and arguing appeals in the state and federal courts in Washington, Illinois, Missouri and Arizona. She has concentrated her attorney practice in employment law, particularly discrimination, harassment, whistleblowing, and retaliation in the workplace. She handles cases relating to breach of employment contracts, wrongful termination in violation of public policy, FMLA, wage & hour including employees denied breaks, not paid overtime or improperly classifed as exempt, or denied unemployment benefits. She holds the record for the largest plaintiff’s verdict in an employment case in Illinois. She has helped numerous employees obtain settlements for their legal claims.

Laura successfully argued the Washington case, for example, of Stegall v. Citadel Broad. Co., 350 F.3d 1061 (9th Cir.), convincing the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals her clients had sufficient evidence of discrimination and retaliation to bring a case against their employer. She recently defeated an employer's summary judgment motion in Crume v. Bi-Mart, 2013 LEXIS 46398 (E.D.WA.), persuading the Court there was sufficient evidence that her client was terminated from employment in violation of Washington state public policy.

She has helped numerous employees obtain verdicts or settlements for their legal claims including the following:

▪   employees subjected to demeaning, sexual or discriminatory comments and conduct at work;

▪   employees who suffered sexual harassment at work and were then fired or demoted for reporting it;

▪    older employees denied jobs or fired or demoted and replaced with younger workers because of their age;

▪   employees denied jobs, demoted or fired because of their race or creed;

▪   federal employees with claims for disability discrimination and harassment in violation of §501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 791 et seq.;

▪   employees denied jobs, fired or demoted for conditions related to disabilities;

▪   employees fired because of their pregnancies or because they were mothers with small children at home;

▪   employees fired because the employer thought their medical conditions would increase health care costs;

▪   employees fired for whistleblowing such matters as accounting discrepancies, defrauding customers, or other acts that are illegal or against public policy;

▪   employees denied the right to bring service dogs to work; and

▪   employees illegally denied Family Medical Leave or fired for pursuing worker’s compensation claims.