Sedey Harper, P.C. employment attorneys
protecting opportunity in the workplace

Notable Cases

 

In Davis v. City of Springfield, Civil Action No. 07-3096, (S.D. Il.), Ms. Harper and Ms. Sedey went to trial in September, 2009 for an African American police lieutenant who claimed that the City police department retaliated against him because of his advocacy on behalf of Springfield’s African American police officers. The jury found for Lt. Davis on all 5 counts of retaliation and he was awarded over $620,000 in damages, lost wages, interest, attorneys’ fees and costs.

Ms. Sedey and Ms. Harper successfully tried Alhalabi v. Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Case No. 06CC-001089 (21st Cir. MO) in St. Louis County in July 2008. The jury found for Mr. Alhalabi, an Islamic Arab-American, on his claims of a hostile work environment, and he recovered almost $900,000 in actual and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs. In November, 2009, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment.

In 2002, Ms. Sedey and Ms. Harper spearheaded a 47 million dollar settlement in the nationwide class action case of Wilfong et al. and EEOC v. Rent-A-Center, Civil Action No. 00-0364-CV-W-3 (S.D.Ill.). The settlement resulted in jobs for hundreds of women, substantial payments to thousands of class members and a complete overhaul of the company’s human resources organization, policies and practices to address sex discrimination.

In 1998, in the case of E.E.O.C. v. H.B.E. Corp., 135 F.3d 543 (1998) also known as the “Adam’s Mark Case”, Ms. Sedey and Ms. Harper teamed up to litigate claims of race discrimination and retaliation against the Adam’s Mark hotel in St. Louis. The jury found in favor of the employees and awarded them 4.7 million dollars. Although the Federal Appellate Court reduced the verdict, it remains one of the largest jury verdicts in an employment case in the history of St. Louis.

In Forrester v. White, 484 U. S. 219 (1988), Ms. Sedey successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court that judges can also be sued for discrimination against court employees. In this landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court unanimously agreed with Ms. Sedey and her client.