she/her

Pooja Shethji

Partner

My Legal Practice

I pursue cases on behalf of groups of people – usually workers – who have been wronged by companies of all sizes.

The class and collective action lawsuits I litigate amplify my clients’ voices and aim to recover wages or other compensation they rightfully deserve. Ideally, these cases also deter other companies in the industry from skirting their obligations to their employees.

I’m especially committed to challenging systemic barriers to employment and combatting wage theft. Some of my clients are trying to get good jobs to improve their lives, but a stale criminal record continues to undercut their chances. Others lose out on overtime pay because their employer wrongly misclassifies them as independent contractors or ineligible for (or exempt from) overtime pay. Tackling these issues can have a significant impact on many people’s lives, particularly when there’s a large employer on the other side.

Many of my clients have never been involved in a lawsuit before. They have questions about the legal process and are concerned about retaliation and protecting their jobs. Those questions are natural, so I work hard to explain how the law protects them, and how their case teams will guide them every step of the way.

Notable Matters

Secured a $1.75 million settlement for a group of New York call-center interpreters whose employer allegedly failed to pay them for activities performed before and after work shifts.
Secured a $3.75 million settlement for the D.C. Office of the Attorney General in a wage theft lawsuit that claimed that a national construction firm, its general contractor, and its subcontractors misclassified hundreds of workers as independent contractors.
Representing plaintiffs in a proposed class action litigation against Walmart, challenging the company’s use of overly broad criminal history background checks and alleging that the uniform hiring policy disparately impacts Black candidates.

Credentials

B.A., Yale College
J.D., New York University School of Law, cum laude
Clerked for the Honorable Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and for the Honorable Theodore D. Chuang of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Member, National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
Member, Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA)
Member, American Bar Association, Labor & Employment Law Section
Permanent Member, Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference

My Story

Throughout college and law school, I explored different paths that focused on the same goal – advancing economic justice. I soon realized that addressing employment discrimination and related barriers to job stability would be one way to move the needle.

Initially, I imagined a career as a policy analyst or researcher, but I became drawn to a legal career because it offered an opportunity to have a more direct, observable impact on the lives of others. My interest in the class action space, where a single lawsuit could help tens, hundreds, or even thousands of workers, is what drew me to Outten & Golden.

Our identities are often intertwined with our work, and many people spend more time with their co-workers than they do with their families. If someone is being mistreated in the workplace or having a hard time finding a job, it’s not only their finances that are impacted – it’s also their sense of self. That’s why I’m determined to make companies comply with the law and deliver on their responsibilities to their employees.

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