EEOC v. Morgan Stanley
My Legal Practice
As a class action attorney, I represent employees who want to represent other employees. My clients have lost wages, experienced discrimination, or complained and felt retaliation. But still, they see a broader problem and have the courage to correct it – not only for themselves, but for their colleagues too.
I represent workers searching for fair pay across industries, including tech, the gig-economy, financial services, food services, and construction.
Often, these are women and people of color who have fallen victim to gender and racial pay gaps that are present in corporate America. I’m proud to be a part of cases that help close these pay gaps.
I also represent individuals who are denied overtime pay, including many that didn’t know they deserved it in the first place.
Some have been misclassified as independent contractors, which is an all-too-common way that employers save money and deny employees their workplace rights. I have also partnered with state attorneys’ general in local wage and hour enforcement cases to root out these abusive practices.
Notable Matters
- Secured a $3.75 million settlement for D.C.’s Office of the Attorney General in a wage theft lawsuit against a national construction firm, which had denied wages and sick pay to hundreds of workers by falsely labelling them as independent contractors.
- Representing plaintiffs in two related class action lawsuits against GEICO, alleging that New York Special Investigators were not properly compensated for their “off-the-clock” work.
- Representing female employees who allege that Apple systematically pays women less than men in similar roles.
Credentials
- B.A., Loyola University New Orleans
- LL.M., University of Glasgow
- J.D., George Washington University Law School
- Admitted to practice law in Washington, DC and Virginia
- Clerked for the Honorable Robert R. Rigsby at the D.C. Superior Court
- Member, National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
- Member, Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA)
“I became a workers’ rights attorney to give workers a voice.”
Ryan Cowdin
My Story
When I was younger, I worked a number of low-wage jobs. I was a fast-food sandwich “artiste”, a ceiling-fan salesman, a night-shift server at a Washington, D.C diner, and an after-school chess teacher. I learned a lot about myself from those jobs, but more about the challenges that working people face.
My co-workers’ struggles were financial, physical, and legal. Some had mental health issues, like addiction and depression. Others couldn’t afford to pay their rent or support their children. Others still encountered discrimination or wage theft. Some could not overcome their past encounters with the criminal justice system, even with years of hard, honest work. Adding to their problems, most had zero bargaining power and felt powerless to speak up and ask for help.
I think of my former co-workers whenever I represent plaintiffs today. They remind me how important it is to help level the playing field.
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