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Outten & Golden LLP announces an amicable resolution in a social media job ads dispute with Target, setting a model for promoting equal opportunities for workers of all ages. Learn more about the workplace commitments taken by this leading retailer.

Outten & Golden LLP is pleased to announce that it has promoted four of its exceptional lawyers, each of whom has demonstrated a commitment to client service and professional excellence.  Effective January 1, 2023, the firm promoted Aliaksandra Ramanenka, Allison Van Kampen, and Cody Yorke to Partner, and Kerry C. Zaroogian, who recently returned to Outten & Golden, to Counsel. All four attorneys are members of the firm’s Individual Practice Group and are based out of the firm’s New York office.

“The allegations are that Amazon engaged in deceptive practices with respect to both” customers and drivers, said Pooja Shethji, a plaintiffs'-side employment attorney with Outten & Golden LLP in Washington.

At-will employment means either the employee or employer can terminate the employment agreement at any time. In the US, an at-will employer can fire a worker for a variety of reasons: for not performing, if they don't have enough work for them, or basically any other reason that's not illegal, Cody Yorke, an associate at Outten & Golden's New York office, told Insider.

It’s not uncommon for employers to take a hands-off approach to third-party discrimination, according to Aliaksandra Ramanenka, a New York-based plaintiff’s attorney at Outten & Golden.

“I don’t think a lot of employers realize they might be liable to their employees for the conduct of a third party,” she said. “That is a common thread in the cases I’ve dealt with.”

This situation highlights the urgency of building federal infrastructure to support working parents, but the outlook is "bleak," said Menaka Fernando, a partner with worker-side firm Outten & Golden LLP.

"There's going to be a significant number of these individuals in these states that will be forced to have children and carry their pregnancy to term. … These are the same states that are woefully lacking in protections for working mothers," Fernando said. "I think that working mothers are all but guaranteed to not have the support that they need by their employers, particularly when they're forced into this situation."

Pooja Shethji of Outten & Golden LLP, who is representing White, said Monday that she is hopeful the court would grant certification to the classes.

"That outcome would be in line with decisions from other courts in recent USERRA actions against airlines companies," Shethji said.