Jon Ostrowsky

Associate

My Legal Practice

I advance the rights of our individual and class action clients, tackling issues such as workplace discrimination, retaliation, wage and hour violations, and pay equity claims. At Outten & Golden, I leverage my experience working in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, first as a speechwriter and then as a trial attorney.

I spend a lot of time interacting with clients and hearing about their challenges at work. Their stories may be different, but their goals are often similar—to be able to show up for work, do their jobs, and be paid fairly. And, of course, to be free from discrimination and able to speak up about things that are unsafe or unfair without being demoted or fired for doing it.

Prior to joining Outten & Golden, I was a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division, where I worked to combat discrimination in housing and protect the economic rights of service members.

Notable Cases

Representing a class of women in Wilmuth et al. v Amazon, a class action lawsuit that alleges women are systemically paid less than their male peers who perform similar work.
Representing a proposed class of all U.S. military reservists and National Guard members who were employed by the federal government and did not receive differential, or “top up” pay, when deployed to active duty during a national emergency.
Representing sales employees in class actions alleging that their employers illegally classified their positions as exempt from overtime pay, which resulted in a significant loss of pay.
Representing individual employees in cases where they experience retaliation after having reported workplace concerns to their employers.

Credentials

B.A., Brandeis University
J.D., Order of the Coif, University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
Clerked for Judge Scott M. Matheson, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Clerked for Judge Ana C. Reyes of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia

My Story

Coming from a family of teachers and public servants, I always knew I wanted to serve the public interest. In college, I turned to journalism, working on the campus newspaper, and then I became a speechwriter in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Communicating stories about the Justice Department’s work drove me to become a civil rights lawyer. I loved crafting speeches and stories, but I also saw how the law was a more powerful vehicle to change people’s lives and protect their rights. After law school, I clerked for two federal judges and then returned to the Civil Rights Division as a trial attorney.

Today, I strive to level the playing field between workers and employers. My cases protect individual workers and the larger set of rights that workers have in our society. I can’t think of a more rewarding job.

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