Kramer Law LLC

06/15/2020

Huge - and great - decision by the Supreme Court today: discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity and s*xual orientation constitutes s*x discrimination - and is therefore barred - under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This means that LGBTQ people in those states that do not provide protections against discrimination in employment on the basis of s*xual orientation or gender identity (which is a majority of states - Mass. does provide such protections) now are protected under federal law.

The court said the language of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits s*x discrimination, applies to discrimination based on s*xual orientation and gender identity.

04/05/2019

Thrilled to report that the man whose appeal from a denial of his motion to reopen we won in the First Circuit last summer has now had his motion granted by the Board of Immigration Appeals. The case is now remanded to the Immigration Court for a determination of his asylum petition. In the meantime, the asylum petitions of two other similarly situated immigrants whose motions to reopen were granted as a result of our victory have been granted. They can now remain legally in this country. The good news abounds

03/12/2019

Local friends: please join me and Martsyl Joseph of the MBWA for a fun lunchtime program at the BBA on women's legal history next Monday, March 18, at noon.

In honor of Women’s History Month, did you know that...
* The first state to permit (at least some) women to hold property in their name was Mississippi – in 1839?
* In 1873, the Supreme Court ruled that states could prohibit married women from the practice of law?
* The first woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court was Lucy Terry Prince, who was not a lawyer and was an African-American who had once been enslaved?
* Some women had the right to vote at the founding of the United States?
* The first states to grant women the right to vote were in the West, beginning in Wyoming (in 1890 when it became a state, having already granted the right since 1869 when it was a territory)?
* The first Latina-American to serve in Congress is retiring this term after serving since 1989, and not until 2016 were the first Asian-American women elected to Congress?
* Ida B. Wells, the anti-lynching activist, participated in the 1913 suffrage parade in Washington DC and set up suffrage clubs for African-American women?
* Constance Baker Motley was the first African-American woman to become a federal judge, in 1966?

Test Your Knowledge About Women’s Legal History in the U.S. Monday, March 18, 2019 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM Boston Bar Association - 16 Beacon Street, Boston, MA Before you can register to attend this even...

03/11/2019

Local lawyers: Join me and a fabulous panel of employment law superstars for a discussion of how to use circumstantial evidence in discrimination cases.

The MBA only offers Certificates of Attendance to individuals who attend education programs in person. Certificates are not available for participation in recorded MBA On Demand and real-time webcasts.

08/13/2018

Yay Nick.

In setting bail, a judge’s discretion is not clairvoyant, and it is constrained by law.

06/05/2018

It is important not to overlook that the Court reiterated critical equality and nondiscrimination principles in the Masterpiece Cake case. (See excerpt below.) KF commends this excellent opinion piece by one of the lawyers representing the men whose cake the baker wouldn't make and urges everyone to remember that there is no exception to antidiscrimination law for moral or religious objection, even if the belief sincerely held.

"Our society has come to the recognition that gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth. For that reason the laws and the Constitution can, and in some instances must, protect them in the exercise of their civil rights. The exercise of their freedom on terms equal to others must be given great weight and respect by the courts. At the same time, the religious and philosophical objections to gay marriage are protected views and in some instances protected forms of expression. ... Nevertheless, while those religious and philosophical objections are protected, it is a general rule that such objections do not allow business owners and other actors in the economy and in society to deny protected persons equal access to goods and services under a neutral and generally applicable public accommodations law.
When it comes to weddings, it can be assumed that a member of the clergy who objects to gay marriage on moral and religious grounds could not be compelled to perform the ceremony without denial of his or her right to the free exercise of religion. This refusal would be well understood in our constitutional order as an exercise of religion, an exercise that gay persons could recognize and accept without serious diminishment to their own dignity and worth. Yet if that exception were not confined, then a long list of persons who provide goods and services for marriages and weddings might refuse to do so for gay persons, thus resulting in a community-wide stigma inconsistent with the history and dynamics of civil rights laws that ensure equal access to goods, services, and
public accommodations."

Charlie Craig and David Mullins could go back into Masterpiece Cakeshop and request a cake — and Jack Phillips would have no First Amendment right to turn them away.

04/05/2018

Heard excellent advice from federal district court judges about civil litigation yesterday at BBA's annual Federal Bench-Bar Conference. Much discussion about "overkill" in civil discovery. Judge Talwani offered this wisdom: Imagine a doctor serving a patient with no health insurance. Unless fancy diagnostics are indicated, the doctor would likely start with a simple test, maybe a blood test, and then see what else needs doing, rather rather than doing hundreds of expensive tests. Civil litigators need to think that way when serving clients. Try to resolve the problem simply and then expand. That is our approach at Kramer Frohlich. We're here to solve problems.

04/01/2018

An excellent model for others, both public and private sector.

The state House of Representatives experienced its own moment last fall, as dozens of women went public about their experiences with harassment and s*xual misconduct. House leadership took a…

03/29/2018

In addition to business litigation and employment law, Andrea is also knowledgeable about women's history. Today she led an interactive program on women’s legal history in the United States at the Boston Bar Association for the Civil Rights / Civil Liberties Section.

03/27/2018

Come one, come all (at least those who are local) - to a fun- and fact-filled brown bag lunch presentation in honor of Women's History Month that KF attorney Andrea Kramer is doing at the Boston Bar Association on Thursday, March 29 at 12:00 at the Boston Bar Association on Beacon Street.

How Much Do You Know About Women's Legal History in the United States? Thursday, March 29, 2018 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM Boston Bar Association - 16 Beacon Street, Boston, MA Before you can register to att...

03/26/2018

KF is proud of Andrea’s recent invitation to serve on the editorial board of Mass. Lawyers Weekly. This will be a fantastic opportunity for Andrea to share her strong writing skills and her deep knowledge of legal issues in various areas, including business and employment law as well as women’s issues and civil and disability rights, with the Mass. legal community.