Harini Srinivasan is an associate in Cohen Milstein’s Civil Rights & Employment Litigation practice and co-chair of the firm’s Hiring & Diversity Committee. She represents marginalized groups and supports workers in employment and civil rights class actions, often involving cutting-edge legal issues across a spectrum of discrimination and wage and hour statutes.
Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Harini was an associate at a highly respected plaintiff-focused employment litigation firm, where she represented clients in employment discrimination cases involving claims under Title VII, the Age Discrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and state and federal wage theft statutes.
Prior to entering private practice, Harini was a Georgetown Law Center Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow and worked at the National Partnership for Women & Families.
While in law school, Harini was on the editorial staff of the American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy.
- Member, Law360 Editorial Advisory Board – Employment Authority Discrimination
- Board Member, Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association
- Track Co-Chair, American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section
- District of Columbia
- New York
- American University Washington College of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2014
- University of Chicago, B.A., With Honors, 2010
Fellow, Georgetown Law Center Women’s Law and Public Policy
Current Cases
Harris v. Medical Transportation Management, Inc.
Harris, et al. v. Medical Transportation Management, Inc. (D.D.C.): Cohen Milstein represents non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) drivers in a certified class action alleging that their employer, Medical Transportation Management, Inc. (MTM), knowingly and willfully failed to pay proper wages to its NEMT drivers across Washington, D.C. under federal and District of Columbia law. This lawsuit seeks to hold MTM liable as a joint employer of the drivers.
Salvation Army ARC Unpaid Wages Litigation
Salvation Army ARC Unpaid Wages Litigation: Cohen Milstein represents participants in Salvation Army's adult rehabilitation centers (ARC), who perform labor in support of the organization as a condition of their enrollment, in three lawsuits alleging that The Salvation Army violated federal and state laws when it failed to pay minimum wage to ARC workers.
Temporary Employment Staffing Agency Litigation
Temporary Employment Staffing Agency Litigation (N.D. Ill.): Cohen Milstein is involved in a series of race-based discrimination class actions in Chicago, representing African-American laborers who allege that their temporary staffing agencies and their factory-clients engaged in a repeated and collusive practice of excluding African Americans from temporary laborer positions.
U.S. Customs & Border Protection Agency Pregnancy Discrimination Litigation
Gabaldon, et al. V. Mayorkas, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (EEOC): Cohen Milstein represents U.S. Customs and Border agents in a putative class action against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, in which plaintiffs claim that the agency and its implementation of the temporary light duty policies discriminate against pregnant agents in violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
Past Cases
Alvarez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
Alvarez et al. v. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. et al. (D.N.J.): Cohen Milstein represented a class of managerial apprentices at Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants in New Jersey who were denied the overtime pay to which they were entitled under federal and state law, including the newly enacted 2016 Overtime Rule, which was slated to take effect in December 2016 and would have doubled the salary threshold for executive, administrative and professional workers to be exempt from overtime pay requirements. On September 20, 2021, the Court approved a $15 million settlement against Chipotle to resolve the class claims and end the lawsuit.
Cynthia Allen, et al. v. AT&T Mobility Services LLC
Cynthia Allen, et al. v. AT&T Mobility Services LLC, Case (N.D. Ga.): Cohen Milstein represented plaintiffs in a putative Title VII employment discrimination class action against AT&T Mobility LLC (AT&T) for violating the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit also included individual Title VII, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Family and Medical Leave Act claims on behalf of the named plaintiff.
Jock et al. v. Sterling Jewelers Inc.
Jock, et al. v. Sterling Jewelers Inc. (A.A.A.; S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein represented a certified class of more than 69,000 female employees of Sterling Jewelers, one of the nation's largest jewelry chains, in a nationwide Title VII gender discrimination and Equal Pay Act class arbitration. Claimants alleged that they were subjected to a pattern of gender-based pay and promotions discrimination. On November 15, 2022, the Arbitrator granted final approval of a $175 million settlement.
Amicus Briefs
Moyle v. U.S.A. and Idaho v. U.S.A.
On March 28, 2024, the National Women’s Law Center filed an amicus brief, co-authored by Cohen Milstein, with the Supreme Court of the United States, addressing Moyle v. U.S.A. (No. 23-726) and Idaho v. U.S.A. (23-727) and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). This brief is also submitted on behalf of In Our […]
- Best Lawyers Ones to Watch (2024)
- Super Lawyers, Rising Stars (2023)
March 29, 2024
Experts in Law, Medicine, Business, Reproductive Rights, and Gender Justice Call on the Supreme Court to Protect the Right to Emergency Abortion Care
On March 29, 2024, the National Women’s Law Center issued the following press release: WASHINGTON D.C. – On Thursday, March 28, 2024, a broad coalition of major medical organizations, physicians, people who have been denied critical health- and life-saving emergency abortion care, former HHS officials, Members of Congress, states, cities, counties, prosecutors, public health experts, […]
In the News | National Women's Law Center
March 20, 2024
Five Cohen Milstein Attorneys Selected for Law360 Editorial Advisory Boards
Five of Cohen Milstein’s attorneys have been appointed to serve on Law360 editorial advisory boards for its Benefits, Competition, Consumer Protection, Discrimination, and Wage & Hour sections. The editorial advisory boards provide feedback on Law360’s coverage and expert insight on how best to shape future coverage.
In the News | Law360
April 5, 2024
Harini Srinivasan to Speak on Maximizing Remedies When Representing Federal and Public Employees
Harini Srinivasan, an associate in our Civil Rights & Employment practice, has been invited to speak at the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) Spring Seminar, April 5 – 6, 2024 at the Doubletree by Hilton Denver Hotel. The focus of this year’s NELA Spring Seminar is representing federal and public employees. Harini’s panel will take […]
Events | National Employment Lawyers Association
March 27, 2024
Harini Srinivasan to Discuss the Status of FLSA Collective Action Certification
Harini Srinivasan, an associate in our Civil Rights & Employment practice, has been invited to speak on a Strafford webinar panel that will delve into the current state of FLSA collective action certification in light of the recent Swales and Clark appellate decisions. The Strafford webinar, “FLSA Collective Action Certification: Appellate Decisions Eroding the Lusardi […]
Events | Strafford
February 16, 2023
Inclusion Riders Explained
An inclusion rider is a powerful tool that organizations and professionals can use to advance representation in the film and other industries.
Resources | Cohen Milstein
March 7, 2023
Class Action OK to Continue vs Vee Pak, Staffing Network Over Alleged Discrimination vs Black Temp Workers
A class action lawsuit alleging a suburban beauty supply distributor and staffing agencies enforced discriminatory practices against Black workers is moving forward. Named plaintiffs Joe Eagle, Michael Keys, James Zollicoffer and Evan Franklin filed suit alleging that Vee Pak, located in Countryside and Hodgkins, had a policy that favored hiring Latino workers over Black applicants, […]
In the News | Cook County Record
February 23, 2023
Temporary Workers Get Class Status In Decade-Old Bias Suit
An Illinois federal judge gave class status to a group of about 13,500 Black workers who say they were turned away from temporary jobs at a beauty product manufacturer by three staffing agencies because of their race, noting that testimony suggests the manufacturer had a common employment policy. U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. […]
In the News | Law360
September 30, 2022
Bakery, Staffing Firm To Pay $1M To End Race Screening Suit
Black employees claiming an industrial baker and the staffing firm it contracted with illegally denied them work have asked an Illinois federal judge for an initial sign-off on a $1 million deal resolving their class action lawsuit after roughly nine years of litigation. The workers alleged that Gold Standard Baking Inc. and staffing firm Personnel […]
In the News | Law360
June 9, 2022
Jewelry Giant Settles Gender-Discrimination Lawsuit for $175 Million
The case, in which 68,000 women alleged unfair pay and promotion practices, had become a hallmark of #MeToo activism Sterling Jewelers, the American diamond empire that owns Jared and Kay Jewelers, has agreed to pay $175 million to settle a long-fought class-action lawsuit alleging that the company had for years discriminated against tens of thousands […]
In the News | The Washington Post
June 9, 2022
Sterling Jewelers and Cohen Milstein Announce Agreement in Class Action Litigation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS CONTACT Tammy Mangan, Director of Marketing press@cohenmilstein.com STERLING JEWELERS AND COHEN MILSTEIN ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT IN CLASS ACTION LITIGATION Joint Statement Sterling Jewelers and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll are pleased to announce an agreement which, subject to approval by the Arbitrator, will resolve a legal dispute initiated in 2008 that involved […]
Press Releases
June 9, 2022
Sterling Jewelers to Pay $175M to Settle Huge Pay Bias Case
Sterling Jewelers will shell out $125 million to a class of nearly 70,000 women to settle their claims of gender discrimination in pay and promotions, plus $50 million to cover their attorney fees in the long-running dispute, the company announced Thursday morning. The deal, which was unveiled by the jeweler and lawyers for the class […]
In the News | Law360 Employment Authority
May 13, 2022
Pa. Home Care Workers Get Class Cert. in OT Pay Suit.
A group of home care workers suing a Medicaid-funded corporation over allegedly unpaid overtime won class certification after a Pennsylvania federal judge rejected the company’s argument that no evidence could point to it being the aides’ employer. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl disagreed with Public Partnerships LLC’s argument that there was no common evidence […]
In the News | Law360
February 26, 2021
Chipotle Reaches $15M OT Deal Amid ‘Novel’ DOL Rule Issues
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has agreed to pay $15 million to resolve class claims that the restaurant chain improperly failed to pay overtime to management trainees based on a controversial U.S. Department of Labor overtime expansion rule, according to a motion filed Friday in New Jersey federal court. In what would end a legal battle […]
In the News | Law360
August 4, 2020
Ill. Judge OKs $588K Deal to End Discriminatory Hiring Row
An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday granted final approval to a $588K deal that settles allegations national staffing agency MVP subjected a class of Black workers to discriminatory hiring practices. U.S. District Judge John Tharp said during a telephone hearing that the agreement among the class, MVP — also known as Personnel Staffing Group LLC […]
In the News | Law360
April 2, 2020
Judge Certifies Class in Race-Bias Suit Against Bakery, Temp Agency
A long-running lawsuit that accuses Gold Standard Baking Inc and Illinois-based temporary staffing agency MVP of favoring Hispanic workers over African Americans can proceed as a class action with potentially more than 1,000 members, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis ruled late Tuesday in Chicago. Beyond its effect on this litigation, filed in 2013, the ruling […]
In the News | Reuters
April 1, 2020
Class Certified in Black Workers’ Staffing Agency Bias Suit
Black workers who allege racial bias caused MVP Staffing and client Gold Standard Baking Inc. to largely exclude them from temporary assignments at the bakery’s Chicago-based production facility can pursue the case as a class action, the Northern District of Illinois ruled. The Cicero, Ill., office of Personnel Staffing Group LLC, which does business as […]
In the News | Bloomberg Law