Rebecca Ojserkis is an associate in Cohen Milstein’s Civil Rights & Employment practice. With a background in social and clinical psychology—specifically stereotyping and post-traumatic stress—she litigates civil rights class and collective actions and mass arbitrations.
Prior to joining the firm, Rebecca worked at the ACLU, where she litigated cases with the organization’s Women’s Rights Project, Immigrants’ Rights Project, and National Prison Project. Rebecca was also an associate at a national plaintiffs’ law firm, where she worked on employment discrimination cases, gender-based violence, and other civil rights matters.
Before practicing, Rebecca clerked for the Honorable Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Honorable Sidney H. Stein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
During law school, Rebecca served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and engaged in litigation and advocacy as a member of the Veterans Legal Services Clinic, the Reproductive Rights and Justice Project, and the Liman Project.
- Fellow, ACLU (Women’s Rights, Immigrants’ Rights, and National Prison Projects)
- Program Coordinator, Massachusetts General Hospital (Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders)
- Research Coordinator, Massachusetts General Hospital (Home Base: Veteran and Family Care)
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- New York
- Yale Law School, J.D., 2017
- Amherst College, B.A., magna cum laude, 2012
- Law Clerk, the Hon. Sidney H. Stein, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (2018 – 2019)
- Law Clerk, the Hon. Diane P. Wood, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2017 – 2018)
Current Cases
Amazon Flex Drivers
Amazon Flex Driver Arbitrations (AAA): Cohen Milstein represents thousands of current and former Amazon Flex delivery drivers in California, Illinois and Massachusetts who allege that Amazon misclassified them as independent contractors instead of employees to avoid paying them overtime or reimbursing for expenses, and to deny them other benefits under these states’ laws. These cases are currently being litigated before the American Arbitration Association.
Bird, et al. v. Garland
Bird, et al. v. Garland (D.D.C.): Cohen Milstein represents a putative class action of women who suffered systemic discrimination on the basis of sex when they were terminated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Basic Training program for new agents and intelligence analysts.
Ndugga v. Bloomberg, L.P.
Ndugga v. Bloomberg, L.P. (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein represents a putative class of women who work or have worked as reporters, producers and editors at Bloomberg Media, and have been subjected to gender discrimination in pay.
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.
July 25, 2023
Bloomberg Can’t Narrow Ex-Producer’s Pay Bias Suit – Law360
A New York federal judge denied Bloomberg LP’s bid Tuesday to ax pay discrimination claims from a former news producer’s proposed class action claiming hundreds of female employees were systematically underpaid, saying she provided enough detail to sustain her lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods rejected Bloomberg’s bid to toss Naula Ndugga’s individual and […]
In the News
March 14, 2023
Salvation Army Must Face Rehab Program Participants’ Wage Suit
Workers sufficiently alleged they were employees Challenge to willfulness allegations also fails The Salvation Army lost its bid to throw out allegations it owes vulnerable people who live and work in its adult rehabilitation centers minimum and overtime wages. The workers—who say they receive $7 to $25 per week in cash, along with room and […]
In the News | Bloomberg Law
April 21, 2022
“To Close Pay Gaps, Laws Must Shift Burden to Employers”
Expert Analysis – Opinion Authored By Christine Webber and Rebecca Ojserkis The persistent gender- and race-based pay gaps have many contributors. A recurring culprit is employers’ reliance on candidates’ prior inequitable pay, a phenomenon known as “start low, stay low.” Another is applicants’ lack of information about what the job should pay. While some have placed […]
Articles | Law360 Employment Authority