There is a nasty legal battle between a Black trial attorney and the Long Island firm that hired her. The firm accused her, among other things, of “quiet quitting” — doing little work while collecting her paycheck. But she says she’s the victim of retaliation. NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
Bombshell allegations are being made in a nasty legal battle between a New York law firm and an attorney it formerly employed, accusing her of "quiet quitting."
The firm, Napoli Shkolnik, filed a lawsuit in Nassau County accusing Heather Palmore of doing little to no work, failing to bring in clients and directly competing with the firm by simultaneously working for her own.
Palmore vehemently denies the allegations.
"In no way shape or form did I quit. I give 100% every single day — not only to my clients, but to my colleagues as well," said Palmore. "They said I did no work in 2023. I performed six depositions, I did court appearances, I was engaged with my clients, I did prep."
Palmore’s attorneys say the lawsuit is in retaliation for Palmore bringing up racial and gender discrimination at the firm.
"Napoli Shkolnik filed a lawsuit against her that’s completely frivolous, completely bogus, filled with lies, intended to disparage a hard-working and courageous attorney," said David Gottlieb of Wigdor LLP. "They only did this because they knew Ms. Palmore was about to file a discrimination lawsuit against them. The allegations are completely false."
Palmore, who is Black, alleges in a federal complaint that the attorneys at her former firm were "boorish bullies" and that she has been subjected to and witnessed "egregious race and disability discrimination by senior management," calling it "standard operating procedure."
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In the suit, Palmore shows a picture of a stuffed panda bear hanging from a noose outside her office.
"When you’re talking about nooses, you’re talking about a message," said her attorney Derek Sells, of the Cochran Firm. "That’s a message that we as African Americans understand: You need to know your place, or else you will be hung."
An attorney for the firm told NBC New York in a statement that the bear known in the office as "Anda the Panda," a mascot for one of their clients and that Palmore did not complain about the bear until 13 months later.
While the lawsuit accuses Palmore of slacking off, she says the firm was preventing her from working cases and cutting off her computer access.
"Just the idea that I was marginalized and told that I didn’t have the experience to handle those cases was not only insulting, but it was discrimination," said Palmore
Napoli Shkolnik declined to speak on camera, saying they "will not be goaded into litigating these cases in the media," and that they "will not let Palmore — who refused to do the important work of serving our clients – become a distraction."
