A career built in the courtroom and at the negotiating table.

  1. Sep 2021 – Present

    Partner

    Phillips & Associates, PLLC · New York

    Represents plaintiffs in employment discrimination and sexual assault matters, including several against prominent defendants.

  2. Feb 2015 – Sep 2020

    Managing Director

    Disability Rights Advocates · New York and Berkeley

    Co-led the bi-coastal non-profit and directed more than two dozen class-wide disability discrimination cases, winning class certification, summary judgment, and Daubert motions. Named a 2020 Law360 MVP for rulings against the MTA.

  3. Aug 2014 – Jan 2015

    Legal Director (Interim)

    Equal Rights Advocates

    Oversaw ERA’s legal staff and litigated class and individual sex discrimination suits in federal court, including Dukes v. Walmart.

  4. Aug 2009 – Jun 2014

    Litigation Director

    Legal Momentum · New York

    Led a high-impact legal agenda for low-wage women, including litigation and legislative work on pregnancy discrimination and settlements for women in the trades and protective services.

  5. Jan 1997 – Jul 2008

    Senior Trial Attorney

    U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

    Investigated, litigated, and settled class and individual discrimination suits under federal law. Three-time recipient of the Chair’s Organizational Award, the agency’s highest honor.

Results that changed practices.

  • EEOC v. Morgan Stanley

    Ran the five-person team on a glass-ceiling pay and promotion case that settled after jury selection for $54 million, including an outside monitor.

  • EEOC v. Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing

    Helped establish a route to proving pattern-or-practice sexual harassment; settled for a then-record $34 million for about 340 women.

  • CIDNY v. City of New York

    Negotiated a historic, multi-million-dollar, 30-year sidewalk accessibility plan for people who are blind or use wheelchairs.

  • Bronx Independent Living Services v. MTA

    Won summary judgment establishing the MTA’s duty to install elevators when renovating subway stations.

  • BCID v. New York Police Department

    Won summary judgment establishing the NYPD’s liability for inaccessible police precincts.

  • EEOC v. Vamco Sheet Metals

    Secured damages for women sheet metal workers and a ruling that lactation is a pregnancy-related condition.

Admissions, education, and memberships.

Bar & courts

  • Admitted in Missouri (1994) and New York (2005)
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits
  • U.S. District Courts: Eastern and Southern Districts of New York; Northern and Central Districts of Illinois; Northern District of California

Education

  • J.D. with distinction, University of Iowa College of Law; President, Organization of Women Law Students and Staff
  • Visiting law student, Washington University School of Law, St. Louis
  • B.A. in Political Science, cum laude, Kent State University

Memberships

  • National Employment Lawyers Association
  • New York State Bar Association
  • New York City Bar Association
  • New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers
  • Disability Rights Bar Association

Co-author of Supreme Court amicus briefs in Mach Mining v. EEOC and Young v. UPS.

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Michelle practices with Phillips & Associates in New York.