Debra Katz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Debra Katz
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Katz in 2018
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| Born | October 26, 1958 Woodmere, New York, U.S.
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| Education | Union College, New York (BA) University of Wisconsin, Madison (JD) |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Known for | Founding partner of Katz Banks Kumin (formerly Katz, Marshall & Banks) |
| Children | 1 |
Debra S. Katz is an American civil rights and employment lawyer and a founding partner of Katz Banks Kumin (formerly Katz, Marshall & Banks) in Washington, D.C. She is best known for representing alleged victims of assault, notably Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Vanessa Tyson, Chloe Caras, and accusers of Congressmen Pat Meehan and Eric Massa, and whistleblowers facing retaliation, including most recently Dr. Rick Bright. Katz's primary practice areas at her firm are employment and whistleblower law, where she represents victims of workplace discrimination and retaliation.
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Early life and education
Katz was raised in Woodmere, New York as a Reform Jew. and graduated from George W. Hewlett High School. In 1980, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Union College and in 1984, a J.D. cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School where she was a member of the Wisconsin Law Review and as Articles Editor of the Wisconsin Women's Law Journal. She ultimately left the Wisconsin Law Review and founded the Wisconsin Women's Law Journal because she believed the former lacked racial diversity.
In her first year of law school, she began to glimpse how sexism played a role in the legal profession when she noticed that her class discussions were predominately led by men. Upon confronting one of her professors about this issue, he immediately denied it and then later apologized to the class after noticing the behavior to be true.
Career
After law school, Katz clerked for Judge William A. Bablitch on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and held a Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship at Georgetown University Law Center.
Notable clients
Former Washington Football Team Employees
Alongside Lisa Banks, Katz represents 40 former employees of the Washington Commanders. The clients accused the organization of fostering a toxic and abusive work environment for years. After these allegations were reported on by the Washington Post, the team hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation, which was later taken over by the NFL. The team was fined $10 million after the investigation was completed, but the full results have not been made public. Katz and Banks have been vocal critics of the NFL and its Commissioner Roger Goodell for their refusal to release the investigative report.
Dr. Julian Craig
Debra Katz represents Dr. Julian Craig, the former Chief Medical Officer of United Medical Center in Southeast Washington. In November 2017, Dr. Craig testified at a D.C. Council hearing regarding unsafe and fraudulent practices being implemented by Veritas of Washington, a consulting firm contracted to manage the hospital. Following his testimony, Dr. Craig was terminated by the D.C. Council.
Janet Herold
Debra Katz and Alexis Ronickher represented Janet Herold, a senior attorney at the U.S. Department of Labor who filed a whistleblower complaint against then-Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia. According to Ms. Herold's complaint, Scalia abused his power as secretary and intervened in settlement discussions involving a company with ties to the Trump administration. When she objected to his actions, she was reassigned to a non-legal position in Chicago. After filing an official whistleblower complaint, she was terminated, though she was later reinstated.
Dr. Rick Bright
Debra Katz and Lisa Banks represent Dr. Rick Bright, a federal scientist who served as director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority until his removal in April 2020.
Dr. Bright alleged that he was retaliated against after raising concerns about the federal government's lack of medical protective equipment, and its apparent unwillingness to take urgent action to adequately prepare for and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, Dr. Bright objected to the Trump administration's “reckless and chaotic” response to the pandemic, and the administration's promotion of potentially dangerous drugs – specifically, the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine – through approval processes, despite pressure from his superiors who Dr. Bright believed were acting on political motivations, rather than scientific merit.
Following his termination from the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Bright accepted a position with the Rockefeller Foundation as Senior Vice President of Pandemic Prevention and Response. In August 2021, it was announced that Dr. Bright had reached a settlement with the government for an undisclosed amount.
Notable cases
Feminist Majority Foundation v. University of Mary Washington
Debra Katz, Carolyn Wheeler and Joseph Abboud represented members of a student feminist group at the University of Mary Washington who were subjected to online harassment and threats. In December 2018, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that university officials had an obligation to proactively protect the students against online harassment, and that such action would not infringe any student's free speech rights. This ruling represents the first time that students have a constitutional right to a school environment free from student-on-student harassment.
University of Colorado, Boulder
Katz and Lisa Banks brought a Title IX claim on behalf of a graduate student at the University of Colorado alleging retaliation. Katz, Marshall & Banks alleged that CU-Boulder violated Title IX by exposing the student to a hostile academic environment and to retaliation by a tenured professor in the department after her Title IX claims were validated by the university's Office of Discrimination and Harassment. The case settled for $850,000 plus various non-monetary provisions, including a public statement from the University Chancellor stating that settling the claims was "the right thing to do."
Blanton v. Biogen Idec, Inc., Case No. 2006-SOX-4, DOL OALJ (April 18, 2006)
In a whistleblower case brought under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Katz successfully defeated a motion for a protective order filed by the defendant to prevent the plaintiff from deposing Biogen Idec's CEO, James Mullen. Mr. Blanton alleged that the Boston-based pharmaceutical fired its chief reimbursement expert in retaliation for complaints about illegal kickbacks to physicians.
Roger Barnes v. Fannie Mae (October 2004)
The Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed allegations made by Roger Barnes, a former Fannie Mae accounting manager, that the mortgage-finance institution illegally altered its accounting information and retaliated against him for complaining about it. The SEC further concluded that Fannie Mae manipulated its earnings through cookie jar accounting and ordered Fannie Mae to restate its earnings. As a result of Mr. Barnes' disclosures, Fannie Mae's management team, including Fannie Mae's CEO and other top executives, were removed from their positions. Ultimately, Fannie Mae's restatement of earnings was one of the largest in U.S. history. Additionally, Barnes received a sizable settlement.
Estes v. Georgetown University, 231 F. Supp. 279 (D.D.C. 2002)
Jury verdict of $250,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages for claims of sex discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
Affiliations
Katz is vice chair of the board of directors of the Project On Government Oversight. She has contributed articles to Ms. Magazine. Katz is also on the board of directors of Americans for Peace Now.
Honors and awards
In 2022, she was added to Lawdragon’s list of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America and was recognized as a trailblazer in Labor and Employment Law by the D.C. Bar. This was an honor bestowed to only six members of the D.C. Bar. She has also been included annually in Washingtonian Magazine’s list of Top Lawyers since 2004, and is recognized in its Top Lawyers Hall of Fame list.
In 2019 and 2021, Katz was named to the Washingtonian Magazine's list of "The Most Powerful Women in Washington, D.C."
Katz is a Fellow at The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a Member of the International Women's Forum, and a Fellow of the American Bar Association. Katz was named the “Civil Rights Lawyer of the Year” for Washington by The Best Lawyers In America for 2018, a pioneering #MeToo attorney by the Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine, and was listed as one of Forward's 50 American Jews who have had a profound impact in 2018.
Katz was honored as a 2018 Lawyer of the Year by the Metropolitan Washington Lawyers Association along with her colleague, Lisa Banks. The award is presented annually to one or more Washington, DC attorneys who have achieved great accomplishments, and whose work embodies the mission of the association.
Katz's work representing victims of harassment, assault, discrimination, and retaliation also won her recognition as a Law360 2019 “Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar” – an annual award bestowed upon ten influential plaintiff-side attorneys who had a significant impact in the past year inside and outside the courtroom.
T’ruah, an organization of rabbis and cantors with the mission of advancing human rights around the world, honored Katz with the Raphael Lemkin Human Rights Award during its “Celebration of Human Rights” event.
Personal life
Katz has one son, Ari Katz. She is married to Nicole Berner, general counsel of the Service Employees International Union.
