Murphy Anderson PLLC

December 3, 2009

Murphy Anderson successfully defeats requested injunction against union affiliation

U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning in Chicago today ruled in favor of Murphy Anderson clients and denied an injunction against the affiliation of United American Nurses with two other nurses' unions to form a new union, National Nurses United.

Arlus J. Stephens made the argument and was aided by Michael T. Anderson and Keira M. McNett.

September 2, 2009

Murphy Anderson Represents Pfizer Whistleblower in $2.3 Billion False Claims Act Settlement

Today, Pfizer, the United States Department of Justice and the Attorneys General of many of the States announced a settlement of $2.3 billion, including resolution of multiple False Claims Act qui tam actions alleging violations of the False Claims Act related to Pfizer's provision of prescription pharmaceuticals to various government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.

The settlement is part of an overall public-private partnership between False Claims Act qui tam whistleblower plaintiffs, like Murphy Anderson client, Glenn DeMott of Columbus, Ohio, one of the whistleblowers whose case is part of the overall settlement — and federal and state civil and criminal prosecutors.

With this settlement, the False Claims Act shows that it is a cost- effective way to attack and prosecute False Claims Act violations,” said Ann Lugbill, who is of counsel to Murphy Anderson, an active member of the watchdog group, Taxpayers Against Fraud, and co-author of the book, False Claims Act: Whistleblower Litigation.  Murphy Anderson attorneys Mark Hanna, of Washington, DC, and Michael Anderson of Boston, Massachusetts, and Ann Lugbill all represented Glenn DeMott in his qui tam whistleblower litigation.

“This record-breaking settlement is appropriately announced in the 200th anniversary year of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the father of the False Claims Act,” remarked Lugbill.

March 3, 2009

Michael Anderson's ABA Labor Section Paper

The American Bar Association's Labor and Employment Section invited Michael Anderson to speak at its March 3, 2009 Midwinter Conference in San Diego. Michael's paper, "The Top Ten Contradictions of American Labor Law," argues that the labor movement must not limit its legal agenda to reversing the decisions of the Bush era. He argues that union advocates must attack anomalies in the law that have existed since the 1930s. He argues, for example:

* that management should not have standing in representation cases
* that management has no constitutional right to worktime propaganda, and
* that management has no right to keep privileges like the power to implement its final offer on impasse, once it wins the equal right to preempt strikes with lockouts.

January 30, 2009

Ann Lugbill Joins Murphy Anderson as Of Counsel

Murphy Anderson is proud to announce that Ann Lugbill is joining Murphy Anderson as of counsel. Ann is one of the deans of the whistleblower bar. She has filed dozens of whistleblowers claims under the False Claims Act. Her cases have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars recovered for the United States and for qui tam whistleblowers who blow the whistle on corporate fraud against the government.

December 1, 2008

Mark Hanna Moderates DC Bar Program Concerning Labor and Employment Law in Obama Administration

Murphy Anderson's Mark Hanna moderated a DC Bar Labor and Employment Section program entitled, "Labor and Employment Law Priorities Under the New Administration". The roundtable discussion for the standing-room-only program focused on the legislative priorities of the new administration, including the Employee Free Choice Act and the Ledbetter Bill, as well as the priorities of the NLRB and the Department of Labor.

November 1, 2008

Murphy Anderson and DC EJC Win Collective Action

Murphy Anderson and the DC Employment Justice Center successfully partnered to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars for thousands of employees of a DC building services company. The employer failed to pay overtime and consistently undercounted the hours worked by the low-wage workers.

The collective and class action was litigated by Joni Jacobs and Mark Hanna at Murphy Anderson and Art Rogers and Katie Laskey at the DC EJC.

October 9, 2008

Murphy Anderson wins appeal in sexual harassment retaliation case

The D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed a jury verdict for a Murphy Anderson client in a sexual harassment and retaliation case against her employer. Fred A. Smith Management Co. v. Cerpe, 957 A.2d 907 (D.C. 2008). Judge Farrell's opinion included several important holdings, including clarifying that plaintiffs are not required to prove psychological injury in order to demonstrate a hostile work environment. The Court also held there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find that the plaintiff was subjected to a hostile work environment and retaliation and affirmed an award of punitive damages.

Murphy Anderson attorneys also prevailed on their cross-appeal challenging the trial judge's reduction to attorneys' fees sought under the D.C. Human Rights Act. The Court held that the trial court abused its discretion by reducing the fee award based on the number of claims that went to the jury (compared to the number of claims pled in the complaint) and the number of attorneys used to staff the case.

Keira McNett argued the case in the D.C. Court of Appeals. Mark Hanna managed the litigation from its inception.

September 1, 2008

We are pleased to announce the formation of Murphy Anderson PLLC.