Plaintiff: Amy Seiler
Defendants: Harry J. Mulry Jr.; Gregory G. Shaub, doing business under the firm name Mulry & Shaub L.L.P.
Accusation: A paralegal toils for a small law firm and gets bouts of “stomach distress, headaches and disagreeable fits of temper.” Oh, and don’t forget those “digestive upsets.”
In a lawsuit filed last week in Brooklyn Federal Court, Amy Seiler says her bosses at Mulry & Shaub in Port Washington negligently dragged their feet in hiring a replacement for an outgoing receptionist. And so for the next two months, Seiler was forced to work two jobs for the price of one.
But instead of quitting, Seiler stuck around for a “nightmare” at work that boiled over into “heated exchanges and accusations concerning baseless allegations of errors.” The bosses, Seiler claims, wanted to force her out instead of hiring more staff.
Seiler wants $100,000 for the physical ailments caused by her exhaustion and stress and another $25,000 for an incident in which a partner violently grabbed her by the arms out of frustration. (He later apologized and begged her to return to work.)
She also wants $9,239 for lost wages after she was fired and $25,000 more before another partner allegedly grabbed her on her last day of work and kissed her on the mouth, to Seiler’s “shock and dismay.”
Disposition: The law firm didn’t return calls, but we’re guessing that’s because their new paralegal is just way too swamped right now. Also no word on whether Seiler has found a new job. We’re hoping she’s finally getting that much-needed holiday.
Read the complaint.
The Science of Burnout [NYM]
—Nick Divito
