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McAllister Olivarius

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McAllister Olivarius
HeadquartersLondon, New York
Major practice areascivil litigation, employment, discrimination, sexual abuse, higher education, online reputation, family law, corporate and commercial, business law
Key peopleAnn Olivarius, Jef McAllister
Date founded1996
FounderAnn Olivarius
Websitemcolaw.com

McAllister Olivarius is an international law firm dual-headquartered in London and New York.[1] It specializes in civil litigation and plaintiff work, particularly in education and employment law.

Founded in 1996, McAllister Olivarius is one of the only feminist-run and managed law firms in the world.[2] As of 2022, women represented 75% of the firm's full time legal staff. The firm is currently led by Dr. Ann Olivarius, Chair of the Executive Committee and Dr. Jef McAllister, Managing Partner.

The firm is best known for representing plaintiffs in discrimination lawsuits against large institutions, including Mount Sinai Health System,[3] the University of Rochester,[4] UCLA,[5] the University of Illinois,[6] the University of Oxford,[7][8] the University of Warwick,[9] and Celebrity Cruises,[10] as well as for prominent individuals such as Chrissy Chambers.[11][12]

McAllister Olivarius lawyers, working through their former separate brand AO Advocates, are also known for representing victims of sex abuse and historic child sex abuse. They have successfully pursued claims against established religious bodies including the Catholic Church,[13] Jehovah's Witnesses,[14][15] certain sects of Buddhists[16] and Hindus,[17] and ultra-Orthodox or Haredi Judaism,[18] and against a number of care homes and schools.[2]

Notable Cases

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University of Rochester

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In March 2020, McAllister Olivarius settled a $9.4 million on behalf of nine former professors and students for alleged retaliation by the university after they filed sexual misconduct claims against Professor T. Florian Jaeger.[19] This case was described as "high-profile" lawsuit "closely watched by other institutions of higher educations" by Science.[20] In December 2017, Celeste Kidd and Jessica Cantlon, plaintiffs in the case, were named as "Persons of the Year" by TIME Magazine as part of its cover story on the MeToo movement.[21]

UCLA

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In 2016, the firm settled a case brought against UCLA by two female graduate students after the university had allowed history professor Gabriel Piterberg, who they had accused of sexual harassment, to return to campus.[22] McAllister Olivarius showed that the university had failed to follow proper procedures in handling the complaint and received a settlement for the plaintiffs.[5]

Cases against religious institutions

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AO Advocates, a sister firm which is now fully part of McAllister Olivarius, brought the UK's first successful civil case against the Jehovah's Witnesses, winning compensation for a woman who claimed the religion's elders failed to protect her from sex abuse carried out by a pedophile.[15] The firm has also represented a former Buddhist nun in her sexual assault claims against the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, a revered leader of Tibetan Buddhism.[23]

Revenge Porn

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In the first civil case of its kind to be brought in England and Wales, McAllister Olivarius won "landmark" damages for YouTube star Chrissy Chambers after her former partner uploaded revenge pornography videos of her to the internet.[11] The firm has since built a revenge porn and intimate image abuse practice, and its attorneys are often quoted in the press on cyber-abuse[24] and speak at events.[25]

Manders v Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

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In 2019, McAllister Olivarius won a victory for Reena and Sandeep Mander, a British-born couple of Sikh heritage who had been deemed "unsuitable" potential adopters by a UK adoption service due to their "Indian background." The case resulted in the Manders being awarded £120,000 in damages and led to a review of how other local councils handle adoptions.[26]

Warwick "Rape Chat" case

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After it emerged that male students at the University of Warwick had used a Facebook chat group to exchange rape threats relating to fellow female students, and the University's investigation was shown to be seriously inadequate, McAllister Olivarius sued for discrimination and negligence.[9]

Impact on legislation

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In 2020, the firm partnered with The 1752 Group, a British research and consultancy organization dedicated to ending staff sexual harassment and abuse in higher education. Together, they released a guide in 2020 on "Sector Guidance to Address Staff Sexual Misconduct In UK Higher Education."[27]

The firm was cited in the 2021 UK Law Commission report on legal reforms to address intimate image abuse.[28] The firm also The firm also assisted Baroness Uddin, Member of the House of Lords, in passing the 2021 UK Domestic Abuse Act.[29]

Attorneys from the firm have appeared in the news advocating for legal reforms and better enforcement of Title IX[30] and its equivalent law in the UK, the Equality Act 2010.[31]

In an ongoing case, the firm brought suit against the University of Illinois on behalf of two Chinese students for "ignoring their claims of sexual abuse and subjecting them to trafficking."[32]

The firm's founder, Dr. Ann Olivarius, was a plaintiff in Alexander v. Yale,[33] the first case to hold that universities had a legal duty to combat sexual harassment under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

References

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  1. ^ "About McO". McAllister Olivarius. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  2. ^ a b Devaney, Susan (2021-08-17). "This Trailblazing Feminist Lawyer Has Made Tackling Sexual Harassment Her Life's Work". British Vogue. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  3. ^ "Equity Now at Mount Sinai". Equity Now at Mount Sinai. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  4. ^ Scoles, Sarah. "The University of Rochester Sexual Harassment Case Is Complicated—And That's the Point". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  5. ^ a b Chiu, Evolet (2016-09-09). "UCLA settles lawsuit with graduate students alleging Title IX violations". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  6. ^ Movius, Lisa (2019-09-23). "Art history professor Gary Xu Gang accused of sexual assault and rape by two former students". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  7. ^ Adams, Richard (2022-04-01). "Oxford college pays damages to woman after alleged rape by fellow student". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  8. ^ "Oxford hit by string of sexual assault cases". Times of India. 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  9. ^ a b "Inside the Warwick University rape chat scandal". BBC News. 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  10. ^ "Lobegeiger v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34718, Florida Southern District Court, March 7, 2012".
  11. ^ a b Kleeman, Jenny (2018-01-17). "YouTube star wins damages in landmark UK 'revenge porn' case". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  12. ^ "YouTube singer Chrissy Chambers wins revenge porn case". BBC News. 2018-01-17. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  13. ^ Hooper, Ryan (2016-01-26). "Former pupils at St Bede's school to sue Salford Diocese over sexual abuse claims". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  14. ^ "Report of Case Study No. 29" (PDF). Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  15. ^ a b "Jehovah's Witnesses to compensate woman over sex abuse". BBC News. 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  16. ^ "Der 17. Karmapa sieht sich mit Klage konfrontiert". Buddhismus kontrovers (in German). 2021-05-31. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  17. ^ Remski, Matthew (2020-03-12). "Shielded for Decades, a Yoga Leader's Alleged Sexual Abuse Finally Comes Under Fire". GEN. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  18. ^ Cervenka, Honza (2020-08-14). "IICSA Closing Statement on behalf of Kol v'Oz. Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA)" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  19. ^ Thompson, Carolyn (2020-03-27). "U of Rochester, ex-professors settle retaliation claims". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  20. ^ Wadman, Meredith (2020-03-27). "University of Rochester and plaintiffs settle sexual harassment lawsuit for $9.4 million". www.science.org. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  21. ^ Edwards, Stephanie Zacharek, Eliana Dockterman, Haley Sweetland. "TIME Person of the Year 2017: The Silence Breakers". Time. Retrieved 2022-07-23.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ Watanabe, Teresa (2018-03-18). "UCLA student wins sexual misconduct claim against professor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  23. ^ Burke, Daniel (2021-05-28). "Karmapa Faces Lawsuit". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  24. ^ Kozlowska, Hanna (26 June 2021). "The World Hasn't Figured Out How to Stop 'Revenge Porn'". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  25. ^ "Honza Cervenka speaks about the impact of image-based sexual abuse on survivors at RightsCon". YouTube. 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  26. ^ "Manders win race adoption case | Equality and Human Rights Commission". www.equalityhumanrights.com. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  27. ^ "Sector Guidance". The 1752 Group. 2020-03-11. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  28. ^ "Intimate Image Abuse, A consultation paper" (PDF). Law Commission. February 2021. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  29. ^ "Comments by Baroness Uddin, Report (2nd Day), Domestic Abuse Bill". UK Parliament. 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  30. ^ Murrell, Kelsey (2022-06-22). "SCOTUS Erodes Progress as Title IX Turns 50". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  31. ^ "British students' secret weapon against sexual misconduct in higher education - Office for Students". www.officeforstudents.org.uk. 2020-01-09. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  32. ^ Zigterman, Ben (2021-02-17). "Alleged victims of ex-professor sue UI, accusing it of ignoring sexual-misconduct claims". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  33. ^ "Title IX - The Nine". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
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