By Jake Maher

Atkins Tafuri Minassian D’Amato Beane & Miller PA fired back this week at a former billing assistant suing over disability discrimination related to her firing, saying her allegations are “frivolous and brought in bad faith” and that she is at fault for any damages she suffered.

The Bergen County, New Jersey-based firm filed an answer Monday to the lawsuit mounted against it by ex-employee Nicole Brown in May, in which it rejected Brown’s picture of eventsand flipped the blame back on her.

Brown told the Bergen County Superior Court that Atkins Tafuri terminated her position whenshe had gastric sleeve surgery in late 2021 and missed weeks of work afterward while being hospitalized two more times. She also said no one at the firm cooperated with her on finding areasonable accommodation, such as working remotely.

Atkins Tafuri denied Brown’s allegations and mounted several counterar guments. Brown’s medical condition does not qualify as a disability under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination, the firm said. The firm also denied that it played a role in negotiations over areasonable accommodation falling apart. Tafuri Atkins did accommodate Brown, it said, butBrown’s request — which the firm characterized as an “indefinite leave of absence” — was notreasonable.

Tafuri Atkins fired Brown for “legitimate, non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory reasons,” it said, and Brown’s claims otherwise are barred by the statute of limitations and res judicata, or a matter 8/30/23, 5:04 PM NJ Firm Denies Firing Billing Clerk Over Hospitalizations – Law360 Pulse https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/1716254/nj-firm-denies-firing-billing-clerk-over-hospitalizations 3/7 that has been adjudicated by a competent court and may not be pursued further by the sameparties.
Contrary to Brown’s claim that being fired sent her into an “economic and emotional tailspin, “Tafuri Atkins said her claims should be barred or reduced due to the fact she did not seek comparable employment somewhere else.

Finally, Atkins Tafuri said it is entitled to attorney fees for its defense because the case is frivolous. The parties are also in dispute over whether Jay Atkins, a partner at the firm, and MarshaMcMahon, the firm’s office manager, can be sued individually. They were named as defendants inthe original suit in May but Judge Nicholas Ostuni dismissed the charges against the two earlierin August. “The complaint is devoid of factual allegations that tend to show either Atkins or McMahonoperated in an individual capacity with respect to plaintiff’s termination,” Judge Ostuni wroteAug. 18. “Any decision or action that either Atkins or McMahon made with respect to [Rose’s]firing was done as a representative of their employer.”

Rose said that decision was a mistake in a motion to reconsider also filed Monday. Despite Judge Ostuni’s ruling, the Law Against Discrimination, or LAD, specifically provides for naming individuals such as Atkins and McMahon. “A supervisor’s wrongful act of firing an employee on the basis of a protected characteristic or onthe basis of activity under the LAD is sufficient to hold an individual personally liable under theLAD,” Rose said.

Ty Hyderally of Hyderally & Associates PC, an attorney for Rose, told Law360 Pulse in an email Wednesday that Rose was essentially successful in that litigation because the bulk of her suit withstood the motion to dismiss. “We assert that [Atkins Tafuri’s] decision to terminate Ms. Brown was in clear contravention ofthe LAD as they terminated Ms. Brown because she suffered from a disability and in retaliationfor Ms. Brown taking a disability leave,” Hyderally wrote.

An attorney for Atkins Tafuri did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
8/30/23, 5:04 PM NJ Firm Denies Firing Billing Clerk Over Hospitalizations – Law360 Pulse
https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/1716254/nj-firm-denies-firing-billing-clerk-over-hospitalizations 4/7
Brown is represented by Ty Hyderally and Francine Foner of Hyderally & Associates PC.
Atkins Tafuri is represented by Bruce Atkins and Debra McGarvey of Deutsch Atkins & Kleinfeldt PC.
The case is Brown v. Atkins Tafuri Minassian D’Amato Beane & Miller PA et al., case number BER-L-002365-23, in the Superior Court of New Jersey, County of Bergen.
–Editing by Stephen Berg.