Alexandra Harwin Sanford Heisler Sharp
E: aharwin@sanfordheisler.com
W: www.sanfordheisler.com
Alexandra Harwin is Co-Chair of the National Title VII Practice at Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP, as well as a Partner in the firm's New York office. One of just five employment attorneys nationwide named a Rising Star by Law360 in 2017, Alexandra is known for her legal acumen, strategic thinking, pragmatism, and outstanding results in representing victims of discrimination and retaliation.
Alexandra has served as co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in some of the highest-profile employment lawsuits in the country. She spearheaded the gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Columbia University brought by a female faculty member named Enrichetta Ravina, which recently resulted in a $1.25 million jury verdict. Alexandra is also co-lead counsel for Fabio Silva, the former Vice President for Legal Affairs at Giorgio Armani Corporation, in a $75 million case alleging national origin discrimination, disability discrimination, and retaliation.
Alexandra has also played a leading role in Sanford Heisler Sharp's groundbreaking gender discrimination lawsuits against BigLaw firms. Alexandra played a leading role in the firm's closely watched, multi-plaintiff gender discrimination lawsuit against Chadbourne & Parke LLP, as well as a high-profile gender discrimination and retaliation case against defense firm Proskauer Rose LLP.
In addition to representing individual plaintiffs, Alexandra has successfully overseen major class action litigation. Alexandra was integrally involved in negotiating a $14.25 million settlement for the women victimized by disgraced Rabbi Bernard Freundel, who surreptitiously videotaped women in a Jewish ritual bath facility known as a mikvah. She was also co-lead counsel in a multi-million dollar gender discrimination class action and collective action against pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Alcon; she represented thousands of directors, managers, specialists, and sales professionals against these companies in their class claims of discrimination in pay, promotion, and assignments.
In addition to her ongoing litigation activity, Alexandra has achieved lucrative negotiated settlements for her clients. Her clients have included law firm partners, executives at pharmaceutical corporations, and employees of other corporations. Their claims have included gender, race, age, and other discrimination in their workplaces. Alexandra's settlements have totaled more than $40 million.
Alexandra's practice, focused on anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation law, reflects her longstanding commitment to civil rights and gender equality issues. As an undergraduate at Harvard, where she was the top-ranked student in her graduating class, she studied gender-based employment discrimination through the disciplines of history and economics. At the Yale Law School, she served as Managing Editor of the School's Journal of Law and Feminism and helped design Yale Law Women's annual survey of family-friendly law firms. In addition, she conducted research on the history and prospects of using Title VII litigation to protect minority men from employment discrimination based on criminal records.
Last updated October 2018
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