Ruderman v. Prakhin

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of prominent personal injury attorney Yelena Ruderman against her former employer Yuriy Prakhin and the Law Office of Yuriy Prakhin, P.C. (the “Firm”) for discrimination and failure to provide her with reasonable accommodations for her disability.  Ms. Ruderman spent years of her legal career at the Firm, consistently praised for the quality of her work, and working her way up to becoming one of Mr. Prakhin’s most trusted Associates.  However, everything changed when Ms. Ruderman disclosed to Mr. Prakhin that she suffered from Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (“LHON”), a rare and incurable medical condition that rendered her legally blind. 

Just weeks after she disclosed her LHON diagnosis, Mr. Prakhin terminated her employment for the express reason that she suffered from a disability.  Indeed, with no evidence that her performance had actually suffered, Mr. Prakhin told Ms. Ruderman that he was firing her because he could not fathom how she would be able to continue handling her cases “with [her] condition.” As he went on to explain, “I’m a businessman. I don’t see how this is worth it for me.”  Further, Mr. Prakhin made clear that while he was, in fact, firing Ms. Ruderman, he would be happy to hire her back if her untreatable condition somehow improved.

The lawsuit is captioned Ruderman v. Law Office of Yuriy Prakhin, et al., No. 1:19-cv-02987-CBA-LB.  On January 25, 2022, District Judge Raymond J. Dearie denied Defendants’ motion for summary judgment in its entirety.  The case is currently scheduled for trial starting on February 6, 2023 before the Honorable Carol Bagley Amon in the Eastern District of New York. 

Please contact Innessa M. Huot if you have any information related to this case or Ms. Ruderman’s claims by calling: (212) 983-9330 or clicking here to contact us.