Ruderman v. Prakhin

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of prominent personal injury attorney Yelena Ruderman against her former employers Defendants 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 the sudden onset of Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (“LHON”), a rare and incurable medical condition that rendered her legally blind.   Ms. Ruderman requested multiple reasonable accommodations but was denied each and every one.  Defendants confirmed they never engaged in any interactive process and were not even aware of their obligation to do so.  

Just 16 days after she disclosed her LHON diagnosis, Mr. Prakhin terminated her employment for the expressed reason that she suffered from a disability.  While terminating her, Mr. Prakhin specifically told Ms. Ruderman: “I’m a businessman, I don’t know how you’ll handle cases with your condition. I’m a businessman, I don’t see how this is worth it for me. But if your condition gets better, you’re welcome to come back.”

A new attorney was hired immediately to replace Ms. Ruderman and she was pushed out the door – simply because – by his own words: Mr. Prakhin is a businessman and keeping a disabled employee just was not worth it for him.

On February 16, 2023, following a nine-day trial held before the Honorable Judge Carol Bagley Amon, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Ms. Ruderman against Defendants for $1,735,000.00, plus an additional $535,000.00 in prejudgment interest.  See Judgment. As the prevailing party, Ms. Ruderman subsequently sought an additional $3,311,902.41 for attorneys’ fees and costs.

The $1,735,000 verdict consisted of the following awards:

Back Pay Damages: $535,000.00

Front-pay Damages: $300,000.00

Emotional Distress Damages: $300,000.00

Punitive Damages: $600,000.00

Plus, an additional $535,000 in prejudgment interest.

The lawsuit is captioned Ruderman v. Law Office of Yuriy Prakhin, et al., No. 1:19-cv-02987-CBA-LB. 

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.