Lawyer Accused of ‘Quiet Quitting’ Is Being Sued by Her Law Firm
- Napoli Shkolnik, a law agency in New York, is suing one of its lawyers for “peaceful quitting.”
- The firm claimed Heather Palmore breached her contract by also working for her very own legal practice.
- Her lawyer stated Napoli Shkolnik submitted the “bogus” lawsuit soon after she elevated discrimination claims.
An attorney in New York is becoming sued by her individual legislation business for “silent quitting” — a buzzy expression for staff who do the bare least at their jobs with no resigning.
Napoli Shkolnik, a own injuries litigation organization based in New York, has taken the motion towards Heather Palmore. She’s accused of neglecting her duties at Napoli Shkolnik and breaching her deal by simultaneously performing at her very own observe, Palmore Legislation Group, P.C.
The grievance was submitted on Thursday in the New York Supreme Court for Nassau County. It alleged that Palmore, who was very first hired in Oct 2021, “took advantage of the new distant work atmosphere to ‘quiet quit’ her task” at Napoli Shkolnik.
The firm’s complaint explicitly references the pandemic-period “craze” of “peaceful quitting.” It also notes the “troubling development” of personnel “furtively” working more than just one comprehensive-time occupation at the same time.
In its grievance, Napoli Shkolnik said: “Ms. Palmore wrongfully joined both equally trends.”
Napoli Shkolnik mentioned that Palmore’s computer data present she was “energetic” for “mere minutes a day” on the “too much to handle the greater part of workdays” in 2023 — despite publishing timesheets that claimed she experienced “expended hrs executing lawful investigate and drafting and ‘outlining’ paperwork.”
What’s more, in further more evidence for its allegation of “tranquil quitting,” Napoli Shkolnik promises that Palmore gave an opening assertion in a professional medical malpractice go well with in November 2021 that “shockingly” lasted just eight minutes. Standard opening statements in this kind of cases “are around a single to two hours lengthy,” per Napoli Shkolnik.
The law agency desires to strike Palmore’s payment for her “period of time of her disloyalty” — indicating it needs her to return far more than $400,000.
It claims she collected “just one of the most sizeable attracts in the complete organization” though “doing minor to no perform” and “directly competing with the firm” by concurrently running her possess legal practice.
Palmore’s lawyer, David Gottlieb, instructed Law.com: “Napoli Shkolnik filed this entirely bogus preemptive lawsuit only immediately after Ms. Palmore raised significant claims of discrimination from the company and was planning to file her very own action.”
He continued: “This preemptive lawsuit is a clear and ill-suggested try to test to obtain some perceived strategic benefit, but it is naturally an act of blatant retaliation. We will be shifting forward with Ms. Palmore’s lawsuit in shorter purchase, which will involve claims dependent on this retaliatory perform.”
Lucas Markowitz of Offit Kurman, for Napoli Shkolnik, instructed Abovethelaw.com that Palmore “misrepresented her skillset, working experience and e book of business enterprise to get hold of a place with Napoli Shkolnik. She then straight competed with Napoli Shkolnik by primary her own legislation firm.”
Reps for Palmore and Napoli Shkolnik did not immediately answer to requests for comment from Insider.